Buffers

I am about to buy a buffer ideally to polish and apply wax to several different types of cars. I do not have experience with buffing, but by the end of the summer i will have buffed at lease 100 cars. What do you think i should invest in? I have the opportunity to buy a 10 year old cyclo dual for $50....should i do that or just get a normal orbiatal buffer?

 

Never had experience with a cyclo, but MHO would be to buy a rotary and a DA.

Both have their uses, and it might be more than your willing to spend, but in the long run, it will pay off.

 

Get a Griots 6" DA. $140 Lifetime Warranty. Its also the most powerfull DA on the market :cig:

 

These could be considered short orbit or eccentric offset machines:
• 3/32" (2.5mm) diameter orbit- Metabo SXE400 or several air powered units,
• 3/16" (4.75mm) diameter orbit- DeWalt DW443, Festool Rotex RO150 FEQ, or the Griot's Garage RO
• 7/32" (5mm) diameter orbit- Makita BO6040

5/16" (8mm) orbit or eccentric offset;
• Meguiar's G110V2, 55 dB, 6800 OPM, 4.25 amps, 5.5 lbs - approx US$ 175
• Porter Cable 7424XP, 55dB, 6800 OPM, 4.2 amps, 5.5 lbs - approx US$ 150
• Flex XC3401VRG, 7.5 amps, 4.8 lbs - approx US$ 340
• Metabo SXE400 - approx US$ 75
• Cyclo Polisher, Speed: 3000 OPM - approx US$ 300

3/16" (5mm) orbit or eccentric offset;
• Griot's Garage 6 inch Random Orbital Polisher, 7-Amps, 9600 OPM, 5.75 lbs 6800 OPM - approx US$130
• Griot's Garage 3-inch Mini Polisher, 4.25 amps, 10000 OPM - approx US$90

 

Save your money for a better one, the cyclo is more of secondary polisher, rather than being a primary one. You won't be able to hit the tight spots and curves like you really need to, put the money towards a better buffer instead that will be more reliable and able to get into tight spaces.

 

DA or orbital in your opinion?

 

Never buy an orbital, they are cheap and don't do anything.

You're looking for a D/A or Rotary, I would suggest a D/A, like the Porter Cable, Meg's G110v2, or Griot's. They are harder to screw up on, and a lot harder to leave holograms like rotaries can. Great for a beginner but still have the ability to correct most of the defects you'll come up against. They used to not be able to do as much as a rotary, but they're becoming more powerful everyday, and supposedly Meguiar's is developing a set of polishes that should be out in fall that will really enhance what a D/A can do.

I personally pretty much only use a rotary, but it takes a long time to master. I have a feeling I'll be picking up a D/A more and more in the near future as new stuff comes out for it.

 

Yep, learn to work with the right polishes by using a porter cable/megs/griot DA polisher first. Going straight towards a rotary isn't a good idea until you know what to expect with polish breakdown times and basic techniques. I've seen a lot of guys jump into a rotary and then tear right through perpendicular panels because they didn't tape them off. Learn the basics with a DA and then if you find the need to, bump up to the rotary buffer.

 

A DA will allow you to do correction work in a safe manner and by playing with different pads and polishes, you will be able to do some very good correction work. Have a look at some of the recent correction jobs I have posted in the show and shine section to see what you can do with a Porter Cable.

 

I'm assuming that you'll work as professional considering that 100 cars by the end of summer? If that's the case go with rotary, save you time when working on paint correction and investing in DA wouldn't be a bad idea, it's perfect for jeweling. Forget orbital, they just jiggle and make your arms fatigue. Like others said, need to be safe with rotary while DA is mostly fool proof