Which machine polisher you recommend?

I

imported_mohebmhanna

New member
I found Harborfreight 7" Variable Speed Polisher/Sander on sale for $34.99. Could you please provide your inputs, is this a good car polisher? I never used DA or PC before for car detailing. I know most of you (if not all) recommend Griots 6" or PC 7424 XP. Plesae advice.
 
The Harbor Frieight 7" variable speed #92623 is a great little rotary buffer. That's the orange one, they also have another one, don't have it in my tool supply.

I have an orange one, and for small job often go to it rather than my Dewalt or Milwaukee.

Had it three years, works like a charm.

Grumpy
 
mohebmhanna said:
I found Harborfreight 7" Variable Speed Polisher/Sander on sale for $34.99. Could you please provide your inputs, is this a good car polisher? I never used DA or PC before for car detailing. I know most of you (if not all) recommend Griots 6" or PC 7424 XP. Plesae advice.
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If you have minimal/zero experience with polishers in general, I'd vote for the Griot's as opposed to any rotary. For that matter, I hardly ever use either of my rotaries any more.



By the time you get the hang of using a rotary (i.e., finishing out 100% hologram-free) you could've turned out a zillion great details with the Griot's.



Yeah, I know...big price diff.
 
Hi Ron,

Yes, this is the one on sale. The other question I would like to ask is that is this can burn the paint or it has the same safety feature like Griots 6" or PC 7424 XP. Thanks for help.



Moheb
 
You sure can "burn" the paint right off the car if you don't know how to use one, use the wrong speed, the wrong product, the wrong pad, etc.



I use them all the time and only use the Dual Actions as a final, finish up the finish.



DA's take way to much time for full paint corrections in my years of experience.



That said, if you have no experience with a rotary, you will need to get some panels, read all the threads here and "practice, practice, practice" before going on a vehicle.



Grumpy
 
Yep, definitely get some scrap panels and practice. A junk yard ought to have some for the taking I'm keeping mine forever. I have them up in the garage attic now but I can always pull them to practice. He he, they moved with me when I moved here from up north. The movers told me they thought they saw just about everything a person moved until they packed those. :chuckle: :o
 
Also handy to have to do some spray painting practice on!

Shot part of the old Buffalo farm mini-bike today.

Didn't use a 2K urethane, automotive type.

Got talking over the weekend with a friend who restores old IH tractors and he does a nice job on the paint.

Told me he was using the Majac 1k urethane from Farm and Home Supply.

You can add an activator if you want faster dry time and more gloss.

The paint is $10 a quart vs a 2K automotive at $35 a quart, the activator is 8 oz for $10 vs $25 for 4 0z and the reducer is $10 a quart, or you can use a quality enamel reducer if you wish.

Don't have any old panels laying about to test on, wish I did, got to go to Lem's and pick up some cut outs of panels.

I failed to do a quick shot on a test panel, just mixed and shot with one of my HVLP's and when I finish the frame, will reduce a bit further and cut down the material supply to the spray head. (got one run to sand out)

Other than that, great finish, saved a ton on materials and it is far better for painting engines, engine parts etc. than RustOleum from what I have been told.

Very anti-corrosive finish, great gloss.

Grumpy
 
Ah, see that, scrap panels are so handy for anyone interested in detailing/painting/body work.



One could start out and get whatever buffer, some scrap panels, and learn and learn, first polishing, then painting, then learning to polish fresh paint.Glad I still have those panels, because they are nasty and could use some paint. A whole other skill I could chip away at.
 
Buddy up with a bodyshop.

They have a lot of stuff that goes in the trash bin.

Headlights with a small crack, practice refinishing them.

Various types of black rubber and vinyl trim pieces, practice with the ETR on doing them.

Beat out some dents using the old hammer and dollies.

Practice sanding techniques on panels as well.

Using a magnifier, learn to identify various paint issues, how deep are scatches, what clears from what cars react differently, some have refinish paint on them, learn from them as well.

Lots of education in a trash bin at a bodyshop.

Grumpy
 
The biggest lesson I learned by working at a bodyshop, and DIYing a few projects, in my youth was that I wanted to pay more highly skilled people to do it for me :chuckle:



But I did learn a lot, much to the dismay of some paint/body guys who would rather *NOT* have a knowledgeable customer.
 
paint/body guys aren't the only ones that don't like a knowledgeable customer. being knowledgeable means that they can't short cut it and they know you'll catch them if they try.
 
Accumulator said:
If you have minimal/zero experience with polishers in general, I'd vote for the Griot's as opposed to any rotary. For that matter, I hardly ever use either of my rotaries any more.



By the time you get the hang of using a rotary (i.e., finishing out 100% hologram-free) you could've turned out a zillion great details with the Griot's.



Yeah, I know...big price diff.
Click to expand...



What do you guys think of this random orbital: Amazon.com: ORBITAL: Secco 110 Volt Dual Action Random Orbital 6" Polisher, Sander, Buffer: Home Improvement ????

for those of us who don't do this for a living.
 
pwaug- Besides being a bit leery of names I'm not familiar with (Secco? new to me, but that might not mean anything), it looks like that machine might not work too well (if at all) with smaller pads.



While the price is appealing (maybe too much so ;) ), I'd caution you to *NOT* approach this from the standpoint of "I don't do this for a living, so I don't need something expensive/fancy/good". You oughta get the right polisher for your needs, whether those needs come up very often or not.



You might've read here how I have a crazy number of polishers...but note that I do maybe one or two (usually pretty mild) corrections a year. Hardly anything compared to many Autopians. But if I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna use the right tool for the job...an approach that's served me well in all sorts of fields. And if you're only gonna buy one polisher, IMO the Griot's 6" is the right one to buy.
 
Don't mean to hijack this thread, but the questions should apply to the OP as well.



Thanks Accumulator! At this point I'm leaning towards the Groits--just waiting for an Amazon Gold Deal. It seems Uno might be the best polish for someone who will be a nube at machine polishing and only has a couple of cars (well maintained) to do. Will the Groits backing plate and pads be OK to use with Uno or should I get the 3D plate and 3D 5.5" pads?
 
pwaug said:
At this point I'm leaning towards the Groits--just waiting for an Amazon Gold Deal. It seems Uno might be the best polish for someone who will be a nube at machine polishing and only has a couple of cars (well maintained) to do. Will the Groits backing plate and pads be OK to use with Uno or should I get the 3D plate and 3D 5.5" pads?
Click to expand...



I haven't tried the Uno yet, so I just can't say. I do suspect that you might want/need a dedicated finishing polish to use for the final pass(es), just based on what people here have posted.



The Griot's orange pad is a good "medium" poishing pad and again, I just don't know how that'll work with Uno.



See what kind of deal you get on the Griot's polisher, sometimes they come in nice cheap packages with some Griot's Machine Polishes thrown in. Maybe not the *best* stuff, but not the worst either.
 
the hf polisher is a great little polisher with practice and some good pads you can get a way more out of correcting paint than with a DA. I do own another flex rotory butIi still think for the money you cant go wrong. HF polisher is a thumbs up for me... BUT i.will say it dosnt matter what machine you use, its the pads and products and technique that matters more.
 
The Griots machine is the cheapest machine that is effective for paint correction. If that is too much you can try to find a used PC XP. The cheap rotaries will land you in trouble that costs much more to fix than the $35 price difference.



Secondly, if you think the machine is expensive, wait till you get to the pads you'll need...
 
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