Mike Phillips

Yay? or Nay? Gear-Driven Orbital Polishers?

I put a LOT of emphasis in our classes on how to correctly use gear-driven orbital polishers.

The upside is, ZERO PAD STALLING - no matter what the shape of the body panel or if you go-up-on-edge to buff out thin panels. Speed and power as well as zero pad stalling are the key features.

The downside is the "Walking Effect" some call it PULLING or PULLING EFFECT. That's due to the power. You don't get the pulling or walking-effect with a free spinning, random orbital polisher because while the OCILLATIONI is gear-driven, (be it 8mm or 25mm), the spindle still spins FREELY and instead of pulling you the pad simply slips or stalls out and this makes these types of tools feel very SMOOTH.

What I tell people is this,

The word PULLING starts with the letter "P". So does the word POWER. You can't say that about free spinning, random orbital polishers. You don't feel the pulling because they simply don't have the power.

Another upside to free spinning, random orbital polishers is that they tend to finish out nicer on soft paints and soft plastics. (I buff out a lot of convertible plastic windows, both rigid and flexible).

1: So Yay or Nay? Do you like one over the other?

2: Do you own a gear-driven polisher? If so, which one?

3: Do you own a free spinning, random orbital polisher? If so, which one?

No wrong answers, it's really what works best for you and your style of detailing.

For our classes, we currently have 8 different gear-driven orbital polishers for you to test out when you take any of our Stuart, Florida classes. Next class is September 19th and 20th, if you scroll down my feed you'll see pictures of 4 cool training cars that are already confirmed.

Below are just a smattering of pictures from past classes showing gear-driven orbital polishers in use. No chairs. Zero sitting. 100% hands-on all the time.

Mike



Harbor Freight
RUPES USA, Inc.
FLEX Power Tools - North America
Dynabrade Inc.
Buff and Shine Mfg
Makita Tools USA