Choosing the right polisher for detailing..
I get asked all of the time…”What kind of polisher should I get?”. There really isn’t one solid answer to this question. I’ll try and explain some of the main polisher styles and their pros and cons to help some of you out.
1. There are those “polishers” you can buy from just about any parts store or hardware. You know the ones. They usually have a 11″ or so terry bonnet and a one speed on and off button and you hold it with two hands, one hand on each side of the machine. These style of machines are really only good for applying and removing waxes and sealants and half the time are not even good for that. Do not expect to use this style of machine with a polish and get good results.
2. Next we have the random orbital / dual action polishers like the Ultimate Detailing Machine. This is a good machine for anyone from beginners to professionals. Since the machine is random orbiting you don’t have to worry about causing any major damage like burning through the paint. There are tons of pads for these machines so you will never have a hard time finding pads to use. Also, they do a good job at breaking down light to medium polishes so you can get a perfect paint finish fairly easy with this style polisher. The down sides are that they will not correct as fast or correct bad defects like a rotary polisher (listed next) will. They also tend to be more noise and vibrate more than other machines.
3. High Speed Rotary Polisher. This is an awesome tool in the right hands and a very bad tool in the wrong hands. Since the machine spins in circles and not randomly and faster than a random orbital there is a lot more chance for the operator to burn the paint or cause bad swirl marks. The best thing to do is get some panels from your local body shop and practice on those until you master the rotary, then move to a real car. However, for people that have mastered the rotary they can get out some major paint defects that other polishers can’t. Medium defects are also removed a lot faster than by random orbital, with the experienced rotary operator.
4. This polisher I put into a class of it’s own. It’s called the Cyclo Dual Head Polisher. The Cyclo is one of my favorite detailing tools! I put the Cyclo between the rotary and random orbitals when it comes to correction. It will not correct as much as a rotary but it can correct the same if not better and faster than a random orbital. The Cyclo has two 4″ random orbital heads that spin at a set speed. There is only one switch and one speed. At first glance people think the Cyclo “looks heavy” but trust me when I say that it isn’t. The Cyclo is so quiet, well balanced, and smooth operating that you really have to use it an compare it to the others to see first hand.
I hope this article was able to help some of you that where having a hard time choosing a polisher.
Sincerely/ Bob Daniels
