Decent mains polisher / buffing machine?

You lot shame me with your highly polished machines, can anyone reommend a good industrial quality mains powered polisher please? I was thinking of one of these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=250407621672

Personally that seems like a bit of an overkill, and far to much money to pay for a polisher. You can get excellent for a lot lot less, probably looking at about £100 - £120, maybe less but ill probably be proved wrong

I'm no expert on this and I'm sure some of the detailers will reply to this thread with some good info. However, unless you are a professional at polishing you will need a dual action rotary polisher like the Porter Cable. The rotary ones are really meant for the pro's as it's very easy to burn through the paint.

If you have the time (and a stomach for OCD) take a read at http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/

The Meguiars machines are supposed to be quite good at an enthusiast level, if you're willing to spend ~£200.

If you want to spend somewhat less, there are adequate machines from companies like Silverline for ~£50. Just don't get a "sander/polisher" from Halfords.

It seemed expensive to me, too, but having started a home for dead and dying el cheapo angle grinders and drills I decide that buying a good one to start with may be more cost effective than 3 el cheapo things My expensive Milwaukee electric impact gun and similar make cordless drills have proven their worth over cheap predecessors, so I assumed paying more for a buffer would perhaps pay dividends, long term?

I paid something like £50 for mine from ebay and got all the trimmings, although I think it was a special offer and that was about 18 months ago and still going strong. But usually the usual practice is you get what you pay for but as i said earlier that seemed like a hell of alot of money for a polisher

hi chris either go for a metabo , thats what i use or makita , both machines are T+T prices are around the £170, both are rotary so will need a good bit of practise as damage can happen quickly if you dont know what you are doing .

i have a decent one off ebay that was cheap its a silverline and ive now had it for about 3 years it recently with my help polished a long wheelbase transit and yet again did a great job so well worth the money in my eyes.

http://www.abberley-outdoor.co.uk/kestrel-das6-dual-action-polisher-kit-173-p.asp

the machine im going to go for i think, got good reviews on lot of different forums

Porter Cable is great one and you cannot screw up paint with it

I went for a Kestral DA-6, but that is dual action, not rotary. Will a bit longer to achieve the same results as a rotary.

Link

The machine is only a part of it.

The pads and compounds are the true secret to a good finish.

Some good advice here Chris. I could easily lose the next hour going into detail about a lot of machines, but as im at work i'll try and keep it simple.

The cyclo you have posted is a very good machine, albeit quite expensive and perhaps really a little overkill price wise for what i imagine you are looking for, especially as it is still an orbital design. The Cyclo is designed to be used for years and years without much need to do anything apart from changing the carbon brushes when they wear out.

Otherwise, it's a fairly rudimentary machine with little to go wrong and you can easily see where the money goes on it. It is however due to its design a bit heavy, which can be very agravating after a long day polishing.

It comes down to deciding if you want to go down the rotary route or a dual action. Im going to presume, as the technical minded man you are, that you know the differences, forgive me if you dont.

You would be mad to not spend many many hours practising with a rotary if thats what you choose to get, as in the wrong hands you could quite quickly cause devastating results. On the opposite side a dual action is far more user friendly. It will not achieve quite the same results and it will take a lot longer, but the step up from doing it by hand is huge.

As Colin has said, the machine is only a small part of the overall results. The pads, polishes and the technique you use the machine will give very varied results. That said it can be very easy to get dragged into the 'detailing world' and have to try every new product that comes out, you will be far better off picking a well recommended product base and sticking with it so you learn to get the best possible results before trying something else.

So to sum up, if you do think of a rotary, i would look at these:

Makita 9227CB

http://www.powertools2u.co.uk/Mains-Power-Tools/Sanders-and-Polishers/Makita-9227CB---180mm-Sander-Polisher.htm

MetaboPE 12-175

http://www.lawson-his.co.uk/scripts/details.php?cat=Polishers&product=66660

I have used both of these and decided on the Makita. I find it more comfortable to use, even if it is slightly heavier. Vertical panels for example can become tiring with the Makita, but no where near enough of a problem for me to dislike the machine. The Makita's speed control is also ergonomically far better placed. Both tools are however very good, you almost need to pick both up and you just know which 'fits' you better.

