Hello,
I am a professional detailer, and use a polisher easily 30 hours a week. I have used DeWALT, Makita polishers, and the Porter Cable. I work at a dealership as well as a lot of work on the side. I am really interested in purchasing one of the Flex machines for the lighter weight and hopefully faster results.
That's a good combo, rotary buffer plus dual action polisher. You can tackle any job with these two types of tools including machine sanding, machine scrubbing with a brush on the PC and everything you would normally do with a rotary and a PC.
A lot of my work tends to be on extremely rough paint that needs hours of work to bring it back.
Not all of the vehicles I work on need to look brand new in the end but it does come up several times a week, and especially with my private work. I'm hoping all of this background information helps with your recommendation.
That was the key word in the above paragraphs.
Not all of the vehicles I work on need to look brand new in the end
Since you already own two rotary buffers and one free spinning dual action polisher, I'd recommend getting the Flex 3401. Then later, down the road add the Flex PE14 for it's lightweight, compact size and quiet running feature.
I have the Flex, Makita, DeWALT and 3M rotary buffers in our garage and when we use rotary buffers the Flex PE14's always get grabbed first by the guys the arrive first.
I shared that little tidbit of information in this thread,
First Place for Worst Paint - 1942 Olds Extreme Makeover
The Flex 3401 with one of the quality hi-tech compounds on the market is an absolute BEAST at removing defects and creating an LSP ready finish.
So the question is, will the Flex 3401 work hard and fast enough for all day use or am I better off buying the PE14 150?
Recently I knocked out this 1972 Nova using the Flex 3401, this was an 8-hour buff out as the paint on this car was trashed. I pushed the tool hard, it took the punishment and the paint came out flawless. Same for the 1941 Chrysler in the background.
I used the Flex 3401 on both of these cars with the Nanoskin Medium Grade Autoscrub Pads to decontaminate them as in my opinion that is the best way to remove the majority of all above surface bonded contaminants and if you're goal is to create gloss than gloss starts with a smooth surface.l
My only hesitation with the PE14 150 is whether I can achieve that beautiful, flawless last step polish that seems to come so easily with a random orbit. Eventually I will probably buy both but for now I can only only manage one. If I can add any more information just let me know, thank you for the help!
It's a fact that the most efficient and fool-proof way to leave a hologram-free finish is by changing the action of the tool. This mean going from a tool that only rotates a pad in a single direction to a tool that both rotates and oscillates the pad at the same time.
Because of super high quality abrasive technology and foam pad technology it's easier than ever to create a hologram free finish using ONLY a rotary buffer but if you simply don't want to take a chance then switching to a dual action polisher is cheap insurance that swirls won't come back in a car you buffed months down the road after the owner of the cars starts washing your work with dish soap.
I'm still concerned that the 3401 won't be as fast at removing imperfections as the PE14 150. At work, time is extremely important.
The Flex 3401 will never remove paint as fast as rotary buffer. That's also a fact assuming all other factors are held the same, i.e. same pad, same compound, same paint and same person.
It will leave a hologram or buffer trail free finish more easily than a rotary buffer and that is the key benefit.
If you say the type of work you do does NOT have to be perfect all the time then the Flex 3401 is the way to go. If you want perfect the Flex 3401 can still do the job but the first step, the correction step could be done faster using a rotary buffer.
A few months ago my buddy Frank and I buffed out this Ferrari. I tried to use only the Flex 3401. It was removing the shallow scratches okay but there were a lot of deeper scratches in the paint. Instead of spending more time and energy with the Flex 3401 I simply pulled out the Flex PE14, slapped a wool cutting pad on it and laid down some Uber compound and hit about 99.9% defect removal fast. Frank followed me with the Flex 3401 to ensure no holograms and then we machine waxed the paint using Porter Cables.
This is a glossy finish and it looks this way today.... we also used Iron X on the paint when we washed it to chemically decontaminate it and then used Nanoskin Autoscrub pads on the Flex 3401 to mechanically decontaminate the paint.
Gloss starts with a smooth surface... clarity, depth and shine come from removing below surface defects.
I guess what I'm wondering is, why not the PE14 150?
You already own two rotary buffers. The lighter weight, compact size and low noise volume are great features that I really like but since you already own two rotary buffers go for the tool that you don't already own that is unique in this industry and add the Flex PE14 down the road when you want to treat yourself to your new favorite rotary buffer.
For the last year I've been using a DeWALT only with good ending results. At a new job I've had to switch to a Makita which is in really rough shape and tends to over heat a lot. This is the only time I've had trouble with buffer trails.
Speed is really important for me as I have a very large workload. With the PE14 cutting faster would I maybe be better with that and a cheaper random orbit for when I need an absolutely perfect finish? Sorry for the back and forth.
If you push the Flex PE14 too hard with too large of pad at low RPM's you will overheat it. This tool has a built in temperature sensor that will shut the tool off before it can overhead and due damage to the tool. The other rotary buffers don't offer this feature and will get just as hot but won't turn off.
It's real simple. You already have two rotary buffers, do your heavy chopping with the rotary you already have and finish out with either the Flex 3401 or the PC.
If you have access to some good rotaries than I would get the 3401. The 150 works like all the other rotaries except for the weight. I think you'll save time by learning to use this Flex orbital and adding it to your arsenal.
Good recommendation....
