Dan
Well-known member
^^^ Gotta love it, Pros using tools from Harbor Freight. 10 years ago, you would have been ridiculed!
Harbor Freight 6" DA
- Thread starter pwaug
- Start date
Ron Ketcham
Active member
A good part of the "name brand", high dollar tools we all buy are actually very little different from the less expensive tools.
Same with clothing, etc.
The "big boy's" of tools, put a great warranty on their tools, knowing that less than 2 to 3 % of defects will ever have a claim against them.
What I am saying that is in "some cases" the real difference between a $60 tool with a label that you don't know, vs a " $150 brand name" tool that you do know, is just the "label" and the "warranty" on the tool.
Been in the real business of this before I retired, from Sheaffer Pen, to Yardley of London, Christian Dior Clothing, etc.
We all pay a lot for a "label".
Grumpy
Same with clothing, etc.
The "big boy's" of tools, put a great warranty on their tools, knowing that less than 2 to 3 % of defects will ever have a claim against them.
What I am saying that is in "some cases" the real difference between a $60 tool with a label that you don't know, vs a " $150 brand name" tool that you do know, is just the "label" and the "warranty" on the tool.
Been in the real business of this before I retired, from Sheaffer Pen, to Yardley of London, Christian Dior Clothing, etc.
We all pay a lot for a "label".
Grumpy
wannafbody
wannafbody
Ron, that may be true to a large extent but some tools like Snap On are better quality.
I'm not gonna lie, I might actually pick up two or so of these to have at the shop, with carpet brushes on them, so that I have a dedicated machine, permanently mounted to the wall and plugged in so I can have a separate tool for each job with it's specific attachment (carpet, polish, wax, ect) on it just for the sake of speeding up my detail process. If nothing else I've got back ups immediately available if one of my Dual-Actions drop out on me, which (ask Barry Theal) happens to me ALL THE TIME.
Ron Ketcham
Active member
wannafbody said:
So, I would assume that you are aware the old Black and Decker Buff Master rotary was the same tool they sold to Snap-On, with just some chrome added to the gear head?
Or that while they do produce their hand tools, companies such as Milwaukee, DeWalt (Black and Decker), Makita, Porter-Cable, etc produce their electric tools?
As time goes on more and more of the electic and air powered tools are being sourced and relabeled by our "icon's" of American tools?
These American companies that do such, have learned to demand very high quality of production of the tools they put their brands on, and all one has to do is check out the "small print" on the labels of the units to find that most are now produced out side of the USA.
Grumpy
danponjican
DetailingGurus.com
So I was up in Maryland visiting in -laws for Thanksgiving and decided to give my brother in law a free DA polishing lesson and Opti-Coat on his 2013 Ford Focus. I didn't bring any of my gear so we had to go but everything I needed locally and on the cheap. So I picked up this Harbor Freight DA Polisher and the pads. On sale for $59.99 and hada 20% coupon and then purchased a 2 year replacement plan for about $10 so I was still out the door for less than $60. Prety good cconsidering I will have a better warranty now for this machine than most of the brand name polishers that have/had.
After using it for a day my initial impressions are that this is a good solid machine. Less power than the GG polisher but about the same as a PC 7424XP. It felt balanced and vibration was less thanthe GG machine. Pads definitely felt like Buff & Shine pads.
Here's a short video I threw together on my phone (Sorry, don't have my laptop with me).
After using it for a day my initial impressions are that this is a good solid machine. Less power than the GG polisher but about the same as a PC 7424XP. It felt balanced and vibration was less thanthe GG machine. Pads definitely felt like Buff & Shine pads.
Here's a short video I threw together on my phone (Sorry, don't have my laptop with me).
Superior Shine
New member
This machine rocks. I have used it hard for about two months. I have grossed a good $7500 (easy) with this $49 DA. If it went out tomorrow I'd trade it in for another and keep on going. The more expensive ones say "made in china" just like the HF does so....
I don't need it and I am not cheap. I like polishing. I collect polishers (DA and rotary) I thought it fun to play with the HF machine and I like it. It is unlike the HF rotary's that are junk. A friend recently just purchased 12 HF DAs for his business.
I don't need it and I am not cheap. I like polishing. I collect polishers (DA and rotary) I thought it fun to play with the HF machine and I like it. It is unlike the HF rotary's that are junk. A friend recently just purchased 12 HF DAs for his business.
Superior Shine
New member
Ron Ketcham said:
I think I have all of the DeWalt re-badged buffer. They include Snap-On, Black and Decker, Mac. All four are identical. Same ratings, same part numbers for repair.
First time poster - I have had GREAT success with Harbor Freight for a long time and I am thrilled this is now available. Going to get one first thing tomorrow.
Joe - what is the benefit of the Meg's backing plate? I assume it's compatible with thier pads. I looked around and found Meg's has several backing plates (even in the 6" size). What specific BP and size do you prefer?
