Hello, I've been reading many posts here and find this is a great forum.
Nice to hear this kind of feedback. Thank you for sharing.
I've been detailing my cars since I'm 20. I used to use the cheap Simoniz polishers for the past year, it did the job well since my car was new and didn't need much polishing, now my car is a year old and the scratches are too deep to be corrected with this polisher and Carpro Essence and Compound.
I've been looking at the Porter Cable 7424xp with the Chemical guys pad kit. The price seems very good, quality seems okay for the price. On the other hand, there's the more expensive Rupes polisher.
Not sure what the Chemical Guys pads look like as of today but I think in the past they were Hex logic pads? If so, skip that and stick with flat pads. Faster to clean. Easier to clean and much less risk of getting any type of abrasive particulate trapped in a sub-surface groove that could then work it's way out and get trapped between the paint and the pad and inflict scratches. Yep - I a car carrying member of the Flat Pad Society.
Porter Cable is a time-tested good tool but the Griot's Garage version has a ton more power. Worth the extra $30.00 or $40.00 bucks in my opinion.
Now here is my question, I intend to keep detailing my cars myself for many years to come since it's my hobby and a moment to myself. I would use the polisher 3 times a year. I would like to know if I get the Porter Cable, then I upgrade to the Rupes, will the Porter Cable lie in my garage collecting dust? Or is there any other use for the Porter Cable down the line even when I upgrade to a Rupes? I simply do not like wasting money so if the Porter will be useless once I get a Rupes, I'll directly get a Rupes.
Thank you guy and gals in advance!
I've taught a lot of people how to machine polish paint and detail cars in my life. A lot. For a beginner I would keep it simple and go with the Griot's random orbital polisher. They call it a Griot's 6" Random Orbital Polisher but that's actually an incorrect way to describe the tool. It comes with a 6" backing plate but that's simply not important. What is important is it is a free spinning 8mm random orbital polisher. In other words, it's a short stroke orbital polisher. In my opinion and experience, it's much easier to maintain pad rotating with a short stroke free spinning orbital polisher than it is with a long stroke free spinning orbital polisher no matter who makes the polishers.
I explain why here,
The ghosting footprint and the actual footprint - Long Stroke Free Spinning Orbital Polishers
In simpler terms, it has to do with how the outer edge of a buffing pad can have leverage over the reciprocating components and stall a spinning pad out which then means you're not doing anything, as in not removing swirls, scratches, water spots or oxidation.
With a short stroke free spinning orbital polisher, the outer edge of a pad will still have leverage over the reciprocating components, just less leverage and thus the pad is less likely to stall out. All you have to do is use all the tools on the market and buff out hundreds of differently shaped cars to figure this out. Then figure out a way to type it out so the average person can wrap their minds around it.
Thank you for all your quick responses!
So if I understand well, I should start off with a Griot because I can mount 3-6 inch pads on them. Then, in a few years I should get the Rupes?
Do you think I can detail my car with only a Rupes? I don't mind spending the extra dollars for a Rupes if it's the only polisher I'll need.
I think for the type of you work you're going to do the simple tool or short stroke tool will work more than satisfactory and you won't have to concentrate as much on watching the pad as you buff to make sure you have good pad rotation. The RUPES BigFoot 15mm is a great tool but in my opinion it's best use is as a part of the complete systems. The complete system is you buy one of each of the RUPES tools and then match the pad size to the panel you're buffing out and this will mean you're matching the tool to the size of the panel you're buffing out. As the title of my RUPES book reads, it's a SYSTEM not a tool.
That or the GG 6" are the two best first choices to get into polishing IMO. One can graduate further down the line, I did, but still have the two machines mentioned above, and they aren't going anywhere.
I agree.
Last weekend I machine polished the original paint on a 1965 Buick Skylark Gran Sport. It took 2nd Place at the Boca Raton Concourse D'Elegance and Jay Leno awarded it his "Big Dog" award. I used the Griot's Garage 8mm free spinning random orbital polisher do machine polish the paint, glass and chrome on this car. Could have used any tool and in my opinion and experience, a free spinning 8mm was the safest route to take as I did not want to cause Tiger Stripes in the antique single stage metallic paint.
Here's the link to an article I wrote on this simple tool and the article has a TON of extra info on how to get started into machine polishing paint plus the best video ever on how and why to do a Test Spot. I coined the term Test Spot so I'm a pretty good candidate to make a video on how to do one.
