Buffer/Polisher recommendation

[Dan Gaylin]

I do most of my project finishing by hand but I have a large bench and a shoulder injury. I need to re-wax the bench and buffing out the wax is tiring and painful with the injury. I have have a cheap ryobi buffer that was totally worthless for this purpose. I also have a Festool ETS 125 random orbit sander but the Festool Owners Group says that only the Rotex sanders will work well for this purpose.

So what would folks recommend? There is the Dewalt dwp849x. And then there is the pricier Bosch GET75-6N. Any pros and cons? Other models you might suggest?

Thanks,

-dan

[Erik Loza]

I've used the DeWalt a number of times but only for automobiles. Worked great but never thought of using it for ww'ing-type applications. That Bosch looks pretty awesome. Post back about what you end up doing.

Erik

[Ole Anderson]

I bought a HF to buff out a few boats and my MH. Seems to work fine. $50 Chicago Electric. Bought a proper wool bonnet from my local automotive paint store.

https://shop.harborfreight.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/265x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/6/2/62297_W3.jpg

[Josko Catipovic]

I bought a HF to buff out a few boats and my MH. Seems to work fine. $50 Chicago Electric. Bought a proper wool bonnet from my local automotive paint store.

That's what I have, too. Works great! Mostly use it on wiped varnish finishes.
https://shop.harborfreight.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/265x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/6/2/62297_W3.jpg
That's what I have, too. Works great!

[Dan Gaylin]

This is helpful, thanks guys. I wrote to Odies' Oil, which is one of the products I use, and they recommended and sell a $500+ GEM buffer. Looks nice, but not looking to spend anywhere near that.

[Dan Gaylin]

No one else has a buffer/polisher to recommend or any experience with other than the HF tool? Just trying again to double check...

[David Zaret]

i use a festool rotex to apply and buff off odie's oil. i apply it with a red abrasive pad, and buff it off with white, then a cloth. i find that the red pad works really well for application, as the heat and friction causes the oil to slightly thicken, creating a paste - you can really work it in to large surfaces.

[Dan Gaylin]

Thanks David. Which Rotex sander do you use?

[Pete Staehling]

I have an old Ryobi buffer. I am sure the same model is out of production since it was bought quite a few decades ago. Anyway it is a relatively cheap model probably comparable to a HF model. It works fine. If it had been used for every day production work it undoubtedly would have died long ago, but for the occasional use mine sees it works fine.

If you will use it for heavy duty daily usage I'd buy a good one. Otherwise a cheap one will probably be fine and likely last for decades of occasional use.

[Ron Selzer]

look over here at
https://www.autogeek.net/porter-cable-pad-kit.html
they have a lot of choices
guy at work uses one of these with multiple pads and compounds on his F350, that truck shines like a show car all the time. it is kept inside however gets out every weekend all summer long pulling a camper
he told me one time how many different pads and compounds he used when he originally bought that truck new with sun damage over 6 if I remember right
he is very happy with that polisher.

[Cary Falk]

I have an older model of the Porter Cable for my cars and it is fine.

[Ken Kortge]

I found a site (below) that says there are two types of polishers: rotary (require skills to avoid damage) and orbital (very safe). Their top listed polisher is the PORTER-CABLE Variable Speed Polisher, 6-Inch (7424XP) - pretty sure it is of the orbital type, which lists for a bit over $100 on Amazon.

https://mycarneedsthis.com/todays-best-car-polishers-and-buffers/

Another option is to use a random orbital sander with a bonnet attachment, if available.

[David Zaret]

it's the 150mm rotex. once you load up the pad with odie's, you can cover a big area quickly and really drive it into the grain. i haven't found an easier way to apply hardwax oil.



Thanks David. Which Rotex sander do you use?

[Robert Hayward]

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Makita-10-Amp-7-in-Corded-3-000-RPM-Variable-Speed-Polisher-with-Side-Handle-Wool-Bonnet-and-21-in-Contractor-Bag-9237CX3/205755203?mtc=Shopping-B-F_D25T-G-D25T-25_9_PORTABLE_POWER-Multi-NA-Feed-PLA-NA-NA-PortablePower_PLA&cm_mmc=Shopping-B-F_D25T-G-D25T-25_9_PORTABLE_POWER-Multi-NA-Feed-PLA-NA-NA-PortablePower_PLA-71700000034127218-58700003933021540-92700051577220114&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4qWouNWY6AIVU-WGCh0z3QkZEAQYAiABEgK5NvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[Frederick Skelly]

A buddy of mine turned me on to one of these from a place called griot's garage. LINK (https://www.griotsgarage.com/product/g9+random+orbital+polisher.do?sortby=ourPicks) I use it on my car and like it a lot. It's $150 from griot and a little cheaper on Amazon. The folks at griot really know their product and gave me a lot of good advice.

[Dan Gaylin]

Thanks for all of the helpful suggestions, folks. Much appreciated.