Are all DA polisher created equal?

If you can use a rotary you will have no trouble with any DA you choose.

 

It took me awhile to get used to the PC 7424 from using a rotary.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone!

 

For comparison purposes, I'd call a Flex 3401 a low speed rotary with limited random orbital motion.

 

With RPM between 160-480 no load, it's a very low speed rotary. Which it's not bad for a beginner.

There's a video showing how to turn the 3401 into a free spinning orbital DA, just by removing a gear. The gear can easily be put back in.

 

Quite true. Then again, I've only found the need for high speed on my rotary when I'm working on gelcoat on fiberglass boats. For cars (with paint), I don't get nearly as frisky. The beauty of that lower speed is that although you can do a ton of correction with the Flex, it's relatively hard to burn through anything for a beginner.

 

When I started detailing there was no DA polisher, or none was used as a DA polisher. Meguiars started with the 7424 for polishing cars. Time has differently change. Now I mostly use the rotary for major defect removal or headlight restoration, glass polishing etc. I had to remove a scratch from one of my vehicle that a fingernail will get caught on. I remove it with 3M Perfect-It compound and 3 passes with a wool pad on the Dewalt rotary. This was the last time I used a rotary for paint correction. It's been a few years. Grant it the rotary is smoother with a faster correction rate but it's not needed for majority of the detailing I do. This is why I have the 7424.

I wouldn't say a DA polisher is relatively hard to burn through paint for a beginner. Just have to use common sense. Some people want to remove 100% of swirls, marring in their paint. So, they try to remove all defect without thinking it through. Then people will hold the polisher in 1 area, start burning through the paint, or holding the polisher on an edge where there thin paint. Knowledge goes a long way.

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Vyz6P9XeYrw

Just one demonstration of burning paint with different types of polishers.

 

Can't decide which polisher, why not all of them rolled into one:

 

That is interesting. I haven’t seen that yet.

 

I look the operator of the Flex was the only one using downward pressure. Yvan and Levi was mostly one handed the polishers. When the Flex operator use one hand while polishing temperature went down slightly.

 

If it ever comes out. It was supposed to be released last year but Lake Country postponed the release date.

 

Plus Yvan side had dings that created high spot which made him go through faster. I believe there was a discussion about this video on Autogeek Online.

Don't mind I goofed posting this.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ibxmvzd5AbU Skip to 17:34

 

I have both Griot’s Polishers. They are really nice. Orbital and variable. They have up three different pad densities. Pads are attached by velcro and they stay put.

 

It is, as is their G8.

I have a Flex 3401, the Griot's G8 and G9, and a PC7424 (first generation).

I can't say that the G8 or G9 do any better of a job than the PC7424, but they both have features that make them nicer to use.

The Flex 3401 has been nicknamed "The Beast" for a reason...it is just a much sturdier machine than any of the others in my collection. Being forced rotation, it also doesn't stall out on curvy panels. It corrects faster, but you do have to exercise caution using it. It is not perfectly suited for a beginner, but it also doesn't require all that much experience to use one effectively.

I also used to have a full rotary, the key part being "used to". I used it once - it flung shit everywhere, and then I managed to have it catch on something and jerk out of my hands, causing some pretty decent damage to the bumper of one of my old cars. I tossed it aside and never tried it again after that...it just wasn't worth the potential for disaster. If I were to ever try one again, it would be on a car I cared nothing about until I got the technique down perfectly.

 

People that say that honestly have no business using ANY power tools. I've been using a Flex for 99% of every correction I've done in the last ten years. Never jumped on the Rupes bandwagon although I do have their ibrid for tight spots. I'll move on from a Flex when I see a better tool. So far I have not seen that better tool.