Flex Dual Action or Makita B06040 DA

F

FishWagon

New member
Ok, I was pretty much sold on the Flex XC3401 Dual Action (instead of purchasing the Porter Cable Random Orbital and Makita Rotary)...but now the Makita B06040 Dual Action has been brought to my attention. Can I get some input comparing these products?

thanks
 
Tons of opinions but the majority favors the Flex over the Makita (DA). The reviews I've read all favored the Flex.
 
Check out my post before you make you decision. In my opinion with this new Edge adapter available for the Makita BO6040 it makes it much more of a versatile machine. One of my compalints was only being able to use 6.5" pads with these machines but this new adapter addressed this issue for the BO6040. Glad I went with the Makita now.



http://autopia.org/forum/machine-polishing/101859-must-see-edge-adapter-makita-bo6040.html



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The Flex is a single-mode forced rotation machine. The BO6040 is both random orbital and forced rotation. So if you want the random orbital, you need to compare the BO6040 with a Festool or get 2 machines. IMO, I'd get 2 machines.
 
tod071 said:
No, its not a dual mode like the BO or festool. Its forced rotation with a trigger.
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Yes, the Flex always in forced rotation mode but also in RO mode simultaneously. It is a dual mode machine.
 
It's too bad ol Zoran C got banned, he was one of the few that I know had tried both machines and concluded the Flex was better.
 
JuneBug said:
It's too bad ol Zoran C got banned, he was one of the few that I know had tried both machines and concluded the Flex was better.
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What? when did he get banned? Should I even be asking??? No one saw this, I wasn't here.
 
The way I understand it:



makita BO6040 - 2 modes:



random orbital (jiggle only, like porter cable)

random orbital with forced rotation (jiggle + spin [like a porter cable and a rotary combined])





flex - 1 mode:



random orbital with forced rotation (jiggle + spin)



Do I understand that correctly?





The porter cable and UDM type machines do spin as well as orbit, but the spinning is on a free-wheeling bearing and is a side-effect of the orbital motion - the spinning will be slowed, and can be stopped if you apply enough pressure to the surface. The flex, and makita in forced rotation mode, will always spin while orbiting as a forced action.. right?



The specs I found report the forced rotation of the Flex at 480 RPM max, and the Makita at 670 RPM, slower than a true rotary. Safer though!



Orbits per minute are comparable to the PC-style for both machines.



FYI - when reading a review of the Flex on properautocare, Terry says "The "throw" or amount of "jiggle" is not disclosed by Porter Cable but it is very, very small [blah blah] ...[The flex] oscillation also has a exceptionally "long throw" of 8 mm."



FWIW, On the Meguiar's forums they have a chart that compared the porter cable, meguiar's versions, and the UDM - and they are all reported as having an 8mm stroke there.
 
There was a post a while back comparing the specs of the Makita and Flex, while the Makita has slightly more rotation (kinda like saying Moe was the smartest stooge) the Flex had way more orbits per minute. I don't remember that exact numbers and I'm too damn lazy to look - so sue me! If you do a search, there's a legend of happy Flex owners, I've yet to see a post from a B06040 owner saying how much they liked it, I did have a long chat with Zoran C and he made a pretty convincing argument against the B06040. Personally, Zoran talked me into giving my rotary another try and I'm glad I did. There really is no comparison on the smoothness of a rotary vs ANY ROB. YMMV
 
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