Thinking aobut getting a buffer or polisher, your thoughts?

I really miss being a kid in high school where once I got off work I had all the time in the world to keep my car spit shinned everyday. Now that I'm in the real world with a full time job and a daughter in all sorts of activities time is not something I have and when I do have time cleaning my car is still low on my list and only gets done occasionally. Now to compound this problem I have a demon of trees living beside my driveway. It is a huge pine tree that loves to leave tiny sap specs all over everything! It will eventually get cut down but that will take some time. I have found the best way to remove these tiny sap specs is with a clay bar. The big globs are a whole different story but not what I am dealing with. Running a clay bar on a black car or my charcoal motorcycle leaves a hazy finish that has to then be polished and then waxed. I have been toying with the idea of getting a buffer or polisher for the polish and wax instead of doing things by hand. I'm getting old and my shoulder gets tired and hopefully it would save me some time. I'm not trying to cut to remove scratches with buffing compound so I don't need the speed. I figured get a nice small 6" or so polisher that runs slow 200 rpm or less. My thought is similar to working it by hand and prevents me from creating swirls or burning through the clear. It seems this is not a common thought process as I have yet to find a polisher or buffer that spins at less than 2000ish rpm. To those of you that use a power tool of sorts for polishing and waxing pitch in and tell me what you use, how you like it, what speed it spins, and anything else you find pertinent information. I'm also on a budget here guys, $200 is out of the question, $100 is possible with some time to save.

The Porter Cable 7424XP is what I have, and I use Adam's Polishes pads and compounds. It's decent for entry level things like minor paint correction, polishing, sealing, and I have also used it many times to apply Adam's Buttery Wax.

Check out my detail write-up: http://ltxtech.com/forums/showthread...Cadillac-CTS-V

There are smaller polishers that may operate at lower RPMs, but a lot of the Adam's pads and compounds call for various speeds. Some 2-3000 RPM, others 5000+ RPM. This polisher is pretty dynamic and gets the job done, but it's far from the best. I'm still experimenting with getting the combo right, but for the most part, I'm pleased with what I use.

As for applying wax, I will no longer let the polisher/buffer apply that. I am using Griot's Best Of Show paste wax and I apply and remove by hand.

As for claybar, yes it's a pain to do. I personally use Meguiers for the most part. There are alternatives - one being this from Nanoskin: https://www.detailersdomain.com/prod...rub-6-inch-pad

Claybar is meant to remove contaminates from the clear/topcoat. So it should be followed up by some kind of sealant/wax.

If I were to detail from scratch, I'd strip the wax and everything using a dish soap wash, followed by claybar, paint correction, polish (usually a multi-step process), sealant and/or wax, and then hit the trim/weatherstripping. Wheels, interior, and engine bay are a different animal, of course. For maintenance washes, I like to presoak the car with water, then use a foam cannon with a sudsy car shampoo, rinse, and wrap it up with Adam's H20 Guard and Gloss. I've been a bit more aggressive with changing it up and experimenting this year, but that's the jist of it.

Sorry for the novel, hopefully I shed some light on things.

For your price range, the Porter Cable is the go to. Don't fuss with the cheaper orbitals that look like a steering wheel you may find for cheaper. I would look into a good paint sealant to allow easy removal of the sap with washing versus slow buffing every time. The less you need to correct the paint the better.

With that said, get rid of the tree. I had a mulberry on my property and after first year of ownership, it was gone.

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I use a porter cable 7424XP for my business, and it has given me no troubles at all over the last 2 years. As far as pads go its kind of preference I prefer foam pads, and stick with Lake Country 6.5 inch (because of the baking plate). I will saw since I made the switch my details are much better. I use Chemcial Guys compounds (Blue or Orange pad which means heavy or medium cut), and HD Speed (Orange or yellow pad which means medium cut or heavy polish), and a coat of wax 99% of the time and get outstanding results. Here are some pictures of an oxidized Volvo XC90 is did recently with compound then hd speed (what I consider an advanced therapy or two stage correction). If you ever have detailing related questions I have a thread up call ask a detailer, you can also pm me anytime.

one thing though when it comes to buffers it really is worth investing in if you can swing it, even if you save up for a bit. I have used cheaper buffers and you can really tell they are cheap.

Thanks for the replies guys! Harner, I don't mind the novel at all the more info the better I'm here to learn. Blackbirdws6 the tree will definitely being going away hopefully this winter sometime along with it's little brother on the other side of my front yard. Spikester7878 I have read your thread on ask a detailer along with your thread from when you got your Porter Cable polisher.

So it seems a low speed polisher is not the way to go so thanks. Harner mentioned you don't wax with polishers only by hand. That's the only way I have waxed to this point so my question is if you have done both why switch back to hand? To anyone else are you waxing by hand or with a polisher and why?

I tend to apply products by hand versus using the machine. I've done it both ways and prefer by hand. I can feel how much is being applied and get into all the areas a buffer can't go. Most of the products I use are applied in thin coats per the manufacturer. A pad on a buffer can make that type of application challenging. If a product needs to be slathered on, I wouldn't have an issue slapping it on a soft wax applicator pad and applying it on the vehicle under the lowest setting.

Somewhat related, I picked up a Rupes 21 Mark 2 last week and it is absolutely fantastic. I will still use my PC when needed but it's amazing what these new machines do.

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I've heard great things about the Rupes. A quality wax will be meant to go on by hand. I only used the Adam's Buttery Wax because it came with my initial investment of pads and chemicals from then. At the time, it seems great and easy. But switching to a better wax netted obvious results. A lot of fine scratches/swirls were masked by the wax, and coverage of it was much better. Plus, I lack in the masking department and slinging and accidentally hitting plastics with the polisher is to be expected. This is one less thing to clean off the plastics and rubber.

It's not going backwards, but rather just doing it right. At least with that particular type and manufacturer of wax. If you find a wax that is designed for either application, then by all means experiment. All DIY detailers will experiment with stuff until they find the best combination. Plus with the influx of new compounds, polishes, chemicals, pads, etc - it only gets better.

There is also a cheap Harbor freight DA that is supposed to be pretty good, as long as you keep up with greasing. I personally haven't experimented with it yet, but have heard good thing for its price. Rupes and flex polishers are amazing. I got to test out both at detailfest last year. I eventually want to get one because they are smoother than my porter cable, and are very powerful, which makes correcting easier and its physically less demanding. Waxing is definitely meant to be done by hand. I've used a few liquid waxes, but I still prefer a high quality paste wax. I rarely use wax anymore and have switched almost entirely to carpro reload as my final step.

Experimenting is definitely an important part of detailing. I have probably used close to 1000 products (most of which were free or cheap samples) and if I like a product enough to use it regularly I buy in bulk (Mostly because detailing is my sole income).