Hey everyone, I recently got a griot's garage 6" random orbital polisher an it has been really good and gets the job one. However now that I'm starting up a business I'm looking at getting another one that can decrease my polishing times. I have been looking at the flex 3401 because it is forced rotation rather then having a free spindle like the porter cable, griot's, and I believe even the Rupes bigfoot. Which means the flex will not stop rotating when you press down hard on it, which mean more cutting power. The other one I have been looking at the Rupes Bigfoot as well because it has new technology. It has a much much larger throw then any other polisher out there which means more correcting power then your standard random orbital polishers. However, if you push down to hard it will stop spinning as a fail safe like your other random orbitals. I then also plan to get a porter cable and a 3 inch backing plate with a brush head for doing interiors. I'm just kind of stuck on what I want as far as the flex and Rupes goes. So my questions are, what kinds of polishers do you guys and gals all have? and have any of you thought of getting one of the "big boys" like the flex 3401 and the rupes bigfoot? and have any of you used one of the 2 or both and do you have an opinion on either? Eventually I want to go down to Autogeek in FL and go through one of Mike Phillips' classes and pay with all these tools and learn from one of the best in the industry. However I am starting my business now and have already started doing a few cars, so I would like to get something that just has a little more kick to it to correct those cars with harder paints and use my Griot's for cars that have softer paints where I don't need all that power. Thanks for any input.

 

Heres my 2 cents....

Regardless of what "Machine" you use....
You "cant" rush a Clay Bar Rub, Polish, Wax refinishing job! IMO.
It takes what it takes. To Get Great Results, each vehicle has its own/different paint issues..
Beside no 2 finishs are alike....

So, I have no opinion on what Brand to go with....
But I just thought I'd throw that out there!

 

Oh trust me I know and I agree. You can't really speed up claying, that just depends on how bad the car is. And waxing doesn't really take all that long to do anyway. I'm talking about when it comes to the actual polishing phase. Say my Griot's takes say 5 minutes to do a panel and a flex or a rupes takes 2-3 minutes to do a panel, then I'm looking at saving what 15-20 minutes per car. That's a pretty substantial amount. Of course I'm just throwing numbers out there and I haven't really timed myself. But I have seen some videos of both the flex and rupes paired up to both rotary buffers and PC's and griot's polishers. But I have not been able to find anything of the 2 put up against each other. Anyway, both the flex and the rupes do the jobs faster then really anything else on the market. The way I see it, if something does the job better and it does it faster then it is worth the money to get something like that as my main tool for cars with those harder paints. I mainly just want to build up my arsenal of tools so I can correct anything from a Lambo that has hard 2 stage paint to an older car that has soft single stage paint. Not saying I will be doing those at first (I would be crazy to think that haha) but those are some of the things that I would love to wash and do paint correction for some day. So that's why I'm looking at getting something with a little more kick. Could my griot's correct just about anything, probably, but if I can do it faster and save not only myself money but also the customer money by getting the job done faster then it comes out to be a win/win lol. Anyway, sorry for the wall of text there and thanks for the input STUMPMI, I appreciate it.

 

Have you buffed a car using one yet?

I love my GG6 and the lifetime warranty is the kicker, just because it is free rotation unlike the rupes or flex does not mean it can't do tough jobs, so far dark colored gm's have been my love and enemy they all seem to have hard clear, takes time but will with any machine, it's not just the machine compounds, polishes, and pad selection plays a huge roll in it all,

Be real with yourself if your trying to get into the detailing business it takes time and you will do a lot more production work than correction work, it is just the nature of the beast, a lot of people want their car clean and shiny, which to them means interior cleaned up and exterior washed, waxed and dressing applied, don't try to make every car perfect unless that is what they want and are paying for, you will lose your *** on both money and time,

 

I have both a PC and the Flex 3401, if you want the best out there for correction abilities it is the Flex. As Justin stated above most don't understand perfect paint & aren't willing to pay for the time it takes. I just did my 04 Dale Jr to about 90% with the Flex, it took me half the time as the PC, I believe the Rupes would be close as it has a larger throw. If you are serious about your business take a look at the Cyclo polisher made in Colorado. It uses dual 4" pads so gets you the best of both worlds. Go wide on a large panel, close to 9" or narrow as needed with the 4" side. Another be plus to the Cyclo is the balance, it is the easiest on your hands. My hands would be all tingly after correcting with the PC, with the Flex no issue.

Where are you located? I know the Adam's team puts on many clinics, with the videos and forum support it will help you be successful. I am not a pro by any means, but the Adam's products are crazy good and have a 110% satisfaction guarantee.

Check out Adam's Premium Car Care - Cleaners, Waxes and Polishes Made in the USA or Adams Forums as resources.

Happy to help you where I can.

 

Thanks I appreciate it. I have heard of the Cyclo polisher but It's one of those things a lot of people don't talk about so I completely forgot about it. I'll have to look into that as well. Also I'm located din North Carolina. I've used a few of Adam's products but it has been a little while. Thanks for the help