Metabo Anyone?

the other pc said:
You can’t go wrong with the Makita. If weight and size are important factors to you then the Metabo is worth a look (and if you actually try one you might get hooked). But really, any of the well known and popular machines from the Makita, DeWalt, Porter-Cable and Hitachi will serve you well and be a pleasure to use.





PC.
Click to expand...



Now this is something I would whole-heartedly agree with! :up



There are a great many rotaries out there that will give you years of enjoyable and reliable service - when I was last in the market for a rotary, I went for the Makita 9227 and I haven't looked back. Yes, it a relatively heavy tool in comparison to the Metabo but this doesn't bother me and I find the Makita perfectly easy to control - a real joy to use in fact.



One thing that put me off the Metabo (and this will sound strange here I know), was the max speed on the model I saw in the UK being 2200rpm. Now I know this is plenty fast enough for most polishing activities - all general defect removal infact, but recently I had a car with a very very poor paint job come in - horrific orange peel. Now I am waiting to be slammed for my techniques here, but I found myself happily knocking back this orange peel using Power Gloss at 2500rpm+ (keeping check on the panel heat throughout) on the Makita, and then refining the finish at normal (1200 - 1500rpm) polishing speeds... The higher speeds aren't available on the Metabo. Now I know this isn't a generally accepted technqiue for using the rotary polisher on paintwork, but I was eyeing the panel temp and the paint thickness throughout and I found that this was delivering me the results both I and the owner were after without the need to wetsand the frankly horrific paint job.
 
Bioman said:
Hmm...Makita vs. Metabo? I've recently had a chance to pick up a Makita and it wasn't that heavy. The weight difference is only 0.8lb's between the two. Would the lighter weight make the Metabo easier to achieve the same results as the Makita? Worth the extra $40+ for the Metabo?
Click to expand...

That can depend on the person. Me, I have injured right elbow so handling extra 0.8lbs for few hours or more might make a lots of difference to me. Also, you might want to take a look at shape and dimensions of one vs. the other and see which one feels more natural / easier to work with it.
 
The Hitachi is 0.4 pounds lighter and has a more powerful motor than the Makita. The Hitachi also comes with a 5 year warranty vs a 1 year warranty from Makita. Somebody on eBay used to sell the Hitachi's for $99 shipped, but I haven't seen them for sale at this price lately. AG just had the Hitachi on sale for $112.50 shipped, but that sale ended about two weeks ago. I've used Makita, Hitachi, Dewalt, Fein, Metabo, Harbor Freight, Vector, Rockwell, Ingersol-Rand, etc, and most of these polishers will give you the same end result. If you want the lightest weight machines, then look at the Metabo or Fein, but they'll cost you a lot more. I don't think there's a clear winner that's best for everyone, so I'm glad we have choices. Pick one and learn to use it :)



As far as specs go, here's some brief specs I collected on some of the popular rotaries...



Porter-Cable 7428

1 year warranty

10.0 amp motor

1,000-3,000 RPM

8.0 lbs



DeWalt DW849

1 year warranty

8.0 amp motor

0-3,000 RPM

8.25 lbs



Makita 9227C

1 year warranty

10.0 amp motor

0-3,000 RPM

6.6 lbs



Hitachi SP18VA

5 year warranty

11.0 amp motor

0-3,400 RPM

6.2 lbs



Milwaukee 5460

5 year warranty

11.0 amp motor

0-1,750 RPM

8.75 lbs



Metabo 12-175

??? warranty

10.0 amp motor (newer version)

700-2,200 RPM

~4.9 lbs

note: the older Metabo only had a ~6 amp motor



Fein WPO 12-27E

??? warranty

10.0 amp motor

900-2,700 RPM

5.1 lbs
 
ZoranC said:
Warranty and price aside, how much of a range above 1750 rpm and below 700 rpm is actually needed / usable?
Click to expand...

For most of my work on typical passenger cars concerning polishing paint, I typically work in the 1,000 to 1,500 RPM range. However, on trucks painted with Imron or on heavily oxidized gel coated surfaces (trailers, RV's, boats, etc), I'll sometimes use a wool pad at 2,500+ RPM.
 
After owning a Metabo for a little over a year..



I would not trade my Metabo up for anything else. It's the most well balanced, easy to use rotary on the market. My DW849 is collecting dust. The metabo controls are spot on to a PC -so adjusting speed isn't big deal -but still not quite as nice as having the speed dial on top and in view. I quickly adjusted to the Metabo and LOVE it. It's an expensive tool -no doubt, but well worth the extra cash for me.
 
mgm121499 said:
After owning a Metabo for a little over a year..



I would not trade my Metabo up for anything else.
Click to expand...

Now here is an interesting one: Metabo vs. Festool Rotex 150 FEQ? Do you think if you would have Rotex you wouldn't have any need for rotary or you feel there still would be jobs that Rotex can't do but rotary can?
 
I have too many Dam polishers two old Souix class 1200 and One 2000 metal bodied last of the moheikins. A Dewalt VS polisher A new Makida VS , a new Matavo,VS and an older Matavo shortie and a Porter cable Dual action polisher.

I use the older Matavo the most because its light and easy to use especially on the roofs of SUVs. I have played with the PC but only lately have I managed to use Started in with the new Lake country pads and the Menzerna polishes , not impressed grabed the new 3m perfect -it foam polishing glaze and prefect-it compound with a new wool clear coat pad from 3m to cut some very fine scratches on a Mercedes-Benz E-500 factory clear coat and finished with the green foam pad from lake country and the new fineese-it 3000 polish

with my shortie Matavo. worked much better than the menzerna which I am disapointed in.



Bob Geco
 
ZoranC said:
Now here is an interesting one: Metabo vs. Festool Rotex 150 FEQ? Do you think if you would have Rotex you wouldn't have any need for rotary or you feel there still would be jobs that Rotex can't do but rotary can?
Click to expand...





I don't have either but I do have both the Makita 9227 and the Makita BO6040 dual mode machine. I don't use the rotary as much because you can do a good amount of correction with the 6040 but IMO the rotary is irreplaceable. If you're serious about this stuff I would have a rotary and a dual mode machine, skip the PC altogether.
 
MichaelM said:
I don't have either but I do have both the Makita 9227 and the Makita BO6040 dual mode machine. I don't use the rotary as much because you can do a good amount of correction with the 6040 but IMO the rotary is irreplaceable. If you're serious about this stuff I would have a rotary and a dual mode machine, skip the PC altogether.
Click to expand...

I'm not as serious into it as some people here are but I am getting increasingly serious. It would be nice to have something "smoother" / "stronger" than PC (as people say Rotex is) but with Rotex being $400+ I don't think I can afford to skip PC as much more inexpensive and safe start.



However, that doesn't mean I can not contemplate possible future path and if rotary is irreplaceable then Rotex + Metabo would sound as great combo to me if Rotex's "one size fits all" backing plate wise weren't turning me off. So, I guess that means Metabo + PC for me.
 
I am looking into getting a new metabo or makita. I have an old black and decker that I have had since the mid 80's. It has done over 5000 plus cars. Still works good but the wiring has been done too many times and it's time is soon. I am looking into the metabo and what is everyones thoughts?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top