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Griot's Garage 6" Random Orbital Polisher good to go?


GeNOME

Question

Hi there-

I posted a question about bug stain and fine scratch removal in the General Discussion forum here: http://www.adamsforums.com/topic/27134-recommendations-for-removing-bug-stain-and-fine-scratches-from-clay-bar/

I was kind of set on getting the 4" cordless drill adapter and taking care of the scratches that way but after watching Adam's video I guess the 4" pad will make swirl marks which will need to be taken care of by a proper orbital polisher.

So that got me thinking about getting an machine polisher and I was surprised how affordable some of them are. I've got a budget of about $150 so would the Griot's Garage 6" random orbital polisher be good to go or should I just wait to save up more and get a better machine?

I really only need to take care of a few scratches in one small area and the last thing I want to do is create more problems by creating swirl marks with the drill adapter.

I'd also use this machine to wax my car. Looking forward to saving some time on waxing.

One last thing, will the 7" Adam's pads work on the Griot's 6" polisher? I'd like to keep using the Adam's system of polishes and pads so I just want to make sure they'll fit. I'm assuming they do, the outside diameter of the Adam's pads are 7" and the outside diameter of the Griots pad is 6" so that makes sense, don't want your polishing pad the same size as your base pad.

Thanks

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In all honesty, I'd love to sell a $150 polisher!   Wish there was one that was NOT made in China.  (Let's be honest, when you walk through a Wal-Mart, or really, any retail store, aren't you surprised how cheap everything is?)  The answer lies in CHINA.  

 

Child labor, communism, mass-poverty, loose work safety laws, and then there are the cargo ships, fueled by foreign oil, that bring the goods to the USA.

 

Getting my drift?  Our company would be 5X the size, and enjoy maybe 20X the profit if only we started selling cheap imports.

 

Not happening.

 

To answer your question, and sorry for the rant...The Griot's polisher is a fine unit for the $$.  They last a while, then burn out, but what is to expect for a machine that is this inexpensive!?

 

All of our pads work with the Griot's polisher.

 

:patriot:

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I hear you about China, I hate buying anything from them. It's so hard to find anything these days that isn't from there. I've been over there many times with a manufacturing company I used to work for and I've seen the factories and the conditions those people have to work in.

As much as I'd like to buy that nice Cyclo polisher you sell I just don't have the funds for it right now. I'm just starting up with detailing again, I haven't owned a car in years that I've actually wanted to wax, so an expensive polisher would kind of be overkill at this point. I firmly believe in buy once, cry once tho so if I stick with my detailing interest I'll definitely be in the market for a quality polisher eventually. Thanks for the advice on the pads, keep up the good work with your car care products.

Oh yeah is your window cleaner "squash" scented? Back in college I had a hopped up Prelude and used to love buying those Japanese "squash" scented air fresheners. When I was using your window cleaner it smelled just like them and it was great! Be neat to see a "recipe" of all your scents like your cherry car wash, bubblegum(?) detail spray and banana butter wax. It's funny how strong of a connection we have with our senses, it's one of the reasons I like your products so much!

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Figure it this way;

You purchase the Griots for $150. A couple few years later it burns up and you purchase another one. If the price remains the same your out $300.

Or

You decide you want to step it up at a later date and decide to make the Cyclo purchase. Now your total spent for machines alone is $499.95

The Cyclo alone through Adam is $349.95. The Cyclo Starter Kit is $449.95 and includes both PCP, and PFP, as well as all the foam and microfiber pads and the pad conditioning brush. 

Adam guarantees his machine for life.

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I own the Griots 6" and bought it a couple years ago before I was aware of the Adam's offerings and when I was on a real tight budget.  Its a decent machine and it works with the entire line-up of related Adam's products with very nice results.  However, I have used a Cyclo before and the difference is night and day.  The Cyclo is a heck of a machine, unbelievably balanced, and I can't wait to purchase it.  I too have budget constraints at the moment so its not in the cards for me yet, but when the time comes it will be worth the value and like Dave said, Adam guarantees it.  That and let's be real, it's Made in the USA and that speaks for itself.

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Figure it this way;

You purchase the Griots for $150. A couple few years later it burns up and you purchase another one. If the price remains the same your out $300.

Or

You decide you want to step it up at a later date and decide to make the Cyclo purchase. Now your total spent for machines alone is $499.95

The Cyclo alone through Adam is $349.95. The Cyclo Starter Kit is $449.95 and includes both PCP, and PFP, as well as all the foam and microfiber pads and the pad conditioning brush. 

