Great deal on a Porter Cable. Now what?

zmcnulty

zmcnulty

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Mike,

I got a great deal today, $75, on a Porter Cable 7346SP. Is there anything about this model of polisher that I should know? Do I need some kind of special backing plate? What pads do you recommend for beginners?

Thanks for finding the time to reply and for the education you provide. Wouldn’t have known what I was looking at if it wasn’t for your work.
 
I'm not Mike, but what backing plate did it come with, if at all?
 
That’s a fair question. I’m really not sure. Here’s a photo. The owner’s manual lists it as a “sander pad.”
View attachment 70458

Thanks for your reply!
 
Ok.

Put that in the closet. Lol

Get any quality 5-inch BP sold here on AG that has the 5/16' thread.

As far as pads go, you want the 5.5" pads. (Not 6.5").

The PC machine is a little tank, but it doesn't have the power to spin the 6.5" stuff.

Lake Country Thin-Pro pads are a great choice for the PC. The thinner the pads, the better the PC will work.
 
Haha. Thank you for the insight! Good deal, though, right?
 
zmcnulty said:
Haha. Thank you for the insight!

Good deal, though, right?
Click to expand...

Yes. Very good deal.

I know the world is on fire for long stroke polishers and I like them to but fact is - short stroke like the 8mm Porter Cable is less prone to pad stalling.

If you pay attention - be it on this forum or ANY social media platform - one of the most common problems people have with free spinning random orbital polishers is pad stalling.

And if the pad is not rotating it's also not effectively oscillating and this means your polisher is not removing paint. The way you remove defects like swirls, scratches and water spots is by removing a little paint thus if your pad is not rotating or oscillating you're wasting your time.

And here's why short stroke trumps long stroke - short stroke is less prone to pad stalling versus long stroke when buffing out non-flat panels.

Just read the years and years of complaints made by people on this topic.


Point of interest..... back in 2011 - that's LONG before all the long stroke polishers were invented - I had a chance to talk with Engineers at FLEX while visiting the FLEX Corporate Offices in Germany.


Here's the link that documents this meeting.

Secret meeting with the Flex Engineers!


In that meeting, my recommendation (at the time - 2011), was for FLEX to bring out their version of the Porter Cable, that is an 8mm free spinning random orbital polisher only the MERCEDES-BENZ of this category.

That is take all the good features in the PC and improve them.


My recommendation was not received well. Fast forward 4 years and FLEX jumped on the long stroke bandwagon and introduced the FINISHER. The FINISHER as everyone knows is a 15mm free spinning random orbital polisher and it like so many other long stroke free spinning random orbital polishers is prone to pad stalling anytime you're using this "category" of tool on anything but flat panels. Not a so much a negative characteristic but a limitation for these types of tools.

Back to you and your new-to-you Porter Cable.

Short stroke polishers will stall out just like long stroke polishers (free spinning category), but my personal experience is short stroke is less prone for pad stalling versus long stroke.

So yeah, good for you. You have a GREAT polisher and the more time you spend behind it the more you'll be able to make it dance on paint

If you spend enough time behind any tool you can make it dance on paint -Mike Phillips



And no matter what anyone else may say or think - keep this i mind,


MILLIONS of cars have bee de-swirled over the last 30+ years using the Porter Cable.

Get a 5" backing plate, thin foam pads and also microfiber pads and great abrasive technology.

Also be sure to use a 12 gauge extension cored with this tool or any tool.




:)
 
Thanks for the link, Mike. I have a quick follow-up about test spots. In the video of the Chevelle, you decided to proceed with a compound after testing the medium-cut polish. Did you modify your approach with the compound to your polish test spot, since the polish removed most of the scratches there already?
 
zmcnulty said:
Thanks for the link, Mike. I have a quick follow-up about test spots. In the video of the Chevelle, you decided to proceed with a compound after testing the medium-cut polish.

Did you modify your approach with the compound to your polish test spot, since the polish removed most of the scratches there already?
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Not really. Did the same type and number of section passes with the compound as I did with the polish. Because the compound is more aggressive it naturally removed more paint and thus created a more perfect show car finish in the end results.

Remember, this is what most people would call a "Show Car", not a daily driver. I know if I went to a "Car Show" I would see cars like this parked all over the place - thus the term show car.

And while Yancy is good at running the camera - the human eye is still the best camera.


If this had been a mundane daily driver I would have probably used an AIO on it unless I was going to coat it and not even messed with a dedicated compound and polishing step.

But since it was a show car or special interest vehicle, of course I treated it as such when not on camera and of course it worked well for this video.

ALWAYS take into consideration WHAT it is your buffing out. Most people new to machine poising try to do show car detailing to every car they buff out when they should be using an AIO.


Make sense?



:)
 
Mike Phillips said:
ALWAYS take into consideration WHAT it is your buffing out. Most people new to machine poising try to do show car detailing to every car they buff out when they should be using an AIO.


Make sense?



:)
Click to expand...

You’re the man, Mike. Thanks for all the helpful info.
 
The thing about a daily driver that sees road grime is that it takes a beating and gets more grit and dirt on it and gets more swirls over time. Constantly chasing a perfect finish on a daily is a case of frustration. In the case of a show car, it's stored inside and might see some light dust from a cruise. They are hardly ever washed and look pristine.
 
DUBL0WS6 said:
The thing about a daily driver that sees road grime is that it takes a beating and gets more grit and dirt on it and gets more swirls over time. Constantly chasing a perfect finish on a daily is a case of frustration.

In the case of a show car, it's stored inside and might see some light dust from a cruise. They are hardly ever washed and look pristine.
Click to expand...


Very well said and I completely agree.

This is why I'm such a huge fan of using one-step AIO type products to de-swirl and then maintain daily drivers.


:)
 
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