What's the deal with palm polishers?

[carlg]

I have a cheap polisher that I picked up a few years ago (actually from Harbor Freight).

It's a palm polisher and you don't see much talk on this site about palm polishers.

According to HF, my polisher is a Random Orbital.

This polisher does not spin in circles. It just does like a vibrating motion.

Seem like all the polishers on this site spin in a circular fashion. This one does not.

Is there really any use for it? What was this tool intended to do? Or should I be trashing it and getting a new one, lol?

[dlc95]

The old school orbital. You probably have the 6".

They're actually not bad for cleaner wax applications. If you can manage to keep the pad level so it rotates, you'll master the random orbitals found here in no time.

If you want to do some more advanced work, you'll want to at least have a Porter Cable 7424xp, or the Griot's GG6.

[kevin_1981]

Get a 7424xp or GG6 like dlc95 said. If you dont do it now, you will eventually... the only difference being that you will say, "I wish I would have done this sooner'

[Mike Phillips]

I have a cheap polisher that I picked up a few years ago (actually from Harbor Freight).

It's a palm polisher and you don't see much talk on this site about palm polishers.

Gosh - if I had a nickel for every time I answered this question I'd have a truck load of nickels.


Here's the deal, "most" people that want to detail their car want to REMOVE paint defects like swirls and scratches. These are defects BELOW the surface. In order to remove them you MUST remove some paint. To remove paint with a free spinning orbital polisher, like a a cheap palm polisher, the pad must both oscillate AND ROTATE and do so with some pressure applied to the pad.

The pressure pushes the abrasives in a compound, polish or cleaner/wax so that they will take little bites out of the paint and thus "level" the surface.

Most cheap polishers can't remove paint because the pads stop rotating when pressure is applied so all the pad does is jiggle or vibrate against the paint and this won't do anything.

So if all you want to do is apply and spread out a non-cleaning wax than a cheap polisher can do this. If you want to remove swirls, scratches, water spots and oxidation then you need a polisher that will maintain pad rotation under pressure.

I've seen guys try to argue that you don't need pad rotation to remove paint and while this might be possible I think if the pad is just vibrating against the paint, (no pad rotation), then you're going to be standing by the car for about a hundred years waiting for that vibrating pad to do something.

[carlg]

Gosh - if I had a nickel for every time I answered this question I'd have a truck load of nickels.


Here's the deal, "most" people that want to detail their car want to REMOVE paint defects like swirls and scratches. These are defects BELOW the surface. In order to remove them you MUST remove some paint. To remove paint with a free spinning orbital polisher, like a a cheap palm polisher, the pad must both oscillate AND ROTATE and do so with some pressure applied to the pad.

The pressure pushes the abrasives in a compound, polish or cleaner/wax so that they will take little bites out of the paint and thus "level" the surface.

Most cheap polishers can't remove paint because the pads stop rotating when pressure is applied so all the pad does is jiggle or vibrate against the paint and this won't do anything.

So if all you want to do is apply and spread out a non-cleaning wax than a cheap polisher can do this. If you want to remove swirls, scratches, water spots and oxidation then you need a polisher that will maintain pad rotation under pressure.

I've seen guys try to argue that you don't need pad rotation to remove paint and while this might be possible I think if the pad is just vibrating against the paint, (no pad rotation), then you're going to be standing by the car for about a hundred years waiting for that vibrating pad to do something.

Great answer which answers the question perfectly (What is a palm polisher good for?), thanks!!!

[Mike@ShineStruck]

If you just want to be different and use a palm sander check out Metabo SXE turbo tech and keep it in turbo mode which is 6.3mm
OPM range is 4000 -11000.

Another reason i brought this model up is for the fact that it's the only sander that has variable MM throw feature..switches from 3mm to 6mm

Something polisher companies should incorporate within these D/A machines.

The typical palm sander form factor would work for verticle panels, but it won't be a good idea for horizontal panels as youlll run out of reach

Oscillation only correction can be achieved with 21mm if you also drag/scrub the pad back and fourth,
I used to do this on curved panels.
Never tried this on hard rated clear..either way it's a slow way about things

[SWETM]

Would like to test this palm polisher out. With a 10mm throw and air powered it would be intresting to see how it works on places you could use only one hand.

Griots Garage BOSS G10 Air, 10mm Pneumatic Polisher

[FishyX]

I use my HF Palm Polisher to apply sealant and do some very minor correction. It's super light and really easy to use with one hand. I rigged mine to use regular 6 inch pads and tend to reach for the little guy more then my GG6.

[dlc95]

I use my HF Palm Polisher to apply sealant and do some very minor correction. It's super light and really easy to use with one hand. I rigged mine to use regular 6 inch pads and tend to reach for the little guy more then my GG6.

It's what I use to apply cleaner waxes to my girls massage clients. Sometimes she upsells a wash & wax with a 90 minute massage. I use the palm polisher because It's almost silent compared to my other tools. The massages are performed directly above the garage.