Adam guarantees his machine for life.

 

:2thumbs:

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The Griot's machine has a lifetime warranty, if it burns out they'll replace it. It is a great machine

 

Yeppers! I prefer the 4" back plate for my GG and the Adam's foam pads. I believe Adam's sells a 4" back plate. Edited by gapwedge
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Well I hope, with some practice, I can remove the swirl marks on my new car. I ordered my car at the dealer and I was there when they drove it off the shipping truck and peeled the white plastic off the panels so fortunately it's never been subjected to sitting on a lot for months and getting crappy washes every week by the kids who work there.

My paint is in VERY good shape right now, no swirl marks except for some very fine lines from my microfiber cloths from drying and polishing and ofcourse the bug/bird stain and damage from the clay bar on the front bumper.

I'm getting my polisher tomorrow along with Uber green, blue and black pads and Adam's Finishing Polish and for the first week or two I plan on practicing on my old beater 2002 Tacoma that rarely gets washed or waxed. Once I'm comfortable enough with the polisher I'll take on my Subaru. I REALLY hope I don't just end up creating more tiny swirl marks.

Subaru's have notoriously soft and crappy paint and I'm really nervous about using the machine polisher on it because the car only has 1200 miles but if anything goes wrong atleast I've got the forums to come back to for help.

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Yes to all above for the most part. Bang for buck you can't go wrong for the griots machine, it is lifetime warrantied so if it burns out they will get you a new one.

 

I support Adams products and pads and I suggest if you do get the griots machine in our to support Adams you can use their 7" pads on the machine and the 4" pads will also work for tighter areas if you also get their 4" backing plate.

 

Cordless drill pads are for SPOT DEFECT removal only, not for use for correcting large areas.

 

You are correct that your Subaru has extremely soft and sticky paint, I would use the finishing polish with the Uber Green or even the Uber Blue pads if you bought the package from Phil.

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You are correct that your Subaru has extremely soft and sticky paint, I would use the finishing polish with the Uber Green or even the Uber Blue pads if you bought the package from Phil.

Yep I've got those pads and polish on the way. I wanted to get one of the white Adam's 7" pads but Detailer's Domain doesn't carry them so with shipping costs and everything it was just easier to order their Uber pads when I bought the Finishing Polish and some other goodies I ordered.

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Yes to all above for the most part. Bang for buck you can't go wrong for the griots machine, it is lifetime warrantied so if it burns out they will get you a new one.

 

I support Adams products and pads and I suggest if you do get the griots machine in our to support Adams you can use their 7" pads on the machine and the 4" pads will also work for tighter areas if you also get their 4" backing plate.

 

Cordless drill pads are for SPOT DEFECT removal only, not for use for correcting large areas.

 

You are correct that your Subaru has extremely soft and sticky paint, I would use the finishing polish with the Uber Green or even the Uber Blue pads if you bought the package from Phil.

Jason is correct. My Lexus has soft paint and Adam's Finishing Polish was all that was needed to completely remove the swirls on my paint. I used a GG machine with 4" back plate with Adam's white foam pads. Finished it off with the Liquid Paint Sealant, Brilliant Glaze, and Americana wax. However for you to finish you need something on top of the polish as polish alone leaves zero protection. Sealant as a minimum.

Edited by gapwedge
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 Jason is correct. My Lexus has soft paint and Adam's Finishing Polish was all that was needed to completely remove the swirls on my paint. I used a GG machine with 4" back plate with Adam's white foam pads. Finished it off with the Liquid Paint Sealant, Brilliant Glaze, and Americana wax. However you finish you need something on top of the polish as it leaves zero protection. Sealant as a minimum.

 

I've got some Collinite 845 I was going to buff on after I polish but I'll look into getting some sealant as well.

Now you've got me thinking the large 6.5" pads I ordered might be overkill for the small area I need to correct so maybe I'll order the 4" backplate and pads also. Are 4" pads more ideal for paint correction or is it all up to the area that you're buffing? Large area = large pad, small area = small pad?

Edited by GeNOME
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Trust me after you correct the small area you will want to go over the rest. The griots has no problem keeping the pad rotating on 6.5" pads. For what it's worth since you bought Phil's pads, his green pad is the equivalent of the Adams white pad.

 

I prefer to use 4" pads as well as larger pads as the 4" pads are easier to correct pillars, head/tail lights and tighter curved sections.

