Whats a Chicago Rotary??

AudiTTman

AudiTTman

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I friend of mine bought one but i have never seen that brand before in my life. Does anyone have the scoop on this thing?
 
Not a very well built tool, have heard from several people that they didn't even finish the car with before it burned up.
 
Harbor Freight rotary. My neighbor bought one and has been cleaning up his boat with it. It's been working fine so far. Adjustable speed, trigger and he has a hook and loop set up with some cheap wool pads. Maybe something to learn on I guess.
 
ASPHALT ROCKET said:
Not a very well built tool, have heard from several people that they didn't even finish the car with before it burned up.
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hahaha well this is going to be interesting lol. My friend asked me to look at it and use it, but since i had never seen that model, i was a little skeptical lol

Hey dub, when you said the name Harbor Freight is that the same company that makes this particular buffer as well?

Im reading some info on it and the replies from people who used it arent exactly happy ahhaha. Handles breaking, or just the entire thing falling apart hahaha
 
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AudiTTman said:
hahaha well this is going to be interesting lol. My friend asked me to look at it and use it, but since i had never seen that model, i was a little skeptical lol

Hey dub, when you said the name Harbor Freight is that the same company that makes this particular buffer as well?

Im reading some info on it and the replies from people who used it arent exactly happy ahhaha. Handles breaking, or just the entire thing falling apart hahaha
Click to expand...
When you hear Harbor Freight just remember two things You get what you pay for.And if sounds too good of a deal it's sub-par products.If it was able to comptete with a makita ,makita would be out of business
 
hahah thank goodness i didnt waste my money on that rotary lol. I knew something had to be up when i saw it for sale for 40 bucks lol.
 
Chicago rotary= China rotary. My girl friend brought one home from a yard sale, $5.00. My question was, I have a UMD, PC, Makita, a Flex, what the H!#^& do I need that for?
 
it's funny you guys posted this, because i just got one not 3 days ago. i figured i would get a cheap buffer to learn on before I spent a large chunk of change on a decent makita or dewalt. while it's definatley nowhere near the quality of the dewalt buffer the detailers use where i work, I think it would serve the first timer or occasional user. the only gripe i had about it was that it had almost no grease in the actual gearing section of the buffer. after adding some grease to the gears, it seems to be half decent at least.
 
Chicago power tools have been around for decades. They were better than Black and Decker. Guess when they went to China it's now a piece of Shi##.
 
I use my Chicago Rotary now to wash and dry my pads in a UPW. I paid $19.00 for it brand new at Harbor Freight last year and it was worth the $19.00 to learn rotary on it.
That being said, there is a world of difference in quality between my Makita and the Chicago. Particularly in the speed control. The Chicago rotary slows down if you put any pressure on it.
You can still pick one up at Harbor Freight for about $23.20 if you use a 20% off coupon when it's on sale for $29.00.
Otherwise, if you're going to spend about $40.00 plus tax, the now going rate, I'd wait and save up for a Makita or other name brand.
 
I'll add my $0.02 ... I own a Chicago Rotary

I paid about 16.99 with a coupon and black friday sale 2 years ago! Like Gary said - its worth it to dry pads! Its also great to learn with, I'm glad I spent the money ...
 
Chicago Rotary--I thought it was a group of gray-haired guys who met
at Denny's on Wednesdays to discuss community affairs?
 
So we'll still on for Wednesday? Think I'll get the grand slam this time.
 
AdrianStewart said:
I'll add my $0.02 ... I own a Chicago Rotary

I paid about 16.99 with a coupon and black friday sale 2 years ago! Like Gary said - its worth it to dry pads! Its also great to learn with, I'm glad I spent the money ...
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:whs:

I think I scored mine for $19.99, though. If you use one to learn on, then the Makita's, Dewalt's, Porter Cable's, seem like a dream to use! The nice part for learning a rotary is that it does have a pretty slow starting speed (but no soft start trigger).

For the $20 I have into it, I'm not disappointed and it did what I wanted. I use it mainly for pad cleaning and drying in the pad washer bucket, now.

Randy
 
I wouldn't waste the money on it IMO.If you want to learn on a rotary just buy the one you want and learn on that use junk yard car parts .This way there is no surprises from the get go.
 
I also picked one up at Harbor Freight for $35. I had a PC and it was taking way too long to work on my buddies mercedes with horrible swirls. Man..this thing saved us so much time. Much better than a PC for serious correction. I was gonna buy a Makita, but I'll hold off since I don't detail often.
 
we always buy harbor freight stuff (mostly chicago brand) for the shop the first time around (except for hand tools and air tools, only craftsman and snapon) and see how long they last. the only things that have given use trouble from harbor freight is anything that you have to plug into the wall whether it be a electric drill/sander/etc.
 
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