If you do get a rotary i would advise to factor in a replacement backing plate such as the 3M 125 mm Perfect-it III M14 shown here:

http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/3m-125-mm-perfect-it-III-rotary-backing-plates-polish.html

It is softer than the ones that come with the machines and will offer you far greater control of the pad and manouvering it around the curves of panels. You will also really need a smaller backing plate to use with the smaller 80mm pads to get into the tighter areas.

If your thinking of a dual action, look at these

Meguiars G220 - link also shows a few polish packages

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/polishing-machines/meguiars-g220-dual-action-polishing-machine/cat_70.html

DAS 6 - polish packages also

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/polishing-machines/das-6-dual-action-polisher/cat_71.html

I havent used the DAS, but i do own 3 of the G220's. The G220 was very similar to the Porter Cable you may have read about, but being 240v you will not need a transformer to go with it. They have certainly had 'issues' with the Meguiars unit (hence me having 3) For a £150 product they should really have ironed these out by now, the speed switches have been prown to failure as were the brushes. These faults have supposedly been rectified, my last one has been going for a while now, but does rarely get used anymore as the Makita is a better tool for me. Meguiars customer service is however very good and i have always had a new unit delivered within a couple of days of logging the fault.

Personally i would choose a dual action if you want to be able to just pick it up, enjoy it and bring your car to life in the process. You will still need to learn how to get the best from it but the rotary could cause you more headaches if its not something you are used to or necessarily have the time to put in to learn to get the best from, safely.

Polish and pads are a whole new topic, but my personal choice is Meguiars and 3M pads with the Menzerna polish. The Meguiars #80 and #83 range are equally very good, but the level of cut and finish can be more easily reached with the Menzerna, but they can be known to play up in colder weather.

The generally used Menzerna polish range would be:

Menzerna RD3.02 - Cut: 7/10 Gloss: 7/10

Menzerna 106FA - Cut: 4/10 Gloss: 9/10

Menzerna 85RD - Cut: 2/10 Gloss: 10/10

Then we can get onto glazes, waxes and sealants. But in the hope that you have managed to stay with me on this post, i shall leave it there for now and go get a cuppa to start my day.

Hope some of this will help you, just ask if i can advise you anymore

Christian

but i do own 3 of the G220's.

Likewise I got a PC 2nd hand and it's outlasted all the G220s

Top post

I have a G220

FWIW I have a Porter Cable too - fantastic device, and effective without screwing anything up. Only downside for me was needing a 110v stepdown converter thing - I just got one of those 240v plant boxes and and of the industrial/builders 3 pin plugs - works a treat.

I think I paid £130 odd for the polisher all in, and a scary amount close to £80 for "accessories" such as pads, cutting polish, finishing polish, clay, lube, sealant, wax, etc...

Did a reasonable job on the Supra in about 5 hours, and did an absolutely stunning job on our old black Rex over 2 days - it looked gorgeous after I'd finished with it - very rewarding, but time consuming.

I've got a Makita (about £170 a few years ago) , it works perfectly.

Should use the cat in your avatar merckx

Should use the cat in your avatar merckx

Haha lol

Ah holy ressurection batman!!

Where would you go about getting a porter cable from? Google isn't showing up much this side of the pond.

Hi DB, are you in the UK? If so i would look at the Meguiars G220 or DAS 6 machine instead of the porter cable as you wont have to use a transformer.

Yeah I see that but I also see everyone say they've had to replace those models and had unreliability. I don't hear that about the porters.

I'm amazed at how many use them to polish their cars. I don't really understand why people use them if they take a long time since it usually rains the next day or the car gets covered in mud.

I had red paint (misano red) on my old car and I could actually watch the shade change through the week as it got dirtier. Why do people spend hours polishing when you can give it a sponge down and just drive it?

Strange, i thought this site was meant for enthusiasts, who want their cars to look their best, and stay looking good for as long as possible. I better close business if the guys down the road charging a fiver can just give it a sponge down for me instead

Also, the reason machine polishing takes so long, is that they are generaly used to 'correct' the paint, a task that takes time, to do correctly, not just produce a bit more gloss.

I guess it comes down to what each of us see as an acceptable finish for your car. Personally i like my own cars and every car i work on to have the upmost exquisite finish possible, above and beyond when it left the showroom, however old it may be.