Flex - first time experience

[tdekany]

regardless what others may think, Rupes, as well as every other DA polishers that is not forced rotation, will stop if the pad is not flat.

For someone who is inexperienced with polishing, you sure sound pretty sure.

It is your inexperience that you can't work the Rupes. There are times when I pick up the FLEX, but it is very rare.

Not to mention how much better the rupes finishes.

[Kamakaz1961]

Great review! I have been using the Flex and must say it is an awesome machine!! As for counter rotating or rotating closkwise...that has never been an issue. Simply put this machine is a beast and my correcting time is reduced significantly.

I have never used a Rupes so I cannot comment about its effectiveness. I can comment about the PC7424XP and the OP is correct...if there is a curved panel....you are pretty much at the mercy of your technique to try to be effective at correcting. Additionally, I still use the PC for sealant/wax application or use a 3" Pad for minor correcting, however, I only use it because I want to.

The Flex just does everything and I am very happy with it. The learning curve for the Flex IMO is fairly easy and you will get used to it quickly. That goes for beginners and PC users (can't say fo any other DA's).

The forced rotation will let you correct/polish regardless of a curved panel or not. Lately, I have been working on quite a few cars over the weekend (hobbyist not a business) and if it wasn't for the Flex I could not finish detailing a car with a full correction over the weekend. If I had a PC forget it! Thank you for your review.

PS: Thank you for the pointer about the ear plugs!! I am going to try that.

[mbpress01]

I would like to respond to your comment about my "inexperience" regarding Rupes. From a Mike Phillips post in 2012 regarding pad stalling on DA Machines.

"Too little pressure - There's a quirky thing about these tools that if you hold the pad just right against the paint as though barely touching it the pad won't rotate like it does under pressure but more or less just flutter and even rotate backwards or counter-clockwise.

Too much pressure - If you apply too much pressure you can stop the pad from spinning, this is the safety characteristic that Newbies love and experience people forget about after they master the tool and then complain because the pad stops spinning.

Uneven pressure against pad - If you don't hold the pad flat to the surface, that is you hold the body of the tool in a way that pressure is greater to just an edge or side of the face of the pad you can easily stop the pad from spinning. This is more noticeable with larger pads like 6.5" and 7" pads as the larger the diameter the pad the more leverage the pad has over the spindler/drive mechanism.

Raised body line - If you're buffing on a raised body line there will be more pressure to smaller area of the face of the pad and this can be enough to stop or slow down the rotation of the pad.

Convex or Concave shaped body panel - Like a raised body line, if you're working on a convex or concave shaped body panel you can have more pressure to the outer edges of the pad or the inner portion of the pad and this can stop the pad from rotating or slow pad rotation down.

Too large a pad - When buffing with larger pads the larger diameter of the pad give the pad leverage over the spindle and this can stop pad rotating or slow pad rotation down.

Wet or saturated pad - When a pad becomes wet or saturated with product the combination of foam and liquid act to absorb and dissipate the energy coming out of the tool and this can stop or slow down the rotation of a pad."

Since you are a top detailer with the "special technique", it would be much appreciated if you could film it and post it here so I can see that technique and how you actually can accomplish pad rotation. As I said many times and have done 100s of hours of research on this issue, I have not seen any videos showing how to get around the above and have the pad not stall or slow down. Please post the special technique for all of us to see and then we can all then decide for ourselves the better machine.

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Not to mention how much better the rupes finishes.

Mmmm. Not quite.

There is a reason why you jewel paint with a straight drive circular polisher and not a free floating spindle large throw DA.

[trekkeruss]

we hear comments about the Flex walking on you and such and I did have that happen but I didn't really care, I just strong forced the pad on the panel and got the beautiful buffer trails.

Hmm, I've never heard of anyone describing buffer trails as beautiful. Can you explain what you mean?

Other than the cheapo orbital buffer I had 15 years ago, the only machine polisher I've ever used is my Rupes Duetto. Yes, sometimes it stalls, but not very often. I change my technique a bit to work around that (pressure, the angle at which I hold it). As for the Flex, I hope to try one one day, but since I don't polish for a living, I may never have that opportunity.

