Your buffer of Choice? Orbital versus Rotary Buffers

Do you use an Orbital or Rotary Buffer?

  • I use an Orbital Buffer on my boat

    Votes: 68 36.0%
  • I use a Rotary Buffer on my boat

    Votes: 39 20.6%
  • I use both buffers depending on what I need to polish

    Votes: 51 27.0%
  • I don't own a buffer and do everything by hand

    Votes: 31 16.4%

  • Total voters
    189
  • Poll closed .
I was a die hard Orbital Guy. After all it made a lot of sense and besides I wanted to be as gentle as possible on my Blue Hull and produce the best shine possible. And in that regard the orbital does a nice job. And I have never let my gel coat oxidize so the Orbital always worked fine.

But, I purchased a rotary buffer awhile back and used that sparingly on some of the topside white decking in the past and it did a great job there as well. So, this time I decided to use the rotary on the blue hull and see what would happen. I used a wool pad and made sure it never got dry which I think is one of the secrets to getting a scratch free finish on a dark colored hull. To make a long story short, it worked fine and made the job go a lot faster. So now I am a convert and will likely use the rotary instead of the orbital in the future. So lets hear from all you Polishing Gurus out there...what is your primary buffer of choice........Orbital or Rotary?

Dave

I did not have time to read all the replys, but the fix the swirl you sue wool with a more corse grit polish, then finish off by washing, changing to a foam pad, and use a glaze or fine polish. Then of course a good hand wax. Problem is even myself, I agree it is too much work to do all those steps.!!!!
 
Rotary here. If you can only have one, that'd be the choice as you they can get very agressive with your finish to bring it back to life, and as documented here, give great final polish results. I have the Makita rotary buffer. Before that, I had an old single (high) speed rotary. THAT, you had to be careful with. But my Dad and I used it on many cars after painting. I used it once on the boat and then bought the Makita.

And now...I know that I'm getting a Porter Cable rotary for Father's Day! I mainly got it as it has a smaller pad, able to get into tighter spaces...and because of all the talk here about having both. :grin:
 
I used the rotary and like someone else said, I never let it get dried out. I put the polish on the buffer pad and swirl it on without the rotation to spread it around. I then turn the rotary on low to buff it in until it starts to haze a little. I then change to a clean polish pad and shine shine shine. No swirls, just shine like a mirror.
 
My favorite is my snap-on air polisher, I have had it for many years and like the light weight and control it offers. I also have a variable speed electric polisher but it is way heavier than the air model. I learned to polish 45 years ago in my dads body shop polishing lacquer paint. Once you learn how to polish a black lacquer car without swirls you can polish anything.

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item...&group_ID=2744&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog

It's not cheap

Ken
 
My favorite is my snap-on air polisher, I have had it for many years and like the light weight and control it offers. I also have a variable speed electric polisher but it is way heavier than the air model. I learned to polish 45 years ago in my dads body shop polishing lacquer paint. Once you learn how to polish a black lacquer car without swirls you can polish anything.

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item...&group_ID=2744&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog

It's not cheap

Ken
Would love to have one of those for two reasons....# 1.....I don't have one :lol: and # 2 I can't help but think it would be a whole lot easier on my old shoulders.
 
DA rotaries are the new rage....I'm sure many here are inadvertantly talking about them.They give the work the rotary does with the forgiveness of a orbital...too a degree.
 
Where is the fuse block for my Sea Ray 205 sport boat located? I found the electrical schematic but cannot determine the physical location fo the fuse box.
 
I used a wool pad and made sure it never got dry which I think is one of the secrets to getting a scratch free finish on a dark colored hull.
Dave

Wool pads are very, very aggressive. They cut more than foam pads. Good to use on a badly oxidized hull, but for ordinary waxing? No thanks.

I'm very happy with my Porter Cable orbital.

As long as the cord does not get wrapped in it, the Makita rotary is my top pick... but you can really hurt yourself with that thing.

True, but some people can really hurt themselves with tableware. :) You know, the type. They know the emergency room personnel on a first name basis and have them on the Christmas Card list.


Where is the fuse block for my Sea Ray 205 sport boat located? I found the electrical schematic but cannot determine the physical location fo the fuse box.

What difference does it matter to someone who has "boatless" in his profile?
 
DA rotaries are the new rage....I'm sure many here are inadvertantly talking about them.They give the work the rotary does with the forgiveness of a orbital...too a degree.

I don't know about that.
I have three machines:
A Porter Cable 7424
A Flex 3401
A Makita 9227 Rotary

The PC is a great little machine, but the Flex is better. Neither can correct as well as the Makita.
I used the PC for several years on my cars, until I got the Flex.
I've used them both on the boat, but always found myself borrowing a friends rotary. The gel coat on the boat is a lot tougher than the finish on the cars and I found the rotary does a much better job with it. So I went and got myself the Makita.
If you are just doing cars, and those cars are in pretty good shape, I would by the Flex if you could only have one machine.
If you are buying a machine for use on the boat, I think the Makita is a better choice.
 
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