Multipurpose Sander/Rotary for multi use?

[Rolla07]

Hi all, Im new to the forum but have visited multiple times! I am located up north in Montreal Canada. I am looking to purchase a rotary for paint defect removal and have been considering the DeWalt 849 unit (despite the pricetag, which I find high.. 279$ here). Let me give you some background, since I got a car many years ago I have been interested in making it look nice, more specifically the paint. I feel like I have a good knowledge base. Now.. the only polisher I have purchased is a Harbor Freight Dual Action unit which seems fine for applying or removing waxes and maybe light polishing, but it doesnt seem to function very well in terms of getting rid of scratches and swirls. I have an old car that I plan to practice on, the paint is still in decent shape, but I am not too worried of ruining it. I wanted to get a rotary and get some good practice using it, so when I purchase a new vehicle, I will be great with using it. I wanted to know recommendations for an easy to use rotary for I wouldn't say a beginner, but someone who is new to using a rotary. We are dealing with a 2007 red Corolla that I will be practicing on. The car was bought used, so at this point alot of swirls and scratches that the DA just does not seem to work. (Am I possibly just not using the right pads/products? Or wrong speed?) Those are certainly possibilities, but I am looking to buy my one, go to reliable unit with soft start and electronic speed control (as I have heard these are good features to have).

So I guess what I am asking is.. for proper defect removal I assume I will need a more appropriate tool (not a DA) and to learn the correct techniques, along with good products to use/pads and even a guide of how to properly use a rotary correctly for the best results. Any and all advice on this is appreciated! Thanks in advance!

PS. I am considering the DeWalt unit for the ability to use it for sanding down paint, sanding down things also. I plan to use it on sanding down fiberglass pool steps, paint to metal, rust removal, etc...
If there is a better unit for the price, please do let me know, however, being in Canada, severely limits my options..

[douglastwx]

There are some tricks and tips on how to articles by Mike. Those are useful.

I find that while using rotary, never go beyond your shoulder width, that will help control the rotary from going everywhere. 2nd tip I can share is that keep your body close to where the rotary is. Rotary isn't as scary as what most people think...imho. I always aim for the rotary above the da. These days, da are for finishing touches to soft paint cars only. Else with appropriate polishing, jewelling is possible with rotary @ 600 rpm on medium soft

Dewalt have a good soft start.

[kkritsilas]

I will suggest some things that may not be complete answers, but here goes (please note that I am a fellow Canadian, in Calgary, Canada, so I am very familiar with the prices of stuff up here in Canada):

1. For removing paint defects, the HP should be fine. The Porter Cable 7424, a much less powerful machine is what started the machine polishing on cars started. You need to review the pads that you are using (aggressive foam or microfiber), compounds (are you sure you are using a compound and not a polish, how aggressive a compound, etc.) and your technique (slow arm speed, speed at 4-5. is the backing plate spinning or has it stalled), and pressure on top of the polisher (not enough pressure, or too much (pad will stall with too much pressure)), and cleanliness of your pads (how many pads do your have available, how often do you change or clean them). People corrected paint for years with the 7424, and are still correcting paint with its successor, the 7424XP. Your HF has more power than the 7424XP, so you should be able to correct using the HF as well. I am not suggesting that you are doing anything wrong, just that you should be able to get paint correction done if everything is in place. Production detailers (Gary Dean, Dallas Paint Correction and Auto Detailing, both on Youtube) use the HF for volume paint correction, so if it can work for them, it should work for you.

Also, what did you do with the paint before you tried to correct the paint? Wash (what type of wash)? Chemically decontaminate (iron remover, tar remover)? Clay bar (with lubrication, if so what lubrication)? What are you drying your car with, both after the wash, decontamination, clay bar, and the polish/compunding? Toyota paint has a reputation of being very soft, so the DA can be doing the job, but in wiping off the compound or polish, you may be scratching the paint with poor quality towels.

2.For the rest of the your rotary needs, go onto Kijiji and find a lower end rotary (Mastercraft or Canadian Tire, for example) and use that for your pool steps, and grinding off paint. They cost much less than the DeWalt, and the money saved can be used to get more pads, products, and sanding disks for the rotary.

I would suggest that you look at the videos for Junkman 2000 and Gary Dean for proper use of a DA for paint correction. Junkman 2000 has a full set of videos on how to correct and polish paint using the PC 7424XP, and Gary Dean has a couple of videos specific to the HF polisher and why he uses it.

Do not take these as my telling you waht to do, just as suggestions as to what you might want to look at given what you are trying to accomplish at the lowest cost. If you really want to learn how to use a rotary, then get the DeWalt, however, it is not normally part of regular car detailing, but more of a last resort for really badly scratched/swirled/super hard paint (and yes, I do know that some folks can even jewel paint using a rotary). I would also like to point out that in addition to all the people that are successfully correcting paint using a DA, the reason that DAs have come about is due to the very real chance of paint damage with a rotary, and even experienced rotary users often follow up a rotary withe a DA to eliminate "holograms" (rotary polisher induced scratch patterns).