My closing thought is that there is no perfect polisher. It's great you like the 3401. I know some people don't like the Flex. that's okay too. To paraphrase Mike Phillips, "Use whatever you like."

[mbpress01]

My comment was mean to convey the ease and speed of the Flex since when you properly polish (like a Mike Phillips) you see a perfect overlapping somewhat circular amount of polish where you were working. When I used a Rupes on vertical or curved panel I didn't get this while the Flex performed fantastically (on every panel) and I got these excellent looking buffer trails. I am sure Mike Phillips could explain better but unless you see these you are not doing something right and I think that is from pad stall from the Rupes.

Good on the Duetto for you, but why change technique - (pressure, angle of hold) and you nailed my issue. You need to adjust the the polisher or it will stall and I experienced this over and over again. On flat panels, nothing to really say, all machines will work well but since a car is, let's say, 1/2 vertical curvy, I just couldn't get the Duetto to work and boy did I try. As an aside, I realize money is always tight but if you can get the Flex - do it. I believe, you will retire the Duetto and save yourself tons of time. As I said above, I actually enjoyed the project. Flex makes it fun!!!

[dlc95]

I have the 3401, Duetto, and the pc 7424xp, and a craftsman 5" orbital, variable speed palm sander.

The pc gets used the most.

But, I love all of these machines.

What works for one person may not work for others, and there is no harm in - using a tool suited for your style -.

To me, that's just common sense. Hey, the Rupes wasn't working for you, so you moved to something that would. That's a beautiful thing, and I'm thankful to have so many options.

When I started getting into this, it was basically rotaries, and random orbital waxes from Sears, or Kmart.

[tdekany]

Would you also like a blank check witht that?

I would like to respond to your comment about my "inexperience" regarding Rupes. From a Mike Phillips post in 2012 regarding pad stalling on DA Machines.

"Too little pressure - There's a quirky thing about these tools that if you hold the pad just right against the paint as though barely touching it the pad won't rotate like it does under pressure but more or less just flutter and even rotate backwards or counter-clockwise.

Too much pressure - If you apply too much pressure you can stop the pad from spinning, this is the safety characteristic that Newbies love and experience people forget about after they master the tool and then complain because the pad stops spinning.

Uneven pressure against pad - If you don't hold the pad flat to the surface, that is you hold the body of the tool in a way that pressure is greater to just an edge or side of the face of the pad you can easily stop the pad from spinning. This is more noticeable with larger pads like 6.5" and 7" pads as the larger the diameter the pad the more leverage the pad has over the spindler/drive mechanism.

Raised body line - If you're buffing on a raised body line there will be more pressure to smaller area of the face of the pad and this can be enough to stop or slow down the rotation of the pad.

Convex or Concave shaped body panel - Like a raised body line, if you're working on a convex or concave shaped body panel you can have more pressure to the outer edges of the pad or the inner portion of the pad and this can stop the pad from rotating or slow pad rotation down.

Too large a pad - When buffing with larger pads the larger diameter of the pad give the pad leverage over the spindle and this can stop pad rotating or slow pad rotation down.

Wet or saturated pad - When a pad becomes wet or saturated with product the combination of foam and liquid act to absorb and dissipate the energy coming out of the tool and this can stop or slow down the rotation of a pad."

Since you are a top detailer with the "special technique", it would be much appreciated if you could film it and post it here so I can see that technique and how you actually can accomplish pad rotation. As I said many times and have done 100s of hours of research on this issue, I have not seen any videos showing how to get around the above and have the pad not stall or slow down. Please post the special technique for all of us to see and then we can all then decide for ourselves the better machine.

[tdekany]

Mmmm. Not quite.

There is a reason why you jewel paint with a straight drive circular polisher and not a free floating spindle large throw DA.

Mike, the difference between the 21 and 3401 when it comes to finishing (jet black) is huge. The forced rotation can and will chew up some finishes. I mean when you use a polish that doesn't hide.

[VISITOR]

congrats on the purchase, certainly no doubt that it is a very capable machine with very good build quality. enjoy it for many years to come!