Recommended polishers

[MRFLAGG99]

Just wondering what everyone likes . Just need some recommendation.

[Firebuff17]

I am no expert as I have not used one myself. But I am curious myself as sometime in the future I may invest in one for myself.

I am sure someone with more experience will ask some of these questions and I am sure there will be more. But some more info on your end will help people provide proper response.

Budget?

Daily driver or garaged vehicle?

How many vehicles will you be polishing?

How damaged is the paint you want corrected?

[LFairbanks]

There is about a million different threads on this topic.  The search function works pretty well. Hope this helps.

 

 

http://www.adamsforums.com/topic/29081-what-polisher/?hl=polishers&do=findComment&comment=454251

 

http://www.adamsforums.com/topic/29454-thinking-of-upgrading-my-polisher/?hl=polishers&do=findComment&comment=459902

 

http://www.adamsforums.com/topic/29136-first-polisher/?hl=polishers

 

http://www.adamsforums.com/topic/28734-cyclo-model-5-or-rupes-bigfoot-15mm/?hl=polishers&do=findComment&comment=449819

 

http://www.adamsforums.com/topic/28025-time-for-a-new-polisher-but-which-one/?hl=polishers&do=findComment&comment=440500

 

http://www.adamsforums.com/topic/27459-best-polisher-in-100-150-range/?hl=polishers&do=findComment&comment=431356

 

http://www.adamsforums.com/topic/26252-best-polisher/?hl=polishers&do=findComment&comment=417503

 

http://www.adamsforums.com/topic/29512-first-polish-machine/?hl=%2Bwhich+%2Bpolisher

 

http://www.adamsforums.com/topic/29547-thinking-about-new-polisher-rupes-15/?hl=polisher

Edited November 27, 2015 by LFairbanks

[MRFLAGG99]

Daily drivers

maybe like 5-6

I would say medium scratches and stuff nothing to crazy

 

I am no expert as I have not used one myself. But I am curious myself as sometime in the future I may invest in one for myself.

I am sure someone with more experience will ask some of these questions and I am sure there will be more. But some more info on your end will help people provide proper response.

Budget?

Daily driver or garaged vehicle?

How many vehicles will you be polishing?

How damaged is the paint you want corrected?

[Beemer]

Do a little surfing around this forum. This question has been asked a lot.

 

The problem is that there are more opinions than there are polishers...

 

I love my PC. It's inexpensive and suits me fine the twice a year (maybe) I use it on my weekender. If I had more polishing to do I would probably move up to something more powerful.

[MRFLAGG99]

Thanks man appericate it

There is about a million different threads on this topic.  The search function works pretty well. Hope this helps.

 

 

http://www.adamsforums.com/topic/29081-what-polisher/?hl=polishers&do=findComment&comment=454251

 

http://www.adamsforums.com/topic/29454-thinking-of-upgrading-my-polisher/?hl=polishers&do=findComment&comment=459902

 

http://www.adamsforums.com/topic/29136-first-polisher/?hl=polishers

 

http://www.adamsforums.com/topic/28734-cyclo-model-5-or-rupes-bigfoot-15mm/?hl=polishers&do=findComment&comment=449819

 

http://www.adamsforums.com/topic/28025-time-for-a-new-polisher-but-which-one/?hl=polishers&do=findComment&comment=440500

 

http://www.adamsforums.com/topic/27459-best-polisher-in-100-150-range/?hl=polishers&do=findComment&comment=431356

 

http://www.adamsforums.com/topic/26252-best-polisher/?hl=polishers&do=findComment&comment=417503

 

http://www.adamsforums.com/topic/29512-first-polish-machine/?hl=%2Bwhich+%2Bpolisher

 

http://www.adamsforums.com/topic/29547-thinking-about-new-polisher-rupes-15/?hl=polisher

[stripesace]

Daily drivers

maybe like 5-6

I would say medium scratches and stuff nothing to crazy

 

 

In that case see LFairbanks post  

[Feets31]

Do your research tonight as there may be a good sale tomorrow on the current or new Rupes and/or the Cyclo and/or or Flex or the PC 

[MRFLAGG99]

Yea That's what I have been doing. Gonna see what there is tomorrow

Do your research tonight as there may be a good sale tomorrow on the current or new Rupes and/or the Cyclo and/or or Flex or the PC

 

[Dan@Adams]