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Here is my two cents.  And some already have made the same comment.  I have a garage chucked full of tools.  Automotive, home construction, woodworking, etc.  I learned early on to buy the one I really want and skip the cheaper, lower quality tool all together.  In the long run I found that I would always go back and buy the better quality tool anyhow.  And the money that I spent on the lower quality tool was basically wasted.  Here is an example several years ago I purchased a bunch of sheetrock tools.  I contemplated buying the cheaper knives and plastic pans and the joke tool that goes on the end of a regular drill instead of a drywall screw gun.  Thought I would only need them for the project that I had going at the time and probably never use them again.  Glad I purchased the better quality tools and have used them on several mudding and taping jobs.  Presently finishing a basement.  Even went as far as going to a store that specialized in drywall tools that the big box stores don't carry.  IMO, having a good quality tool, no matter what it is used for makes the job that much easier with much better results.

 

If you can't afford the better quality tool, hold off and save your money.  It will be cheaper in the long run and you will be glad you did.

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I too am waiting for my Griot's buffer to burn out. I just don't use it enough, I guess. Maybe 6-8 times a year. Slowly I have been switch from Griot's to Adam's products because of cost of product and shipping as well as superior quality of product. Adam's has better "specials" and I'm really impressed with his Americana premium wax.

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I too am waiting for my Griot's buffer to burn out. I just don't use it enough, I guess. Maybe 6-8 times a year. Slowly I have been switch from Griot's to Adam's products because of cost of product and shipping as well as superior quality of product. Adam's has better "specials" and I'm really impressed with his Americana premium wax.

Nothing wrong with using Griot's DA orbital with Adam's Products. I'm impressed with ALL of Adam's Products and I'm the biggest skeptic out there. I'm not a professional detailer, so I'm satisfied with my GG machine's performance. But I'm sold on Adam's Products.

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If your on a tight budget and are going to buy a machine made in China. You might as well buy harbor freight's polisher. I got one before I knew about Adam's. Its only about 50 bucks and while it hurt my hands to use it from vibrating so bad. It got the job done. I'll buy an Adam's machine in the next year or so. It will keep some money in your pocket.

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Sure wish we could offer an option that was domestic, or even made anywhere that pays a globally responsible working wage.   There is massive space to sell a $100 - $175 orbital, and we would sell thousands of them.   

 

I appreciate and understand people buying and using the GG orbital, it's a great tool for the money.   If I didn't lay awake in bed, annoyed at the thought of selling Chinese imports, and refuse to pay for foreign oil used to power the freight ships across the pond, we would sell a similar tool. 

 

Lots of things we don don't make any financial sense.  I just need to sleep well, and when I need to transfer money into the business bank from our personal account to make payroll, trust me, we are tempted to sell inexpensive imports, and profit like crazy!

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Adam would you guys ever think about renting out the Cyclo to people like this person? Maybe you could do a rental fleet and charge 50 per rental with a security deposit and specific terms to ensure the unit is covered against someone not returning it in time like Redbox does on DVDs. Just a thought.

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I'm going to go out on a limb and say absolutely not.  Too hard to make a profit, rental game is much more different than an outright sales method.

 

Besides, people who "borrow" a polisher are the kind of people who are too cheap to buy the tool and only use it once every couple years.  A polisher is going to get used by an enthusiast at least once a year, as opposed to say a specialty tool for removing timing chains on an engine (every 100k miles for example), which takes a lot longer to "need" again for use.

 

If you want to rent a tool like the Cyclo, PM a member near your area and ask if you can pay them $$$ to borrow it over the weekend.  Also, used ones pop up occasionally on ebay or on our classifieds.

 

 

Personally this is why I have a GG6, the $300 price point is too much for me to spend on a tool I literally use twice a year, maybe a couple times more if I have some friends cars to polish out.  If you're detailing for dollars you should have no problem with a professional tool and price point that the Cyclo, Flex, Rupes are in.

 

And btw not to knock Adam's warranty because I understand why he did what he did (when I read the story about the Flex it really ticked me off) but the GG6 still comes with a lifetime warranty, although it is rare in the tool business.

 

 

I've said it once and I've said it again, if you have no other machines on your shelf and want just 1 to accomplish all you need as a weekend warrior, get a Cyclo.  It will probably outlive you.  Do it right or do it twice.

Edited by Ricky Bobby
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I too am on a budget. I'm between the GG 6" and the Porter Cable 7424XP? Thoughts? This will be my first purchase ever of a machine.

 You cannot go wrong with either.  The GG has slightly more power, but they are close.  I have one of each and use them both about equally. 

You can pick up the GG from Adam's Dealer Detailers Domain.  He is having a sale for the grand opening of his new shop - http://www.detailersdomain.com/

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