Orbital Buffer/Polisher

[hoopdewagon]

Greetings everyone,
I have a question for you high speed professionals. What is the best Obital Buffer/Polisher on the market ? I hear GEM is pretty good. Anybody care to weigh in ...

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Orbital Buffer/Polisher

When you say,

What is the best Orbital Buffer/Polisher on the market ?

Which style do you mean? This style,

Sealy Orbital Polisher


Or this style?
Meguiar's G110



The above photos were taken from the below thread which is a "Sticky" in the Hot Topics forum.

Machine Photos - DA Polishers - Rotary Buffers - Traditional Orbital Buffers


GEM has probably been around the longest as far as building what we call traditional orbital buffers, but they are not as effective at removing swirls out of clear coats as a tool like the G110

[hoopdewagon]

Re: Orbital Buffer/Polisher

Thanks.

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Orbital Buffer/Polisher

Greetings everyone,
I have a question for you high speed professionals. What is the best Obital Buffer/Polisher on the market ? I hear GEM is pretty good. Anybody care to weigh in ...

what are you wanting to use it for?

[hoopdewagon]

Re: Orbital Buffer/Polisher

Waxing vehicles.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Orbital Buffer/Polisher

Waxing vehicles.

If you just want to spread out wax onto paint that's in good condition then either style above will work. The traditional style orbitals like this one,




tend to have fairly large pads on them that you place your bonnet over and this can make spreading wax out over small, thin panels harder.

The above type of orbital buffer doesn't have the power to effectively remove swirls and scratches out of clear coat finishes like the smaller style dual action polishers like this can do.






So if you just want a "Wax Spreader" then either will work but if you want to remove swirls and scratches then you really need a tool like our G110

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Orbital Buffer/Polisher

Your topic comes up often and because of this we have the below thread in our Hot Topics forum.

Rotary vs DA Polisher vs Traditional Orbital Buffer

[hoopdewagon]

Re: Orbital Buffer/Polisher

Thanks for your time.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Orbital Buffer/Polisher

Thanks for your time.

Where you at with your project?

[Slidder]

Re: Orbital Buffer/Polisher

Having never used either of the buffers you showed, I can't give any pro or con opinions. When I first got into detailing I purchased the PC and the Flex. The PC, although a slower bufffer, is a safer one (just my .02) The Flex as I'm sure you know is a lot faster and one has to be on their toes to make sure they don't mess up the paint. Having said that, I have used the PC with foam pads for spreading wax and foam pads for taking it off. I've also used it for removing swirls and scratches by ensuring I'm using the correct colored foam pad that goes with the product that is the same color. With the PC, it gives me amble time to stop and check my buffing test area. If I have a car that needs to be thoroughly detailed and back to the owner, I will often use the Flex due to a much higher speed. Having read what you did, I believe I may invest in the G110 just to see for myself what it is capable of doing. Many thanks for all the fantastic information.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Orbital Buffer/Polisher

Slidder, you are aware this discussion is 5 years old and the OP has probably made a decision by now??

OK, we're picking on you a bit, sorry!!!! You do bring up some valid points though: the Flex 3401, being a forced rotation tool, is essentially a rotary tool with a built in wobble. That prevents it from easily inflicting the sort of buffer swirl you can so easily get with a rotary, not to mention edge and trim burning, but since it's still a direct drive tool it has a ton of power and will keep putting all that power down even if you really lean on it. Tool selection can be a very personal thing and we know plenty of guys who won't give up their rotary, or who prefer (or hate) the Flex, and who love (or hate) the Rupes Bigfoot buffers. We firmly believe that learning proper technique is more important than which tool you select. Sure, you can't expect a very low power 10" orbital to give great results no matter how good your technique, but with a top quality tool you aren't guaranteed results either, unless your technique is as good as the tool, if not better.