For those that own a rotary.....

[YankeeFan]

do you also own a DA?

Just wondering as I would think the rotary is a little dangerous in tight areas or areas that have transitional ridges like you see on doors. Still trying to figure out what to buy (since last December) but was hedging towards a rotary but was wondering how the hell am I going to do some areas that have edges and would I also need to buy a DA.

Howard

[Gary Sword]

Lately I have been using both a rotary and a PC. There are still some areas I don't feel comfortable using a rotary on. I would rather be safe the sorry.

[Craig]

I own a rotary (Makita) and a PC. I went ahead and put a order for the new UDM. I don't use the rotary much at all. I'm never pressed for the speed or power the rotary has. There are smaller backing plates and pads you can use
for the tight areas. With the rotary I stay away from the edges at all cost. I bought the PC first and love it. It has worked for my details 99.9% of the time.
If you are going to buy one, IMHO start with a PC. If you buy a rotary and burn your paint, you will have the cost for the repair, and be soooo POed at yourself. Evertime you walk past the car, you will walk to the burn and look and cuss to yourself.

[scottgt]

i still use pc alot....for instance if the car has no swirls at all and just needs a light polish...i use like the pc with xmt 360

[Brandon1]

I have both and if I were doing it again, I would just get the Makita. I hardly ever use the PC anymore, the vibration is killer compared to the smoothness of the rotary.

If you are a beginner, then get the PC or even better, the UDM.

[Rsurfer]

If you are doing cars as a business, even part time, get a rotary. It will save you a ton of time on those badly neglected vehicles. If you are just detailing for your own personal cars, get a PC or UDM. It may take you more time in the beginning to correct the defects, but with careful washing and drying you will probably never have to do that type of correction again. Just a light polish every 6 mos., wax every 1-2 mos. and your good to go.

[YankeeFan]

Originally Posted by Craig

I own a rotary (Makita) and a PC. I went ahead and put a order for the new UDM. I don't use the rotary much at all. I'm never pressed for the speed or power the rotary has. There are smaller backing plates and pads you can use
for the tight areas. With the rotary I stay away from the edges at all cost. I bought the PC first and love it. It has worked for my details 99.9% of the time.
If you are going to buy one, IMHO start with a PC. If you buy a rotary and burn your paint, you will have the cost for the repair, and be soooo POed at yourself. Evertime you walk past the car, you will walk to the burn and look and cuss to yourself.

Thanks for the advice......I hear that a lot to start with a DA first.

[YankeeFan]

Originally Posted by Rsurfer

If you are doing cars as a business, even part time, get a rotary. It will save you a ton of time on those badly neglected vehicles. If you are just detailing for your own personal cars, get a PC or UDM. It may take you more time in the beginning to correct the defects, but with careful washing and drying you will probably never have to do that type of correction again. Just a light polish every 6 mos., wax every 1-2 mos. and your good to go.

That's a good point that I am finding out about wasshing and drying. Not sure what I am doing wrong as I have a lot of spider swirls throughout the car. I use 2 buckets (just ordered a foam gun so that will change), use a sheepskin mitt, PB S&S and guzzler towels. Wash all the MF towels together using Micro-Restore. Not sure where I am going wrong. I own a Honda Civic which I hear has a soft clear coat.

Howard

[Nica]

I too started with the PC but didn't like the vibration so then I went to the rotary..I did purchase a Cyclo too.

The key thing is the washing method as mentioned here and knowing what to look out for makes a big difference.

I too would agree, start with the DA and see how you like it...for me I needed something else that had more kick to it but that was just me. Nothing wrong with the PC.

[DanielSwe]

I have used rotary for 7 years and if you use Edge wool pads, you will not burn a paint easily. I have burned paint 5-6 times, most of them in early stages of learning.

How will one burn a paint? Trying for too long a time to remove something from the paint you cannot. Now, we have a different market in Sweden. I have never ever heard about the PC before I got on this forum short time ago. Since then I got a Flex orbital at work and that baby is killing. You figure out what you need. If the orbital is strong enough and you use the right deoxidizers you will remove some heavy scratches as well, we did it with the Flex first thing.