Rotary Polisher history?

togwt

togwt

The Old Grey Whistle Test
I'm trying to find info on early (earliest) rotary polisher, any info or links would be appreciated ... Thanks
 
I think in their promo materials,Pro wax or Auto Magic or similar used to feature photos from at least the 1930's showing men polishing brand new cars off the assembly line. Some form of the polisher has to have been around since at least the Henry Ford days. I bet the original probably started in Germany with its rich auto history.
 
While an old fart, not old enough to take you all the way back.

My first memories of running a buffer is around 1956.

"Buffers" then were actually "grinders" for working metal, and most were fixed speed of 5,000 RPM.

There were only two types of pads available. A 4 ply twisted wool yarn for cutting and heavy polishing and a natural lambs wool pad for polishing.

Compounds were all very heavy grit, usually red in color, which was "adjusted" by the addition of water.

Fine polish, a couple were available if you resided in a large metro area, out in the country side, we usually made our own polish.

Some interesting components went it to some, everything from baby powder, reg talc, corn starch, etc, some water mixed with light oil or kerosene, etc.

Grumpy
 
I seem to recall a thread on a forum somewhere (not sure which one) in which a guy posted pictures of his "rotary collection" including some machines dating back to the 1920s at least....



I also remember a thread over on MOL where Joe (Superior Shine) posted an experiment he did using corn starch and kerosene to buff out an old scrap hood with single stage paint just to see how the old-school techniques worked as compared to today's methods.
 
Charlie, want to have some fun?

Next time you get your hands on an old Ford from the early through late 70's with original paint (old single stage enamel), Put an old 4 ply yarn pad on the buffer and use 30w motor oil to buff it.

The pad will turn black, which is the "poly's" of that paint coming up and out, the thing will have a fair shine as well.

Not the best way to do things, but a little fun learning of how solvents will do a lot of things, lubricate the pad, the detergents in the oil cleans, etc.

Grumpy
 
I recall our conversations on web cars and over e-mail several years ago about corn starch,etc. Interesting history of how far polishes have come!
 
Love those vintage buffers! I've thought for a while to maybe one day start a collection like that just for display and prop them up on a shelf in the garage somewhere.
 
Shiny Lil Detlr said:
I seem to recall a thread on a forum somewhere (not sure which one) in which a guy posted pictures of his "rotary collection" including some machines dating back to the 1920s at least....



I also remember a thread over on MOL where Joe (Superior Shine) posted an experiment he did using corn starch and kerosene to buff out an old scrap hood with single stage paint just to see how the old-school techniques worked as compared to today's methods.
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I remembered that post and that's what got me thinking, but I can't locate it.
 
Ron Ketcham said:
Charlie, want to have some fun?

Next time you get your hands on an old Ford from the early through late 70's with original paint (old single stage enamel), Put an old 4 ply yarn pad on the buffer and use 30w motor oil to buff it.

The pad will turn black, which is the "poly's" of that paint coming up and out, the thing will have a fair shine as well.

Not the best way to do things, but a little fun learning of how solvents will do a lot of things, lubricate the pad, the detergents in the oil cleans, etc.

Grumpy
Click to expand...



30W motor oil, huh? Sounds like an interesting experiment. It makes good sense, considering that most of the polishes we typically reach for or recommend to use on older finishes like that are still based on mass amounts of petroleum distillates and feed polishing oils into the paint.
 
Ron Ketcham said:
One heck of a collection Joe has put together. I wasn't lucky enough when I was a kid to have any of those to use. All my dad's shop had was a 5000 RPM fixed speed Souix grinder, made it work though.

Grumpy
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[The Van Dorn is an interesting tool and I hadn't heard of them, so I goggled them and, as I'm sure you know, they were acquired by Black and Decker in 1928.] Superior Shine



Van Dorn Electric Tool Co. Cleveland, OH, U.S.A. This company seems to have evolved out of Van Dorn & Dutton Co., which dates back to 1910 and probably earlier. Sometime between 1916 and 1923 the name changed to Van Dorn Electric Tool Co. In 1928 they were acquired by Black & Decker, although the Van Dorn name seems to have survived into the early 1930s.
 
Ron Ketcham said:
While an old fart, not old enough to take you all the way back.

My first memories of running a buffer is around 1956...Grumpy
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My first memory of a buffer was circa '60's using a Cyclo and later a Black & Decker (don't recall the model though)
 
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