A love affair with my old school buffer ......

[Joe@Superior Shine]

I have been blessed by the Lord to be in a profession that I love. To date I have been fortunate enough to polish out rare classic cars, exotics, vintage aircraft.......the list goes on. I am thankful for every second of it!

I have spent countless hours behind the "wheel" of a polisher (buffer). I have fallen in love with them. The polisher in my hand is an extension of me.

My first polisher was a Milwaukee with a red plastic housing. Model number 5540 or there about. She was 11 amps of loud, heavy machinery but it felt great to use it.

I had an intimate sort of relationship with her over the 15 or so years that I "grind-ed" on paint with it. Yes the long nights in cold dark dirty body shops were at times unpleasant. My back would hurt, forearms would go numb and if I didn't wear hearing protection my ears would suffer but I was in my zone. I knew if I kept up the dance with Miss Milwaukee we would be rewarded with a flawless finish and a brilliant shine that will draw accolades from all that had the privilege to see it. She was no thrills. She was set at 1750 RPM. When you pulled the trigger she was on like a top fuel dragsters hot shot. I was more comfortable with her in my hands "rubbing" out a perfect finish than I was using a fork and knife to eat with.

Sadly a number of years ago she was stolen. I can only hope that she is loved by whoever possesses her as much as I did.


Miss Milwaukee...

I "replaced" (she can never truly be replaced) Miss Milwaukee with a DeWalt DW849 about 10 -12 years or so ago. It is a fine machine (I own six of them now as DeWalts and under various private labels) but it doesn't have the classic look and feel of the old school polisher.

I had to have another in my arsenal so...............

 

[Joe@Superior Shine]

Recently I obtained "Grandma Milly" Miss Milwaukee's grandmother.

She was born the "MILWAUKEE SUPER SERVICE POLISHER" and is every bit as beautiful as anything you would find in one of those fancy European art museums. She weights a ton and is loud but is all business. She wears her battle scares proudly. She runs perfect and has plenty of RPMs left in her.

She works her magic at a set 1450RMPs. She is almost entirely made of metal. Notice the side handle is made of wood.

The gear lock is a push button mounted on the side.

 

[Joe@Superior Shine]

I was so happy to have the Super Service Polisher that I started to look for other old school polishers.

Meet "Miss Crafty" She was born, " CRAFTSMAN COMMERCIAL POLISHER." She doesn't look bad for her age. Obviously she has been treated very well. I doubt she has served hard time like Grandma Milly but she still is a beauty.

Her handle is also made of wood. It is in pristine condition as it appears to have had little use. She is rated as having 1 horse power and is set at 1950 RPMs.

In order to lock the gear to remove or install and polishing backing plate or pad a screw drive is inserted into a channel then through the spindle shaft to hold it in place. So what kind of screw drive is best..... a Craftsman of course.

 

[Joe@Superior Shine]

Next in my collection is "Miss Betty Davis" She was born simply as, "7 inch AUTOMATIC POLISHER" She is a small polisher. At 2.5 amps she was specifically created for the "BLACK AND DECKER ELECTRIC POLISHING METHOD"

Notice her side handle is metal in a lovely tear drop shape.

I happen to have a brochure on the Black and Decker electric polishing method. In the brochure you can see Miss Betty Davis (or one of her sisters) as the STAR of the show.

 

[Crazy Amos]

Congrats on finally finding her sister! She is definatley a hog haha!

Gotta respect guys like yourself and Mike for grinding through the many years of heavy and bulky buffers and rocks in a bottle. If it weren't for you guys like you we wouldn't have the great machines as products we have today.

 

[Joe@Superior Shine]

The next lovely lady is "Miss Clark" She was born, "CLARK TU-SPEDE" and was manufactured by "JAS CLARK JR. ELECTRIC COMPANY, INC."

She has served her time well judging solely by her appearance. She still runs strong. She has to be the heaviest of the gals. Her unique feature is a rod you pull to transition from 3500 "sanding" RPM to 900 "polishing" RPM.

Her brass tag is gorgeous. She also wears a wooden handle.

Here is the rod that is pulled to switch speeds from 900 to 3500 RPM. She is my first and only "stick shift" buffer!!

A screw driver is inserted into the shaft to hold the gear for pad or backing plate changes.

 

[Joe@Superior Shine]

"Miss Van Dorn" has to be the most unique of the ladies. She was born the " Van Dorn Automatic Polisher"

Between the handle and the motor is a reservoir that one would fill with their product of choice (Meguiars of course). The product is then drawn out of the reservoir by pumping a thumb actuated button and sent up a tube that will dispense product out through the center of the shaft!!! Now how cool is that!?!?!

Add your polish here....

Pump the button....

Polish exits the shaft... I guess a special polishing pad with a hole in the center was used

A wrench is used to hold the shaft on Miss Van Dorn.

 

[Joe@Superior Shine]

So there are the "girls" I have another on it's way to me now as I post this. I will be sure to introduce you to her when she arrives.

I don't plan on polishing or restoring any of the polishers. They have all earned their patina and I'll keep 'em that way.


Here is a picture of my newest polisher, "SWEET 16" She is a FLEX PE-14 (serial #16) with two of the old girls.

 

[RTexasF]

Amazing machinery! It's nice to see "old timer" items that were built well before the words planned obsolescence were ever coined. Come to think of it I'm one of those old timer items :xyxthumbs:

 

[Joe@Superior Shine]

Another favorite thing about these old timers........ they all have , " MADE IN THE UNITED STATES" on them.

 

[Flash Gordon]

Old school coolness :dblthumb2:

 

[93fox]

Hey joe, one question. Do you do all your correction with rotary buffers? Or do you use them just after wetsanding?

 

[TL type S]

Thats awesome man.I just got that feeling that you get when you see a vintage Aston Martin.Time stops for a few moments and you wonder what you missed by not getting to test drive them.

As a total green horn I really appreciate this post because vintage polishers never crossed my mind till now.

Thanks again,that made my night,now for a glass of Veno!!

 

[Larry A]

I have a Black and Decker that I bought in 1964, and I still use it.

 

[dad07]

Very cool of you to put these on display for all to see.......I bet those Ladies are very happy in your hands Joe LOL!

Very cool indeed!

 

[C. Charles Hahn]

I'm absolutely floored by that collection.... too cool!

Amazing that the polish dispensing setup still works on that Van Dorn polisher, too... it must've started out polishing on Model Ts and Model As, yet it's still as good as new.


Of course, one has to ask: does your wife get jealous of all your girlfriends, Joe? :laughing:

 

[arkus]

Those are awesome machines ! Thanks for sharing .

 

[Transcendent]

Saw this on craigslist
Think im gonna get it now after reading this post
Milwaukee Buffer and Grinder Both for $100

 

[Fast Eddie]

This is a freaking awesome thread, I love and collect tools, especially old quality ones that are Made in the USA!
Thanks for sharing these great photos. "Grandma Milly's" handle looks like it was made from one of my old screw drive handles :xyxthumbs:

 

[Matt]

That's an awesome collection! Thanks for posting here so we all can see.

I can't believe the polish dispenser still works! Unreal!

I too noticed the "Made in USA" labels on them and the metal triggers rather than plastic. Seems oldschool and durable, I like it.