Dual action polishers

But you said you didn’t like the Flex on gel coat.... so you compound and polish with the makita and hand wax?

The Flex is better on the gelcoat than the PC 7424, and will do a decent job on the boat for sure, but it won’t do the same level job as a rotary and wool pad.
Yes, I prefer to apply wax by hand after polishing the surface with a machine, but that’s just a personal choice.
 
Yikes!!! That’s 2 porter cables..... no wonder you like it so much... you have to :)
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Lol! You can sometimes get them on sale at Autogeek or other online retailers, but they are pricier than the Porter Cables.
It’s more of a pro- detailer machine.
It’s worth it’s weight in gold for me because I’m kind of a hobbyist detailer. Can’t be showing up to the occasional cruise night with swirls in the paint. So it gets used on the cars in my garage, once a year or so on the lease cars my wife and I drive every day, and some of my friends collector cars. My son picks up extra money sometimes detailing some cars so I let him use it once in a while too.
But someone who is just looking to use a machine once or twice a year doesn’t need to spend that much on a machine.
 
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I got the harbor freight just like Blueone. Does a good job. Not sure the extended warranty covers recovery from the lake bottom.

Nothing wrong with them for the price.
Lots of people use those machines and seem pretty happy with them.
They are a good choice for someone who does their own boat once or twice a year. Dropping it in the drink would suck, but they’re cheap enough that it wouldn’t break the bank.
You could drop a few of them overboard before you get to the price of a Makita 9227.
 
IMHO:
For boats:
If you have nothing and are looking for a cheap machine to use once a year or so on your own boat, go for the Harbor Freight Rotary.
If price isn’t a concern and you like to own better tools for the sake of having them, or will be doing more than just your own boat, step up to a Makita 9227 Rotary or the comparable model DeWalt.

WARNING: While it is hard to hurt your gelcoat with a rotary, it is very easy to burn the clear coat and paint on your car with one. The use of rotary machines on cars should be left to very experienced users.

Random orbitals are a great choice for cars. Short of using one as a hammer and beating the surface with it, you’re unlikely to hurt anything.

Porter Cable 7424, or a specialty branded one, is a great choice for the money.

If price isn’t an issue, or you’ll be a more frequent user and want to step your game up a bit, the Flex 3401 or Cyclo are both great choices.
 
I'm a Makita 9227 and Flex 3401 man too. I've tried the Flex on the gel coat but the Makita covers more area and does a faster job. Flex is great on my cars though.
 
I am the proud owner of 2 Harbor Freight buffers. Bought this one a few years ago and has worked really well for me. I just bought a second one and every time I adjusted the speed, the POS slowed all the way down and started over. Returned it.

# 1:

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#2:

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Not a fan, however, my son was using it last weekend when we bought it so I do not have any real experience with it. I wanted a different model there that they did no have (called the warrior I think).
 
The red one down deep wants to kill you :) I don’t want to start a conspiracy theory but the thing is evil.... where is it made again ?

Same place everything else in Harbor Freight is made. Don't worry, I took a deep breath inside the box when I opened it up.
 
My wife bought the Shurhold for me 10 years ago and still loving it. For some aggressive polishing I bought the HF high-speed polisher with a wool pad and it gets after it. I have a couple of random orbitals floating around but they don't see too much use.
 
I though I should follow up with what I purchased, and the results. I got a Griots Garage G9 DA polisher. It was easy to use and I had good results. There were a couple areas that needed some compound so I did use my rotary with a wool pad.

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To go with it I got a selection of Lake Country pads: orange, white green and blue. I used mainly the medium polishing green pad on the blue hull. A couple areas had some scratches and I used the orange medium cutting pad there. The white top aides had more oxidation so a white and orange pad worked better.

For the polish, I used Smoove Bubblegum micropolish / high gloss polymer. Very happy with this stuff - easy to use and excellent results.

Speaking of results, here they are.
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That looks excellent! I broke out the Smoove Bubble Gum and a green wool pad earlier today but forgot to take a picture. I put on 2 pieces of paint protection film where my spring lines were rubbing the gelcoat. Very easy to use!

I also hit a small semi-oxidized section and wow. As good, if not better than Buff Magic and Presta Ultra Cutting Cream (my go to's over the years). My detail guy is coming out next week and getting my whole 37' boat using my Smoove for $300, or I'd have finished it myself.

Thanks for the recommendation @Blueone '
 
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Most of the detailers I have watched who do boats for a living use Makita rotary machines. I bought a Black and Decker 40 years ago which is similar to today's Makitas and it is still going strong. Most of the cheaper machines do not hold up that long. You ask about important features. Speed control is critically important so you do not create burns in the gel coat
 
I had this piece of crap run up to full speed today..... I tried to turn it off and the switch didn’t work.....fooled around to find the plug.... it’s in the dumpster now....no more harbor freight Chinese crap

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That looks excellent! I broke out the Smoove Bubble Gum and a green wool pad earlier today but forgot to take a picture. I put on 2 pieces of paint protection film where my spring lines were rubbing the gelcoat. Very easy to use!

I also hit a small semi-oxidized section and wow. As good, if not better than Buff Magic and Presta Ultra Cutting Cream (my go to's over the years). My detail guy is coming out next week and getting my whole 37' boat using my Smoove for $300, or I'd have finished it myself.

Thanks for the recommendation @Blueone '
I also tried buff magic on a wool pad as so many liked it. For me it was a horrid waste of time. Even with sparing use it nearly instantly clogged my pads. Separately I tried some of the 3M marine waxes. There were very hard to apply and also gummed things up.

I have to say that the Smoove products have been excellent so far, both in the application and the end results. Highly recommend.
 
I had this piece of crap run up to full speed today..... I tried to turn it off and the switch didn’t work.....fooled around to find the plug.... it’s in the dumpster now....no more harbor freight Chinese crap

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That’s scary. One of scariest boat related things I’ve experienced is when the cord of my rotary polisher got sucked into the head at high speed.
 
That’s scary. One of scariest boat related things I’ve experienced is when the cord of my rotary polisher got sucked into the head at high speed.
Been there with that Chinese boat owner killer twice.... no more ..... now just have to find a rotary not made in China
 
Been there with that Chinese boat owner killer twice.... no more ..... now just have to find a rotary not made in China

Love my DeWalt Rotary. Although it's probably built in China too. Its a workhorse. One problem I ran into is my backer pad gat stuck and I can't get it off. Since I only use wool pads it's not a big deal just anoying.

-Kevin
 
yup, same experience here. mine lasted all of an hour. total junk. I purchased a Milwaukee M18 battery unit, absolutely fantastic. Not having to deal with a cord and less weight, makes it worth the price. battery life is a compromise, but they last last as long as my arms can take, so worked well for me.
 

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