Rotary Question

[04Si]

Hi all,
I am not a professional detailer. I have been a anal retentive car appearance perfectionist going back to when my dad would pay me to wash his car. This carried over into my own car ownership. It been about 30+ years now.
I detail my own cars. The paint is very well maintained so my PC has done well by me.

Occasionally I will do a friend or neighbors car. These tend to challenge the PC and chemical combo`s i throw at them. I recently bought my son a car that has seen the car wash brushes a few too many times.

I am really tempted to buy and play with a rotary. I have done some spot wet sanding in the past thus aware of how easy it is to pop through the clear coat.

From all i have read i think the Makita is the best trade off between weight and rpm control. Autogeek sells a kit with a 7" backing plate and 8.5" pads. I assume they sell this combo because it is the best? Yet I hear some folks like the smaller 6.5". What is the tradeoff?
Shane

[tuscarora dave]

Hi all,
I am not a professional detailer. I have been a anal retentive car appearance perfectionist going back to when my dad would pay me to wash his car. This carried over into my own car ownership. It been about 30+ years now.
I detail my own cars. The paint is very well maintained so my PC has done well by me.

Occasionally I will do a friend or neighbors car. These tend to challenge the PC and chemical combo`s i throw at them. I recently bought my son a car that has seen the car wash brushes a few too many times.

I am really tempted to buy and play with a rotary. I have done some spot wet sanding in the past thus aware of how easy it is to pop through the clear coat.

From all i have read i think the Makita is the best trade off between weight and rpm control. Autogeek sells a kit with a 7" backing plate and 8.5" pads. I assume they sell this combo because it is the best? Yet I hear some folks like the smaller 6.5". What is the tradeoff?
Shane

I have the Makita and I preffer the Edge 2000 6" DA pads with it for most jobs. Occasionally on larger vehicles such as Yukons or minivans etc. I will break out the 8" Edge 2000 pads. The smaller 6" pads (of any style) in my oppinion are a little safer in that the speed and friction is less than the larger pads. Both sizes have their place though.

The 6" Edge pads are rounded at the edge also and to me are more controlable.

[04Si]

well after reading endless opinions here and AGO, i decided to buy the Flex 3401. Good sale over Memorial Weekend, so I pulled the trigger. Should be here by June 10th. Picked up an orange, grey, and red LC CCS pad combo to go with.

[mrclean81]

well after reading endless opinions here and AGO, i decided to buy the Flex 3401. Good sale over Memorial Weekend, so I pulled the trigger. Should be here by June 10th. Picked up an orange, grey, and red LC CCS pad combo to go with.

Nice choice. A Flex is on my wish list and has been for a while now.

[bigron62]

dont give up on a rotary its a valuable tool

[tuscarora dave]

I bought the Flex and rarely need to pick up my Makita anymore but note I said "rarely". I don`t pick it up by choice, I just am aware of what the Flex can or can not handle in the time frame that I am allowed to get the job finished. I love the Flex but I am surely not going to sell my rotary. Anymore I mostly use the rotary on headlight restorations and an occasional deep scratch.

[black bart]

I bought the Flex and rarely need to pick up my Makita anymore but note I said "rarely". I don`t pick it up by choice, I just am aware of what the Flex can or can not handle in the time frame that I am allowed to get the job finished. I love the Flex but I am surely not going to sell my rotary. Anymore I mostly use the rotary on headlight restorations and an occasional deep scratch.

This is what I was thinking. While the Flex works great it will not do serious correction in the time frame that the Makita will.

I have a Makita but since I only have very minor correction to do on my cars I use my PC but I`m not going to sell the Makita.

[Stephan]

I have the Porter Cable Rotary and it has been acting funny... by that I mean the motor sounds like its under stress and it fluctuates speeds without changing the dial. I am looking to maybe get a new one:

Dewalt, Makita, Hitachi, Milwakee, or Flex... Any recommendations?

[mrclean81]

I have the Porter Cable Rotary and it has been acting funny... by that I mean the motor sounds like its under stress and it fluctuates speeds without changing the dial. I am looking to maybe get a new one:

Dewalt, Makita, Hitachi, Milwakee, or Flex... Any recommendations?

I`ve owned a Makita, Dewalt, Milwaukee, and now a cheap Harbor Freight machine. The Milwaukee is like fighting a bear. Very strong and well built, but double the weight of a Makita. I liked my Makita really well but I couldn`t get used to the softstart feature. I traded it for a Dewalt and fell in love with it. A bit heavier than the Makita but it was very smooth and well balanced. Unfortunatly it was among the equpiment that was stolen from me and out of desperation I bought a $40 buffer at Harbor Freight and have ran the hell out of it..I can`t believe its not kicked the bucket yet to be honest.

[Stephan]

I just went to coastal tool and they had them all. The Milwakee was really heavy and I think I would feel it over time. The Dewalt seemed heavy also. They normally carry the Metabo line but I did not see it there although the Metabo sander they had seemed a great deal lighter.

I will have to do some research.

[black bart]

I`ve owned a Makita, Dewalt, Milwaukee, and now a cheap Harbor Freight machine. The Milwaukee is like fighting a bear. Very strong and well built, but double the weight of a Makita. I liked my Makita really well but I couldn`t get used to the softstart feature. I traded it for a Dewalt and fell in love with it. A bit heavier than the Makita but it was very smooth and well balanced. Unfortunatly it was among the equpiment that was stolen from me and out of desperation I bought a $40 buffer at Harbor Freight and have ran the hell out of it..I can`t believe its not kicked the bucket yet to be honest.

The soft start speed control is the feature that I like the most.

[holland_patrick]

I just went to coastal tool and they had them all. The Milwakee was really heavy and I think I would feel it over time. The Dewalt seemed heavy also. They normally carry the Metabo line but I did not see it there although the Metabo sander they had seemed a great deal lighter.

I will have to do some research.

Did you look at the Hitachi??? That is what i have and got it from coastal tools

[mrclean81]

The soft start speed control is the feature that I like the most.

I think I`m weird or something haha. Everyone I know who owns a Makita loves the softstart. Don`t get me wrong, for spreading compound it was awsome. What drove me crazy was if I was working in a tight area when I had to start and stop a lot.

[tuscarora dave]

I have the Porter Cable Rotary and it has been acting funny... by that I mean the motor sounds like its under stress and it fluctuates speeds without changing the dial. I am looking to maybe get a new one:

Dewalt, Makita, Hitachi, Milwakee, or Flex... Any recommendations?

That sounds like it needs the brushes replaced. If you have been running it for a while like that the armature probably has some damage from arcing as well. All in all it`s a pretty easy fix if that in fact is what is going on with it.

[black bart]

That sounds like it needs the brushes replaced. If you have been running it for a while like that the armature probably has some damage from arcing as well. All in all it`s a pretty easy fix if that in fact is what is going on with it.

Where is the best place to buy new brushes for a PC.