Well my Hitachi came yesterday so I thought I would give it a go on my 97 pickup. I was going to get a practice panel but I thought if I go slow it should be fine. I started with the hood as it would be a little easier than a side panel. I'm using Lake Country 7.5" curved edge pads. To start I put on the polishing pad and some Optimum Compound spread it at 600 rpms then 1100 rpms to get the feel. It was actually fairly easy to get a feel for. I'm really impressed how smooth the rotary is, no vibration like the PC. So after playing around for a while at those speeds I turned it up to 1500 rpms after spreading it. It was even smoother at that speed, but the polish brakes down much quicker though. I also like how you can tilt the pad to get into tight areas. Then it was time for the cutting pad. I used OC and 1500rpms after spreading it. It was amazing how fast the swirls vanished, but some holograming was visible. So I did one side of the truck with the cutting pad and OC at 1500rpms then finished it with the polishing pad and OP at 1200rpms. It finished IMO much nicer than the PC and absolutely no holograms :getdown . The other side and tailgate got the polishing pad and OP at 1700 rpms then a second aplication at 1200rpms. Wow that was half the work or less than what I'm use to :spot . Over all a much nicer machine to use, quieter, virtually no vibration and very smooth and it's also nice not having to push on the machine like the PC. Here are some pics, sorry no sun today I'll try to get some better pics tomorrow.
