using a drill as a polisher

[ride5150]

i always use my drill on headlight restorations with the drill adapter and a 3.5" backing plate, but would u use it on paint? during a paint correction i always fear that my polisher might break down on me, so i keep the drill there just in case as a backup. i think im going to have to buy a second polisher to keep around.

has anyone tried a drill with bigger pads on paint? (5.5") experiences?

[BorisC]

I've used it w/ 3" & 4" pads for spot buffs & headlights like you mentioned. I wouldn't recommend using a larger pad. I tried for the fun of it. Pressure on pad felt uneven & really didn't feel in control of what I was doing.

[Flash Gordon]

Polishing an entire car with a drill sounds dangerous

[bill57]

I wouldn't try it without a variable speed drill.

[brawl]

I find it hard to control. If rotary needs a lot of practice, I guess it's a lot harder to use a drill for the entire car.

[kimtyson]

Drills are a bit bulky and not really designed ergonomically for polishing an entire car. Also, take a look at the rpms compared to your polisher.

[Mike Phillips]

i

has anyone tried a drill with bigger pads on paint? (5.5") experiences?



Yes.

Your topic came up recently on page 4 of this thread,

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/hot-topics-frequently-asked-questions/20257-man-versus-machine-4.html


Here' was my reply with a picture...


I've used a drill to polish paint back before the Porter Cable was introduced. Meguiar's sold a foam pad with a drill arbor permanently affixed to the plastic backing plate, I think the part number was A-6500 and it looked like this,

Here's a horrible picture of it I snagged off the Internet, I have a couple in my collection but no pictures of my own.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/722/A6500.jpg



So I'm pretty familiar with buffing out cars using a drill. To your question...


Can you do "Spot Repair" using a 4" pad on a drill?

By all means "yes" and it does work better than working by hand.




As others have said, it's real cumbersome to try to hold a drill and buff paint over an entire car. You can do it easy enough for working on isolated defects but it would be a much more effective use of your time to invest in an entry level paint polishing tool like a PC, GG or Megs DA Polisher.


:)