Stay with the Cyclo or move to the Metoba

Lots of talk about rotary and wool pads and how much better you can finish using a rotary and the easy of use wool pads. Will I almost purchased the Metoba, edge wool pads and some LC 7.5 with backing plate the other day but after watching the Megs video I back out. I currently own and I would like to think fairly proficient with the Cyclo and PC with edge pads and Wolfgang pads. First of all I’m not a professional and just a weekend warrior and the cars I work on mostly are show cars. I hear that you need to keep that pad flat and away from edges – will my cars don’t have very many flat surfaces and a lot of curved areas. After my reading of most of the rotary post over the last couple of months I feel that using a rotary on cars like below would be a disaster wanting to happen for a non experienced rotary user. Maybe mild polishes and finishing wool or foam pads maybe ok in an novices hands. What do you guys think? Stick to the Cyclo or move up?



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i think that car is bitchen for one. two ive never used a cyclo, had one on order they put my order back a while and i changed my mind.



three, if youre not trying to cut your work time down, or are happy with your results (they look stunning) why even spend the dough when you only do side work?



four, i don't see any problem whatsoever in polishing that beast with a rotary. keep pads flat as possible but go with the body.



jmo
 
Rotary is the way to go. Use it with a finishing pad and a fine polish you will raise the gloss bar.
 
I would stick with the cyclo. IMO, the paint on show cars and older cars in general is so variable that I would feel uncomfortable using a rotary. The cyclo is a great machine, and although I don't have one, I've use one on a couple of occasions and found it to be a great tool.



The choice is obviously yours but in your position, I would try a cheap rotary on a couple of scrap panels before purchasing the expensive metabo. You may find that you simply hate using a rotary.



JJ
 
Get the Metabo but keep the Cyclo. Finishing 100% perfect/hologram-free with the rotary is an elusive skill, but the Cyclo can take care of that final 5% quite well.



Rotaries are *not* the scary paint-destroyers that you might think, at least not with some common sense; but they're not so easily *mastered* either. Nice thing is that you don't have to truly master them to find them useful.



I *do* however, wonder whether your cars get marred up enough to make it a worthwhile purchase... :nixweiss
 
without seeing the car in person is tough, but pics of it look amazing. If I were to do the car in that great of condition, my step would be.



106ff on a megs soft buff finish pad or polish pad if needed at 1200-1500. Those are the safer approaches
 
I am a firm believer in "if it ain't broke don't fix it". If you are proficient with Cyclo and condition of your paint does not require rotary, if Cyclo handles it just fine, then stay with Cyclo, you do not need rotary. If you want rotary because you want a new toy fine but then keep the Cyclo and use Cyclo on those cars, have fun with rotary on something else.
 
DennisH, that is a beautiful 5 window coupe.

I am still somewhat new to detailing but am slowly getting the hang of just about everything. I have the rotary (Metabo) and the Cyclo. I really like the rotary for the initial paint correction/polish and now consider it a must, you can just get a heck of a lot of work done faster and better it's as simple as that. If you work on vehicles other than your own you definitely need one, but if you just have a few vehicles that you keep up, there is no real reason to get one, especially if you have a cyclo!



Once you have a vehicle properly prepped as best you can get it, the rotary should be put aside for the cyclo. It can put the final finish on a vehicle better than anything I have tried so far. It is by far easier and more forgiving than a rotary and just tweaks the finish from final polish through wax to perfection. Your comment/worry about the curves/contours on some of the older vehicles is true, you would have to be extra careful if you were using the rotary. However the 1st paragraph above is still very true.

In the end, you are the only one who can make the decision on whether to go for a rotary or not.

Changeling
 
I think I will spend the bucks for one since we are looking at getting a 55 T-Bird that is really in bad shape. A practice panel and start out using a finish pad and 106ff maybe the way to go. Thanks for all the nice comments and suggestions for some the members I respect the most..:waxing:
 
DennisH- Given what I read into your posts (about the kind of guy you are), I suspect you're gonna find the rotary to be pretty safe. I'd go so far as to say not to use exceptionally gentle stuff on that T-Bird. I'd go more middle-range (polishing pad, medium polish) and just apply plenty of brain power ;)



Heh heh, I'm *still* impressed that the contours of your vehicles don't give you fits with the Cyclo :D I think you'll like the rotary...if you get good enough to finish with it you'll probably never look back.
 
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