Am I ready for a rotary?

G

Gman1906

New member
Hi,
I'm fairly new to detailing. My buddy left the area and gave me the contract for a local car dealership he had. I make a nice penny on the side.

I've got a Dewault orbital (DW443) polisher and it seems to work ok. But I noticed a lot of you guys use a rotary polisher instead.

I feel safe using the orbital but would like to know when one is ready for a rotary and would appreciate any tips on the best way to use one.

Thanks in advance.

Mike in Maryland
 
Mike

Welcome to the site and are you ready for a rotary YES! I have one and for some jobs its the only way....I would do some research on brands and read up about pads....Then find a car to learn on its really not that hard...Most people are scared of them because they think that they will burn threw the paint...That's possible but not as easy as one would think with clear coated cars....Good luck
 
You might be ready but only you can tell. If you are willing, pick up a Dewalt, Makita, or like rotarty, get some spare car pats or a junker car to work on and get practice. The only way to see if you are ready is to practice. If you are getting decent results on the spare parts and not damaging the paint then you may consider moving onto clients cars. Read up here for ideal knowledge about the rotary, how to use it, and with what products.
BTW I stepped up from a DA and it really wasn't that hard to do.
 
Ya if you are feeling confident then you can get one. Here are my thoughts.

Rotarys often get a rap for being over dangerous when really they wont burn through paint as easy as one woudl think. You must watch out for edges of the paint beucase they will burn easiest and then you must always keep the pad flat. If the end of the pad hits the paint then it will most likely burn through.. thats not good. So if you want one pickup a makita or dewalt and practice on some junkers. I would never reccomend jumping into a newer car or a situation that you could have something unfixable happen. Good luck

Greg
 
I second what Greg said. Practice first on a panel from the wrecker, then recruit some junkers for free in the neighbourhood, before you hit the dealer car.
 
Ditto, as long as you don't act like an absolute idiot when you use it and keep your speed down when you start off (until you know what you're doing) you'll do fine. Just remember not to fight it, learn how to guide the rotary without a ton of force, it will help in the long run to increase the quality of your work. Good luck, have fun.
 
One more bit of advice:
Don't bend your wrists or arms when using a rotary-- move your body. I find this is easier to keep the pad flat and easier to control the machine.
 
All it takes is common sense. That's what the guy at a local detail supply shop told me, and it made perfect sense. I had almost zero experience with any kind of polisher and went straight to the rotary and got good results. I just go slower with the rotary, that way I don't rush myself and end up damaging the paint. I'm not a pro by any means, but I can definately use a rotary correctly :)
 
Yes I have on a test hood... I wasn't able to see any 'burning' with a foam pad but the surface got really really hot. I then tried with a wool pad and started to see the clear start melting and kind of smearing. I found it hard to burn when I was trying but I'm sure it could sneak up on you if your not carefull.
 
no need for a rotory. walmart sells an orbital proven to remove the deepest of scratches for only 20 dollars.

e-polisher.jpg



no but on a SERIOUS note:

rotorys are not that dangerous. u just need common sense and a couple of quick refernce guides to learn from. all that and a spare panel.
 
bren wrx said:
has anyone purposely tried to burn the paint on a junk car to find the tolerance yet?
Click to expand...
I did a little bit on the hood of my CRX, it's primered and I put on an absolutely nuked orange pad (fuzziest pad you've ever seen, my learning pad), set the Makita for 3000 rpm, put some diamond cut on the pad and went to work. It goes without saying that I did this in an open garage. Let me tell you, when you get foam pads hot enough to break down (chemically) they smell awful, they do cut through the paint though, about 25 seconds and I was down to metal. For those of you cringing right now I was doing an experiment on my car (which needs a repaint). Once I was done destroying my paint job I sprayed some fresh primer on there and it was good as new.
 
I been using a PC to try and get out some tough water spots for the past few days. I'm thinking of picking up a rotary today to save some time. I already have a foam compounding pad that I have been using with the PC.

It took me an 1.5 hours on this section with the PC to go from this



To this:



Those are not the same areas, but that is how the last area looked before I started.

I was using 3M fine cut

Today I tried some #4 cut cleaner to see if it would work faster, but not getting anywhere with it. Just seems like the PC can't get it hot enough to work it. The bottle says to use with rotary only, not by hand.
 
well gmblack those pics look pretty nice, i would be curious how much time you save if you got a rotary, GL and it looks good!
 
sharpie said:
well gmblack those pics look pretty nice, i would be curious how much time you save if you got a rotary, GL and it looks good!
Click to expand...

I would say that I have about 3 hours into the roof on this BMW 740. This was my first time using the PC. I guess I should of taped off the rubber around the top of the windshield. It turned the pad dark and right now I'm soaking it in dawn/water to get it clean before I start on the trunk.

Here is the pad that I'm using with the PC, not ideal but it works.

Start at 3.5 to 4 then up to 6 to work it. Got to keep a good grip on the PC at 6. It seems like I'm now having better results with the #4 cut cleaner

Back to the grind.

Now going to go over the roof with MIP and a orange LC pad. It seems that the #4 cut cleaner leaves some hazing. Then MFPII w/ Z2Pro as a final.
 
I plan on getting the Makita this weekend, and since I'm getting my truck's bed Line-Xed for Christmas, I have a free test panel! :naughtyD

My primary reason for getting a rotary is saving time. On a bad car, each panel takes 5 minutes with a PC trying to bog it down to get some heat into the polish. Talk about tiring, and I'm tired of it. (badabing) A rotary will get me through jobs faster, produce results superior to the PC and hone my paint perfecting skills. No brainer!

This thread has been very helpful to me as well. Thanks for the input guys.
 
When you have something to practice on then you are ready for a rotary.
Practice for good and bad results.....find out what its takes to mess up. Experience is the best teacher.
 
I'd recommend picking up a copy of the Meg's detailing video. It shows a lot about using the rotary and how to avoid the dangers.
At least you can see what you're supposed to do so you've got somewhere to start instead of just hopefully figuring it out on a test panel from scratch.
 
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