Video: All about the FLEX-3401 Forced Rotation Dual Action Polisher

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Video: All about the FLEX-3401 Forced Rotation Dual Action Polisher






Here's a video Yancy and I made showing the primary differences between three different drive mechanisms between popular polishers for machine buffing paint.

  • Flex 3401 - Forced Rotation Dual Action Polisher.
  • Rotary Buffers - Direct Drive Single Action Polisher.
  • PC style DA Polishers - Porter Cable 7424XP, Meguiar's G110v2 and Griot's Garage Random Orbital Polisher.




All about the FLEX-3401 Forced Rotation Dual Action Polisher​





Also, there's a BRAND NEW FLEX 3401 DVD being manufactured as I type that should be here within days...

Keep an eye on the "What's New Page" and for forum announcements!



Resources

New 4" and 6" Backing Plates for Flex 3401
NewFlexBackingPlates01.jpg



1986BuickRegal_011.jpg



Lubricating the Felt Ring on the Flex 3401

Here's the felt ring on the Flex 3401
Oiling3401Flex01.jpg






:xyxthumbs:
 
Here's the Flex 3401 in action buffing out a 1986 Porsche 928

Kyle and Rene going at it...
DoubleTrouble019.jpg



And here it is being used to buff out the single stage paint on the bed of a hotrod 1947 Chevy Pickup.

Scott aka courtsider using the Flex 3401 with a Cyan Hydro-Tech Pad
DoubleTrouble013.jpg



:xyxthumbs:
 
Thanks Mike! My 3401 arrived last Friday and am looking forward to becoming proficient with it.
 
i just got mine! still waiting to grab a few more items before using it!
 
Is the 3401 based on the 3403 but with a force obital attachment where the rotary spindle goes? It looks like you could remove the 4 philips screws that hold the plate that secures the rotary spindle and replace it with the forced orbital end. Just curious here.
 
feds27 said:
Is the 3401 based on the 3403 but with a force obital attachment where the rotary spindle goes? It looks like you could remove the 4 philips screws that hold the plate that secures the rotary spindle and replace it with the forced orbital end. Just curious here.
Click to expand...

I think they use the same electrical motor but I'm not sure you could swap ends easily. Good question though...

The new Flex DVD coming out has some lots of information plus some really cool video footage. There's pictures from the Flex DVD in this thread,

Removing Swirls out of Ceramiclear Paint


FlexVideo012.jpg


FlexVideo013.jpg


FlexVideo014.jpg


FlexVideo015.jpg


That's a Ferrari Windshield we're using for the pad rotation/oscillation demonstration...



:)
 
One of the most helpful threads I've read on AG. Great info here Mike, thanks so much!

Now if I can only decide between the Flex rotary and 3401...
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
I think you'll really like the new Flex DVD we made, it should be here in the next few weeks.



:)
Click to expand...

1. YEP... I'm going to buy one as soon as I'm able. The Makita Rotary Buffer I've had since high school just makes me nervous to be honest. It has so much power, but it seems like the Forced Rotation Dual Action is the way to go.

2. I'm looking forward to the Flex DVD!

Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
Get the Flex 3401 first and then add a rotary buffer as your budget allows...
Click to expand...

Wish I would have done that... although, my Makita purchase was in 2003! ;)
 
Dynamic_Detailing said:
2. I'm looking forward to the Flex DVD!
Click to expand...


I received a call from Bob Eichelberg, the President of Flex Tools North America, he's seen the final cut and he told me he thought we did an excellent job making the video.

I saw a thread recently where someone was complaining about videos using cars without swirls or problems? All the cars we use in our videos have shiny paint but they also have swirls you just have to be near the car in person to see them UNLESS the camera guy knows what he's doing and purposefully films the true condition of the paint.

The car we used for the Flex DVD was a AMG Mercedes-Benz and it was completely swirled-out. The video will show this and I also took pictures

Removing Swirls out of Ceramiclear Paint


Had a 2006 Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG with some swirls in the Ceramiclear Finish.

FlexVideo001.jpg




Hey! Here's some shiny paint!

FlexVideo009.jpg




Hey! If you were in the studio with me standing over the "paint" with a swirl finder light here's how the shiny paint really looked...


FlexVideo008.jpg



FlexVideo007.jpg





:dblthumb2:
 
TomBrooklyn said:
video is not working.
Click to expand...

The reason why the video was not working is because about a year ago we upgraded the vBulletin forum software from version 3.8.2 to 4.2.4


Like a LOT of software that runs any electronic device, the CODE that makes videos appear like you see above was changed.

What does this mean?

This means that anywhere there was a video posted on this forum while the forum was operating under the old code - is now bR-o-K-eN


NOTE: As I find broken coded videos at take the time to go to our YouTube Channel, locate the video, get the URL for the video and then reinsert the video URL using the new proper video code.





TomBrooklyn said:
is it still available anywhere?
Click to expand...


Of course. All our videos are on our YouTube Channel and usually with just a little searching via Google or on our YouTube Channel you can find hundreds of videos. Currently there are 686 videos.


Autogeek's YouTube Channel



:)
 
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