First, since this is your first post to the forum...
Welcome to AutogeekOnline! :welcome:
The 3" seems to be more versatile because it is smaller but I am worried that sanding large panels with 1500 and 3000 using a 3" pad might risk sanding a rut into the finish.
As long you use some type of controlled, repeatable pattern and focus on the job at hand you won't put ruts into a large flat panel.
Is the 3" model meant more more for where a 6" is to big to fit?
Yes and also for sanding next to raised body lines and edges. The 3" polisher with a 3" interface and sanding disc is VERY easy to control. That's what all the people that go through my classes like about it, in fact in all most all the pictures taken of people new to wetsanding almost all of them show guys using the 3" instead of the 6". It's just that easy.
If so, would it be better to hand sand up to 1500 then machine sand with 3000 on the 3".
Or would it be better to get the 6" version and just hand sand the areas the 6" can't reach? I wouldn't use it often enough to justify getting both. Thanks for the advice!
Very good question.
I guess if I had to pick just one electric polisher to get to machine sand an entire car, I would tend to go for the full size DA polisher and a 6" sanding system. This is especially true for a large car with a lot of large flat panels.
If time is not an issue and there are a lot of thin panels, tight areas then you could sand the entire thing down with a 3" Griot's polisher.
It will take longer for large sections because the footprint is so small but inch by inch, any thing's a cinch.
You could also hand sand to start with to knock down all the orange peel and then just use the 3" polisher to refine your sanding marks.
Look at all the pictures in these two threads to get a visual of what it looks like to dampsand using a 3" polisher.
Griot's 3" Mini Polisher works great as a 3" Dampsander
Dampsanding with 3" Griot's Garage Mini Polisher
