Man vs. Machine

[onnfire]

I up till now have only used products that i can apply by hand. What would be the next step to achieve better results and a lot less tired arm?

[Murr1525]

A G-100 is the machine to pick. You can swing past autodetailingsolutions.com to look at packages/prices. Here are some links with a little info and How-To's, but all you have to do is read the "Show Off" forum threads to see the results it can get.

Rotary vs. PC vs. Regular Orbital Buffer

Recommended Products - G100a Dual Action Polisher

Using the G-100 to remove swirls with the Professional Line

PC + #83 not "Cutting" it! - The Limits of the Dual Action Polisher

[onnfire]

Is there anything cheaper than the g100? In your opinion, is it worth the money?

[Murr1525]

Well, lets put it this way, I'm getting tired of telling others how to use it and then hear how they love the results.

I hope to get mine over the winter...

There are things cheaper, but most of the smaller buffers dont have the ability to remove swirls very well. And it is a lifetime warranty, so it should be a one-time only purchase.

[onnfire]

With a Da polisher, you cant cause any really bad damage that a profesional detailer couldnt take out, right?

[Murr1525]

With a good DA polisher, you shouldnt need to go anywhere near a 'professional' ever, unless you get some real bad scrathces/aging that require a rotary.

The G-100 will actualy stop spinng if you push too hard on it, and you really could grab the foam pad with your hand if you felt like it. It is powerfull enough, but not going to keep going and damage anything.

[farmboy]

If you decide to get the G100 make sure you buy a bottle of #80. It is a perfect match. Also it is worth the time to tape off the moldings. This really allows you to 'kiss' the trim and saves you work of cleaning residue. This is an awesome machine, well worth the money. You'll never go back!

[Kickin Griffin]

Go for the G100. Yes, its quite an expensive compared to many other machines, but look at it this way. Here in the UK, you cannot buy the G100. But a great many of us import the tool from the US simply because its one of the best you can get for detailing. If it wasn't good, we wouldn't bother going to the trouble of importing it specially! (Though with Autopia, its as easy as 1-2-3 to get a G100! )

Its a very easy tool to use too - its very unlikely you'd damage your paint with it owing to its random-orbit nature, and yet you can still perform excellent defect removal with it. Slower than with a rotary, granted, but much safer and for a newbie to machine polishing you can literally pick up the G100 and away you go. A rotary will take practice to get right, the G100 you can get defect removal and results straight away, and quickly hone your technique to get brilliant results.

I'd strongly recommend it, and coupled to the #83 and #80 combo its a brilliant tool. Megs pads are very good too, I'd get a couple each of W8006 and W9006 pads to go with it. Also, I personally find that you can get excellent results from the PC using LakeCountry Light Cutting and Cutting pads (Orange and Yellow), they have more bite than the Megs ones for more severe defect removal. And for when the going gets a little tougher on harder paints, I favour 4" pads (can generate a little more heat and so can break down more aggressive compounds more effectively and cut better) and the Menzerna polishes - Power Gloss and Intensive Polish.

[Accumulator]

Originally posted by onnfire
With a Da polisher, you cant cause any really bad damage that a profesional detailer couldnt take out, right?

I wouldn't go that far. It *is* possible to irreparably damage paint with the PC/G-100, I know this from first-hand experience (but I was doing something weird/goofy and knew it might happen). Better exampleL: at a get-together in St. Louis in, oh, maybe 2004 (Mike was there), somebody cut all the way through the clear on a 190-series Benz with a PC. This person was *not* doing anything weird/goofy and had experience with the PC (was using my machine at the time ).

But having said that, the chances of something going that wrong are very, very slim. With some common sense and a good product/pad combo like the #80/W7006 you won't do any damage unless you do something very, very strange. It's more likely that you'll wish it were more aggressive

Don't bother with anything cheaper, just wait until it's affordable to you.

[the other pc]

Originally posted by onnfire
Is there anything cheaper than the g100?...

The G100/PC is the least expensive of the professional quality machines (when you buy it from a discount dealer). Machines from Cyclo, Makita, Festool, etc. cost more.

The cheap machines are low power, low speed consumer machines. They can be used to save your arms a bit when simply waxing but can’t do significant defect (swirls, scratches, bad oxidation) removal.


PC.

[RZ Autodetailing]

It will pay for itself a thousand times over in your lifetime.......very cheap price for what you will get out of it..and it will save your arms alot of aches iam sure.

[onnfire]

would it be able to remove these scratches

[RamAirV1]

Originally posted by onnfire
would it be able to remove these scratches

Yes, probably! If not it will reduce the appearance of them so much that they would be very difficult to notice.

I was a skeptic until I finally bought one. There is no going back. The swirl and scratch removal capabilities cannot be duplicated by hand! The polishing and waxing capabilities it provides are extra benefits.

RamAirV1

[Kickin Griffin]

Originally posted by onnfire
would it be able to remove these scratches

Run your finger nail gently across the scratch - if the scratch is deep enough to catch the nail then the G100 will not be able to remove them, but will likely redice the severity of the scratch.

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by Murr1525
Well, lets put it this way, I'm getting tired of telling others how to use it and then hear how they love the results.

I hope to get mine over the winter...

Originally posted by Murr1525
Well, lets put it this way, I'm getting tired of telling others how to use it and then hear how they love the results.

For as much help as you provide on the forum, we need to get you a polisher, that way you can speak from first hand experince.