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What type/brand of electric buffer or polisher...

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198686d

Jedi Trainee
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is the most effective. Wanting to buy this tool for our "fleet" of daily drivers and to use very carefully on 60BE. Your recommendations are appreciated. Also, what is the best "polish" for the English White BE.

Thanks for your help.

dave in University City, MO

60 BE
04 MiniCooperS
04 Vespa ET4
 
hey Dave, to be honest, I wouldn't use a mechanical buffer anything stronger than a random orbital type buffer, unless you practice a lot on a car you don't like too much.

I have a professional, high speed buffer which works great, but can be dangerous. and I also have the random orbital buffer that in my opinion is worthless, you get no better results than if using your hand alone.

I used the high speed buffer on my Midget and I brought the paint back to life in about 2 hours work. the car with original paint looks great.

BUT, I had the luxury of practicing on my wife's car first, and did her car pay for it !! swirl marks all over the place !!! and I did burn through the paint on a high spot on the front fender (don't tell my wife. it is an art form using a high speed buffer that delivers results you could not get any other way. but if your paint is already in good condition there is no reason to use it.

my favorite wax is Mothers Pure Carnauba Wax, liquid form.
https://www.amazon.com/Mothers-05750-California-Carnauba-Liquid/dp/B0002U1TX0

the product goes on easy, and buffs off even easier with a great shine. and because it has no cleaners, you can apply as many coats as you want.
 
I use a Makita, Porter-Cable and Dewalt are also good buffers.
Get the one with a hook & loop (velcro) pad.
You really don't want a large nut in the middle of the pad even if it is recessed.
You want variable speed. I never go over #2 which is about 1200 rpms.
#6 is probably 3500 rpms and I only use that to buzz the excess compound
off the wool pad with a screw driver.
I prefer 3M finesse with a wool pad followed by 3M swirl mark remover on a foam pad.
Go slow and stay away from sharp corners and door edges.
 
I bought the package from Griot's Garage and have not regretted it. It's pricey, but I really like the products and being able to get it all form a single source. Also, the products go a long way. Be sure to buy extra foam pads for the buffer...use a different one on each different car color and grit size.

Here's the latest "package" deal:

https://www.griotsgarage.com/product/car+care/car+care+kits/6"+orbital+bag+kit.do

If you want to get a feel for how it all works together, I documented my experiences here:

https://www.raysmg.com/rays_mg_midget_small_projects_polishing.htm

Hope this helps,
Ray
 
One tip I found that helped me out with my Craftsman 9" orbital buffer. I purchased some jewelers cloth towels and pin them to the bonnets that cover the buffer pad. Those cloths make the car look like a sheet of glass after using Mothers Carnuba wax as Joe mentioned. They respond quickly as well.
 
For years and years the industry standard in Orbital Polishers has been the Porter Cable. There are many out there but that's the one you'll most likely see in the hands of the Pros. Lately, as Ray said, the one from Griot's Garage is making quite a name for itself.

Other brands are thought to operate at the wrong speed, not have the proper action, or be not durable enough. Everything I've read says one of two above mentioned if you're after professional quality results from a long lasting quality tool.
 
I have a Dewalt high speed polisher, and I've never tried anything else so I can't say if it's good or not. seems to work great when I use it though.

I'm going to try the jewelers cloth trick, I have been looking for something to buff with after waxing.

And Griots now sells high speed polishers? Couple of years ago I thought I read in their catalog that they only sell the random orbital polishers because of the potential damage you can cause with a high speed polisher. if I had a couple thousand dollars under my mattress I could have a field day buying stuff from their catalog.
 
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