Recommendations for a buffing tool?

[Huffer]

So my car has a TON of small road chips that are rusting away in the paint, I know I can claybar it - but I'm looking for a good tool to put wax or polish on, and then use my power drill to hit the claybar'd surface.

Any recommendations? I have a Meguiar's powerball that I use for my headlight polish, could I use that or would it be too abrasive?

[d1giPhux]

You could pick up and HF special for cheap :

http://www.harborfreight.com/7-inch-var ... 92623.html (http://www.harborfreight.com/7-inch-variable-speed-polisher-sander-92623.html)

I know someone who has one, and he swears by it. I personally have an expensive one (porter cable).. and wish I had just bought a cheap one instead, since mine is DA, it doesnt seem to have as much power as a 'rotary' model for buffing out really tough scratches and such. You can buy special pads at like autogeek or something along those lines.

[httrdd]

Yea if you only use it once in a while then just but the HF one. I am getting one before winter. Meguiers makes come really good cutting pads and compounds.

[d1giPhux]

Yeah.. i sort of want to pick one up for extra power. However.. my car needs a whole damn paint job anyways to look perfect again. LOL

[Huffer]

Thanks for the tips guys! Off to HF I go!

[httrdd]

Find a 20% off coupon in some magazine or online.

[Huffer]

That HF tool is going to be on sale in a couple of weeks:
http://bfads.net/Ad/Harbor-Freight-2011#AdscanPage2

$30 instead of the RRP of $40

I'm thinking about trying a Powerball variant... I already have a great power drill so I can just use the Powerball 4Paint attachment.

[httrdd]

Yea but you wont get the rpm range you can get with one of these. I am buying one this week. Tired of buffing by hand.

[Huffer]

Good point. The drill gets up to 175ft/lbs of torque. I don't know RPM range of the drill.

[httrdd]

HF buffer is 200-3377 RPM and a HF cordless 18vlt is 0-900 RPM. The guys on Meguires forum recomended 1500-1700 rpms so you dont burn through. Plus the amgle of the DA is so much more comfortable and easier to corner.

[redlegacygt]

i would recommend the porter cable 7424 which is the DA of choice for most detailer's but its prob. a little more money then your looking to spend. I have one an its really nice. If you watch on ebay you can find used ones for cheaper.

[bulldozer24]

i have the meguiars da and i love it, it was a little pricey but i detail cars on the side so it paid for its self in no time.

[Dead91silvia]

I have had a Makita for over 10 years! It's a beast, never have had a problem with it. I cant tell you how many cars have a bit more shine because of it!

Only boss has a Dewalt. I liked the fact you could change the handle positions, but its not as reliable as my Makita...

[Wiscon_Mark]

I just coughed up 130 bucks for the Porter Cable 7424 random orbit buffer and I have to say, it's very good! Removing excess wax was damn easy and it put it on very evenly.

Now I have to look into a cutting compound & attachment for removing the little rust flakes on the clear coat from metal debris on the road. Silver shows that stuff up close really easily.

One question. How do people clean the buffer pad? It got pretty dirty (even after the car wash).

[bulldozer24]

all of that stuff on the pad is bonded contaminants, i usually wash mine out with a good dish soap but some pads can be machine washed. And some advice for every one detailing their car for the first time use a clay bar to remove all of those bonded contaminants then proceed with compounding, polishing, and then waxing.

[Thomistopheles]

You need to decontaminate the paint completely before your pad goes anywhere near the paint. A thorough wash, strip the wax, then clay bar. After that the only thing that will clog your pads is removed material (and excess compound). I use a conditioning brush to freshen my pads up when they're loaded up mid-detail. After the job's done, I wash them by hand using a special detergent that will not leave any residue and agitate using the conditioning brush, Dry them with the hook and loop side of the pad facing up so the water won't drain onto the adhesive holding it on the pad material.

[d1giPhux]

A product like this:

http://www.superiorcarcare.net/snappytool.html


That stuff works great. Makes fast work of cleaning the crap off the pads. Plus the comb/brush that the other guys were talking about.

[Reason]

Unless you plan on using it everyday I wouldn't go too fancy. I polished the frame on my motorcycle with a hand drill and a 6" attachment, and then muscle power. I don't think I spent more than $15 for what I needed and it came out tits. Look for my 93 GSXR thread and you will see.

[Dead91silvia]

There are so many methods for doing this... As well as different tools...