In all honesty, each polisher that we offer is a good machine, otherwise we wouldn't carry it, but some of them do have a higher learning curve, such as the Flex. To me, and others may disagree, the 3 best random orbital polishers for beginner to intermediate level hobbyists that Adam's offers would be the Porter Cable 7424XP, the Rupes LHR 15ES Bigfoot, and the Cyclo Model 5-Pro Mark II, with the Rupes 15 and the Cyclo edging out over the PC for ease of use and comfort. The Porter Cable is a great machine to learn machine polishing for someone that might be on the fence and doesn't know if they want to invest a significant amount of money into polishing their own vehicles, but there is a reason the other machines cost more than double the PC, and the first time you use one of them you will understand why. I thoroughly enjoy using my Cyclo (which I went into great detail about in a post yesterday) because the dual 4" pad setup is incredibly smooth yet you can get into tighter areas with it; but I find myself wanting to buy a Rupes 15 too because it has a nice quality feel to it, and it is just as enjoyable to use

 

With the Flex, it is a hybrid machine that also has forced rotation as well as random orbits, so it can be more work to control smoothly and it does have some serious strength and correcting power because of that. I had one of my friends that regularly polishes cars now with his Porter Cable try out my Flex, and he immediately said "wow, this thing is more difficult to use" and handed it back to me (we were working together on a Ferrari 550 Maranello) to which I explained it just requires a little different technique and practice with the machine to become comfortable with it.

 

The Rupes Mini is an awesome little machine for spot corrections, which is why I picked up one of those as well, but it's not really something I would polish an entire car with. I find that I don't even grab my cordless drill with the adapter backing plate and 4" pad much anymore, because the Rupes Mini will take care of most jobs no problem.

 

Finally, the Rupes LHR 21ES Bigfoot is an excellent machine just as the Rupes LHR 15ES is, just with a larger 21mm throw to the pad face. For large trucks, suv's, and cars with big flat body panels, this machine is perfect with the 7" pads, but with something with a lot of complex curves it can be a little more difficult to use. For example, this past summer at Corvettes at Carlisle, I was working on a beautiful new black C7 Stingray Z51 package, and the big curves and valleys in the hood made it a little more of a challenge to get the big 7" pad to flow with those curves properly.

 

I hope that helps with your decision and didn't add any confusion David, but please let us know if you have any other questions

[MRFLAGG99]

Thank you Dan very well put think I'm gonna go with the cyclo or rupes 15 just depends on what the sales are tomorrow.

In all honesty, each polisher that we offer is a good machine, otherwise we wouldn't carry it, but some of them do have a higher learning curve, such as the Flex. To me, and others may disagree, the 3 best random orbital polishers for beginner to intermediate level hobbyists that Adam's offers would be the Porter Cable 7424XP, the Rupes LHR 15ES Bigfoot, and the Cyclo Model 5-Pro Mark II, with the Rupes 15 and the Cyclo edging out over the PC for ease of use and comfort. The Porter Cable is a great machine to learn machine polishing for someone that might be on the fence and doesn't know if they want to invest a significant amount of money into polishing their own vehicles, but there is a reason the other machines cost more than double the PC, and the first time you use one of them you will understand why. I thoroughly enjoy using my Cyclo (which I went into great detail about in a post yesterday) because the dual 4" pad setup is incredibly smooth yet you can get into tighter areas with it; but I find myself wanting to buy a Rupes 15 too because it has a nice quality feel to it, and it is just as enjoyable to use

 

With the Flex, it is a hybrid machine that also has forced rotation as well as random orbits, so it can be more work to control smoothly and it does have some serious strength and correcting power because of that. I had one of my friends that regularly polishes cars now with his Porter Cable try out my Flex, and he immediately said "wow, this thing is more difficult to use" and handed it back to me (we were working together on a Ferrari 550 Maranello) to which I explained it just requires a little different technique and practice with the machine to become comfortable with it.

 

The Rupes Mini is an awesome little machine for spot corrections, which is why I picked up one of those as well, but it's not really something I would polish an entire car with. I find that I don't even grab my cordless drill with the adapter backing plate and 4" pad much anymore, because the Rupes Mini will take care of most jobs no problem.

 

Finally, the Rupes LHR 21ES Bigfoot is an excellent machine just as the Rupes LHR 15ES is, just with a larger 21mm throw to the pad face. For large trucks, suv's, and cars with big flat body panels, this machine is perfect with the 7" pads, but with something with a lot of complex curves it can be a little more difficult to use. For example, this past summer at Corvettes at Carlisle, I was working on a beautiful new black C7 Stingray Z51 package, and the big curves and valleys in the hood made it a little more of a challenge to get the big 7" pad to flow with those curves properly.

 

I hope that helps with your decision and didn't add any confusion David, but please let us know if you have any other questions

[PlainOleS5]

Great review Dan!  Thank you!  I'm seriously considering the Rupes 15 after everything I've read in all the write ups!