Mike
Joe - what is the benefit of the Meg's backing plate? I assume it's compatible with thier pads. I looked around and found Meg's has several backing plates (even in the 6" size). What specific BP and size do you prefer?
Mike
Joe@Superior Shine said:I bought one for $49 almost 2 months ago. I have used it every day since. So far so good.
The Meguiars backing plate and MF cutting disc almost cost more than the machine!!!
deeman said:
The backing plate supplied with this polisher seems to be the weak link. The wobble of the backing plate (when spun manually) mentioned by others seems clearly to be the lack of quality of the backing plate itself (just from observation not from use-perhaps those who have tried it will comment) which shouldn't be a problem since most users will replace it with a 5" plate anyhow so it can be used with 5.5" pads. This of course would eliminate the posssibility of using HF pads, but some good deals can be had on Buff & Shine and Lake Country 5 or 6 packs of pads. B & S, Megs and Lake Country all have good quality backing plates.
Just a follow-up to my experience. I have never used a DA before and tried the HF unit all day today on my Focus. Bottom line is that it is pretty good.
However, I felt lucky when I saw the local HF had all three foam pads for this unit in stock so I purchased one firm, one medium and two soft pads to try them.
The firm and medium pads ARE JUNK!!
I started at the passenger side front quarter panel. Worked well....did both doors, no problem. By the time I hit the rear quarter panel little stuff started flying out of the pad. I thought it was dried wax particles slinging. Used it some more and the particles got too bad to continue. I inspected the pad and the pad was disintegrating!!!!!!!!
The velcro from the backing plate was tearing up the backside of the pad and sending particles all over the car. When I went to pull the pad off the pad started to seperate pretty bad.
Since I did not have another firm (orange) I used the medium (blue) HF pad. Same thing within 4 body panels!!! The soft (black) pads held up okay since I was not putting any pressure on the DA. So, I will be returning the two pads.
As others have noticed, the power switch is junky. I personally found it hard to turn off on several occasions, but improved my technique. The DA is loud too! I ended up using some ear plugs it got so bad.
Overall it did the job. I will invest in some Meg's or LC pads and try it on another car.
However, I felt lucky when I saw the local HF had all three foam pads for this unit in stock so I purchased one firm, one medium and two soft pads to try them.
The firm and medium pads ARE JUNK!!
I started at the passenger side front quarter panel. Worked well....did both doors, no problem. By the time I hit the rear quarter panel little stuff started flying out of the pad. I thought it was dried wax particles slinging. Used it some more and the particles got too bad to continue. I inspected the pad and the pad was disintegrating!!!!!!!!
The velcro from the backing plate was tearing up the backside of the pad and sending particles all over the car. When I went to pull the pad off the pad started to seperate pretty bad.
Since I did not have another firm (orange) I used the medium (blue) HF pad. Same thing within 4 body panels!!! The soft (black) pads held up okay since I was not putting any pressure on the DA. So, I will be returning the two pads.
As others have noticed, the power switch is junky. I personally found it hard to turn off on several occasions, but improved my technique. The DA is loud too! I ended up using some ear plugs it got so bad.
Overall it did the job. I will invest in some Meg's or LC pads and try it on another car.
deeman said:
It may not be the pads causing the problem--you can't use one pad to do an entire car, if the pad was overloaded with product it will over heat, if you didn't clean it often it will over heat, if you used it at high speed for a lengthy period of time it will over heat. It sounds like your pads were destroyed by heat. On the other hand the pads could be junk, but first try to eliminate potential technique problems before you blame the pad because if you use the same technique with other pads you'll have the same problem.
As long as you are going for different pads--go for a 5" quality backing plate which will allow you to use 5.5" pads.
C. Charles Hahn
CCH Auto Appearance, LLC
deeman said:
Kinda sounds like you may have overheated it. Not uncommon for a newbie, you'll just have to learn when to clean and/or swap pads.
Separation can be another sign of overheating.... and yes, HF is including a backing plate with its DA that is too large for the pads it sells to go with it. Pick up a smaller plate and adjust your technique and you likely won't have that problem.
BigAl3 said:
Take the head off and re-pack it with more and better grease... problem solved. It will make the machine run cooler, too. I wasn't able to tear into the gear drive of my HD polisher, but the HF version of the same came apart with no trouble at all.
C. Charles Hahn
CCH Auto Appearance, LLC
bbak said:
What I used was this stuff:
Sta-Lube Sta-Plex™ 3191 - Extreme Pressure Premium Red Grease | O'Reilly Auto Parts
Do take the time to clean all of the old grease off the parts though; different kinds sometimes don't like to mix.
Could you tell me how you got the head separated? I removed it from the body of the polisher, but the 4 screws holding the head together don't allow very much clearance. Using a regular phillips screwdriver was at an angle and with the lock washers on them I could not get enough bite to loosen them. I tried an offset screwdriver also with no success. Walk me through it Please, I appreciate it and Thank you for your help and time.
Bruce
Bruce