Flex or Rotary?

N

neighborsenvy

New member
Im looking to get a stronger machine to cut my time down dramatically. I have only done 5 cars so far though. Right now I have the griots machine.



Took 14 hrs to do a corvette. Granted, I was using 5.5" orange ccs pads and 105. Should have been using 4" and wool pads.



Took 8 hours to do an 08 maxima. The car is my wife's and is white so the swirls arent a huge deal. I took out about 75% of the swirls using 4' orange ccs and 105



Took 8 hours to get out fine swirls out of my 09 Pontiac G8. The car is the biggest I have done, but I only had to get the swirls that were inflicted from using a grout sponge with ONR. I started using the 4" surbuf pads and 105 but that was taking too long so I used the 4" wool pad.



Even though I dont have tons of experience I was thinking I could use a rotary to knock out the swirls and scratches and then use the griots with 205 to take car of any holograms.



Does this sound reasonable and about how much time do you think this would save? I was hoping to get down to about 6 hours or so.
 
4 hours?! Did you use a the griots or other comparable machine before? I guess its due to the forced rotation and more power. The next client I get, I will have one on order if it cuts down that much time.



I gave away a free detail for a charity auction so I may order one soon.
 
If there is anyone in your area who is willing to teach you to use a rotary polisher, I believe you can pick it up very quickly, if you're mechanically inclined. I know people will scold me for this, but I believe using a rotary is a lot easier than a lot of people make it out to be. If you're timid and scared of the machine, you will burn paint, but if you can get comfortable with it, you will have no problems.







John
 
If you already have a DA, go for the rotary. Cheaper and faster, and you can always finish up with the DA till you get your technique down.
 
I've used a Vector rotary and an old pc I mean the flex seems to be the in between and best of both worlds kind of machine. I MIGHT mess around with my rotary again just to have it in my arsenal because I hear it can be a godsend for really hard clears but then again I've worked on a cermiclear with my flex and got the job done



I certainly think it's worth asking an autopian in your area fir a loaner and a friends beater car to practice on just to see if it's for you
 
This Q comes up now and then and I always post the same things :D



It's hard to predict which approach will be right for somebody else.



I used to do the rotary-then-DA approach, especially on hard clear (most of my vehicles). But since I got the Flex I haven't touched either of my rotaries. Not once.



And a lot of "should I use a rotary" depends on the mindset of the user. Some people just aren't there and sometimes an "oops!" is simply not acceptable.
 
Another option is going with bigger Surbuf pads. These pads require very little pressure to do the cutting, so even a 7" pad will spin on any DA. And FWIW, 14 hours on a Vette is probably the norm, from what I gather. 8 hours on a car the size of a G8 is pretty good too. I think you may be underestimating how long this stuff takes when done correctly.
 
The vette would have went quicker but I used the wrong sized pads and wrong type. I would have no problem with the G8 taking 8 hrs if I hadnt done it in May. I was only taking out very light scratches and I felt I should be able to do that in about 5-6 hours.



I think one of the problems is that I just havent gotten into a groove yet.



Dont get me wrong, I wont rush through things just cause its taking too long. The problem is finding people willing to spend $450 for a detail around here and I dont want to make $30 an hr because I am using an inferior machine.
 
neighborsenvy- Something to consider: if you have an "oops!" with a rotary on a customer's car, you'll be out a bundle of money and the customer's wrath might be even worse than the expense. Not saying it would happen, and yeah, people will say to just practice on junk panels/etc., but still...



Although to be perfectly honest, I find it easy enough to not have an "oops" with the rotary (things like burning paint require a pretty major mistake IMO) and you do still have to watch it with the Flex lest you overthin paint.



Heh heh, you could get a bunch of experienced people together for a few hours and none of us would convince the others which machine is "best" because it's just such an individual decision.



Q- are you gonna do enough details that you'll really recover the cost of a new polisher and/or have it make sense economically? Anyhow, I'd buy the Flex just to make your life easier, but it's easy for me to spend your money ;)
 
Accumulator, about what time saving do you expect for the flex over the griots? If I could save 1-2 hours off of an 8 hour job, the $400 for new machine and pads would be more than justified after the first 2 cars done.
 
neighborsenvy- Sorry, I really can't say, and I've never used my Griot's for any significant correction. To be honest, on the rare occasions that I do significant correction it always takes me a a pretty long time, even with the Flex or the rotary.
 
Thanks for the honesty. Once I get another appointment lined up Ill get the flex. I just started and do this on the side so that could be next month or next year unfortunately.
 
Keep us posted because I am looking for the griots or the pc to get into the tight spots but I don't see anything replacing my flex for the lon gb haul
 
neighborsenvy said:
Once I get another appointment lined up Ill get the flex. I just started and do this on the side so that could be next month or next year unfortunately.
Click to expand...



That kind of infrequent need is why I put off buying the Flex for so long (well, that and all my other polishers), but once I got it...
 
Yeah I know what you mean. I just cant justify the cost without a customer at this point. As soon as I get one lined up it will be on my door step in 5 days or less lol.
 
yea... i can't say enough about the flex--minus the fact that it's not designed for tight corners (but you already have a machine for that =])

friggen love this thing
 
companies should monitor these threads and pay commission to the posters because Accumulator and alexshimshimhae just sold me on flex lol.
 
In the case of the flex I think they go broke check out my thread called operation car spa I finished those two cars in one sitting the first day I used it
 
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