Opinions on orbital buffers

F

focus2069

New member
So, I know everyone lives and dies by their Porter Cable 7424 and their other products...



Just wanting an opinon on the less expensive alternatives....



I picked up a craftsman 7in orbital buffer a long while ago, because I didnt know any better at the time, and thats what my dad used way back in the day.



http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00910721000P?keyword=craftsman+orbital+buffer



It was 30 bucks, on sale and it came in a nice bucket kit, with 4-5 bonnets with it, and the bucket is used for a wash bucket.



Aside from being big and bulky (hard to get in smaller spots), what are the cons of having a cheap buffer like this?



I cant really hurt my paint with this as long as I use good pads/bonnets, can I?
 
I've only used one of those a couple of times. The biggest drawback is that you can't do much with them. Its not going to have enough power to do any type of corrective polishing. Its likely going to have a limited amount of accessories and not allow for many options (like pad selection).



I suppose that you could use it to apply wax and other lsps with it (providing that you use an appropriate bonnet.) I'm not sure that you'll get better results with it than applying the product by hand.



So I guess the question is would you rather spend 120 bucks or so for a versatile tool like a PC or 30 bucks for a machine with limited usefulness (or no usefulness if you like to apply your lsp by hand like many people do)?
 
superchargedg said:
Junk it and at least get a pc.
Click to expand...



No power, no pad selection means no real correction. If you found the right pads and spent forever, I guess you could get some correction. Reminds me, I need to throw mine out, bought it ages ago, still holding on to it for some dumb reason.
 
Focus2069 said:
So, I know everyone lives and dies by their Porter Cable 7424 and their other products...



Just wanting an opinon on the less expensive alternatives....



I picked up a craftsman 7in orbital buffer a long while ago, because I didnt know any better at the time, and thats what my dad used way back in the day.



http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00910721000P?keyword=craftsman+orbital+buffer



It was 30 bucks, on sale and it came in a nice bucket kit, with 4-5 bonnets with it, and the bucket is used for a wash bucket.



Aside from being big and bulky (hard to get in smaller spots), what are the cons of having a cheap buffer like this?



I cant really hurt my paint with this as long as I use good pads/bonnets, can I?
Click to expand...



You can't hurt your paint with a dual action or random orbital either. You can probably find a used Porter Cable (1st generation) for 50-75 bucks on Ebay or Craig's list. If you are serious about keeping up your cars you need at least a DA buffer. The newer DA's can do some serious correction work and they start out at about $130.00...small price to pay for what it can do for your paint.:dance
 
Focus2069 said:
I picked up a craftsman 7in orbital buffer a long while ago, because I didnt know any better at the time, and thats what my dad used way back in the day.
Click to expand...



That's what your dad used because that's all there was.



Focus2069 said:
I cant really hurt my paint with this as long as I use good pads/bonnets, can I?
Click to expand...



No, you can't hurt anything with it. You also can't really do anything with it. I decided after a couple of times that cleaning the bonnets was taking longer than any time or effort it was saving me.



yakky said:
Reminds me, I need to throw mine out, bought it ages ago, still holding on to it for some dumb reason.
Click to expand...



Yeah, me too, I have mine on the shelf in the original box, circa 1991 or so.
 
lol.



the replies are just like i figured.



like i said, i didnt know better...but at least I got a cool $30 bucket out of the deal!





been looking for a 7424 (regular or xp) for the past few days



keep an eye out for that bad boy craftsman for sale in teh classifieds soon!
 
I used a similar type of buffer (10 inch rather than 7 inch) for many years on black vehicles. I used it with polish, with cleaner/waxes and with "pure" wax. It worked quite well for me. It most certainly is not as good as a pc, but it beats the heck out hand polishing. A lot depends on the product you are using. With a lot of patience, I was able to do some pretty serious correction. What do I use now? My pc and/or rotary.



Tom :cool:
 
ive never used one, i have a Porter Cable, and i love it.. many different density pads for different products.. i wouldnt imagine bonnets wouldnt be as useful for polishing. but still. it has to be better than polishing by hand like someone already said.. just make sure u keep them clean or you'll do more harm than good. also generally with a da, the smaller the pad the more agressive, so i dont know how quickly such a large pad would give you the correction your looking for, but again, it has to be better than doing it by hand.
 
i'm new here so as with most newbies i've used one in the past and still have one in my garage. i've always got decent results with them mainly cause the cars i've used them on have been single stage paints that have been oxidized. using the megs 3 step i was able to get a good shine, but never really was able to do any correction..
 
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