cwcad
New Normal
Just got a new Chicago rotary in the mail the other day. Yesterday was the first chance that I had to give it a go.
Packaging and labels
It arrived in a nice box that protected what is inside very well. Thru shipping it was indeed intact with all the assorted items needed to get started. Wrench, backing plate, and a soft white foam pad.
It did not have much for instructions. It seemed pretty much self explanetory to me. The whole machine is rather simple. Very light in weight. Mostly plastic on the outside. The cord coming out of the machine had a decent thicker covering to allow some movement without fear of cracking or pulling out. The operating range for the rotary is 300 to 3000 RPM's. It has a thumb control on the handle marked with number's 1 trhu 5. Each number is progressively higher but not variable speed.
It does have a detent switch to lock it when changeing backing plates. Made for simple installation of same. I did not use the original backing plate. I had purchased a flexible backing plate prior to purchase of the Chicago rotary. It has a d-ring that I installed with Allen screws and Allen wrench that were provided.
I have a wide assortment of pads to use with the machine. Yet on the vehicle I worked on I did not need many pads. It is a good thing that the vehicle did not need major corrections because this is not the machine to get the job done.
Although it was light and easy to handle the machine could not take any pressure at all on the paint surface of the car. I had very little holgraming while it was in use. But I believe the reason for that is because it hasn't any power with which to get you in trouble. In truth, that may not be a bad thing for a beginning rotary user.
I had some minor marring from a previous detail on the hood of a Ford Focus. Used some FPll and a yellow pad from Auto geek to effect the defects. It did do the job on this area. I know that my PC with the same pad and product could have done the job as well. Most likely faster, because the Chicago rotary is very underpowered.
It did do one thing that my PC was not able to do. That was to affect change on my bumper with water spots. Using a LC 7.5 in. polishing pad and SSR3 on the chrome portion of the bumper I was able to polish out all of the water spots that had plagued me these last few months. I was able to build up some heat to get the changes that I was looking for, with this rotary. Something that I could not adequately get done with my PC.
Recommendations....
I guess that I would have to say that the machine acted in less than a stellar way. Of course every one had mentioned that very fact in every thread that I have ever read about the rotary. Yet, for $32 including shipping, it was worth the experience. Bottom line I cannot recommend buying one.
Am I happy that I have a Chicago Rotary....Yes, I am. It is just another tool to use in the battle for the Ultimate Shine. It was light and easy to handle. It did effect change as I had hoped(albeit painfullly slow). It is also for the person that has a budget to adhere too. The work can get done but not on a production basis. For $32 is a small price to pay for rotary heat build up that is sometimes necessary to make a correction but not so much as to burn the paint.
Packaging and labels
It arrived in a nice box that protected what is inside very well. Thru shipping it was indeed intact with all the assorted items needed to get started. Wrench, backing plate, and a soft white foam pad.
It did not have much for instructions. It seemed pretty much self explanetory to me. The whole machine is rather simple. Very light in weight. Mostly plastic on the outside. The cord coming out of the machine had a decent thicker covering to allow some movement without fear of cracking or pulling out. The operating range for the rotary is 300 to 3000 RPM's. It has a thumb control on the handle marked with number's 1 trhu 5. Each number is progressively higher but not variable speed.
It does have a detent switch to lock it when changeing backing plates. Made for simple installation of same. I did not use the original backing plate. I had purchased a flexible backing plate prior to purchase of the Chicago rotary. It has a d-ring that I installed with Allen screws and Allen wrench that were provided.
I have a wide assortment of pads to use with the machine. Yet on the vehicle I worked on I did not need many pads. It is a good thing that the vehicle did not need major corrections because this is not the machine to get the job done.
Although it was light and easy to handle the machine could not take any pressure at all on the paint surface of the car. I had very little holgraming while it was in use. But I believe the reason for that is because it hasn't any power with which to get you in trouble. In truth, that may not be a bad thing for a beginning rotary user.
I had some minor marring from a previous detail on the hood of a Ford Focus. Used some FPll and a yellow pad from Auto geek to effect the defects. It did do the job on this area. I know that my PC with the same pad and product could have done the job as well. Most likely faster, because the Chicago rotary is very underpowered.
It did do one thing that my PC was not able to do. That was to affect change on my bumper with water spots. Using a LC 7.5 in. polishing pad and SSR3 on the chrome portion of the bumper I was able to polish out all of the water spots that had plagued me these last few months. I was able to build up some heat to get the changes that I was looking for, with this rotary. Something that I could not adequately get done with my PC.
Recommendations....
I guess that I would have to say that the machine acted in less than a stellar way. Of course every one had mentioned that very fact in every thread that I have ever read about the rotary. Yet, for $32 including shipping, it was worth the experience. Bottom line I cannot recommend buying one.
Am I happy that I have a Chicago Rotary....Yes, I am. It is just another tool to use in the battle for the Ultimate Shine. It was light and easy to handle. It did effect change as I had hoped(albeit painfullly slow). It is also for the person that has a budget to adhere too. The work can get done but not on a production basis. For $32 is a small price to pay for rotary heat build up that is sometimes necessary to make a correction but not so much as to burn the paint.
Last edited:
