The FLEX BEAST, Supa BEAST & CBEAST - 8mm Gear-Driven Orbital Polishers

[Mike Phillips]

The FLEX BEAST, Supa BEAST & CBEAST - 8mm Gear-Driven Orbital Polishers


Currently there are 3 versions of the FLEX BEAST available.


From left to right,

The Supa BEAST, the BEAST and the CBEAST






FLEX XC 3401 VRG

• 480 RPM and 9,600 OPM.
• Comes from the factory with a 6" Backing Plate.

The FLEX XC 3401 VRG is the original corded BEAST. The word BEAST is spelled with all capital letters. This is an 8mm gear-driven fixed orbit - orbital polisher. It's easily identified by the visible aluminum shroud at the head of the polisher.



FLEX XCE 10-8 125

• 430 RPM and 8,600 OPM
• Comes from the factory with a 5" backing plate.

This is the newest evolution of the original corded BEAST. I call it the Supa BEAST. The word Supa is short for super and only the first letter in the word Supa is capitalized and the word BEAST is all capital letters. Like the original BEAST, this is a 8mm gear-driven fixed orbit - orbital polisher. I personally use and recommend swapping out the factory 5" backing plate and installing the optional 6" backing plate. This enables you to use larger buffing pads and thus take full advantage of the power this tool offers with a larger footprint.



FLEX XCE 8-125 18.0

• 380 RPM and 7,600 OPM
• Comes from the factory with a 5" backing plate.

This is the CORDLESS BEAST aka the CBEAST . The word CBEAST is spelled with all capital letters and the letter C before the word BEAST simply stands for cordless. Like the original BEAST, this is a 8mm gear-driven fixed orbit - orbital polisher using Lithium-Ion re-chargeable batteries.



The original FLEX XC 3401 VRG 8mm gear-driven orbital polisher.





The FLEX Supa BEAST





The FLEX CBEAST





Body Design Changes

They are all roughly the same size and weight. In these pictures you can easily see the exposed aluminum head on the original 3401. The new design of the Supa BEAST and the CBEAST incorporate the handle into the head of the tool with a rubber overmold. With the original design, if the tool is dropped, it's possible for the handle to break. By removing the handle, breakage is now a non-issue.







Brushless Motor Technology
The newer Supa BEAST And CBEAST use FLEX brushless electric motors so there's never any brushes to wear out or replace. If you have the original BEAST an need to replace the brushes, here's a how-to video that shows you how to do it yourself.




Backing Plate Swap - Maximizing the ability of the Supa BEAST

After using all three of these tool extensively, my own personal preference is to invest in the larger 6" backing plate for the corded Supa BEAST. Being a corded model it has TONS of power and turning and churning larger pads is no problem. So, might as well take advantage of the power and of course, ZERO PAD STALLING and use larger pads that enable you to tackler more real-estate to get any detail job done faster.


Here's the link to the larger, optional 6" backing plate.

FLEX XFE 7-15 6 inch Backing Plate








My take on the three different BEAST options?

I get asked about these three different variations all the time. Here's my take,


The BEAST
If I REALLY want to bust-out a job and plow through it as fast as humanly possible I use the BEAST. The extra RPM and OPM are just a tick more than the Supa BEAST - BUT - if I'm in a hurry - I'll take full advantage of the extra speed and power.



The Supa BEAST
If not trying to hit Warp Speed - I grab the Supa Beast. It's much more enjoyable to use. It's an amazing tool. I would even say it's a freaking amazing tool. Compared to the original BEAST, it offers these 4 benefits.

1. Smoother
2. Quieter
3. Lighter
4. Cooler

The CBEAST
If I have an easy job, that means the car has only light swirls, scratches and these defects are shallow then I'll use the CBEAST. This also means I've done a TEST SPOT and found the paint corrects easy meaning the paint hardness is in the medium to soft range but definitely not what I would consider hard paint, then the pleasure of not hassling with a power cord cannot be understated. I love the freedom of no cord. Alas - most of the cars I detail are severely neglected with lots of swirls, scratches, water spots and oxidation so I don't use the CBEAST as often as I wish I could.


Tool choice for me is about the condition of the paint and the speed in which I want to plow through the job.

[Mike Phillips]

***Placeholder***


As I type it's Friday, October 16th, 2020. Next week on Thursday, October 22nd, Yancy and I will be shooting a LIVE Detailing Class at 3:00pm Eastern Time in which we will take an in-depth look at these three tools.






While this will be a LIVE Detailing Class, the above video will be available on the Autogeek YouTube Channel. So this post is for the future.

[Mike Phillips]

***Placeholder***


As I get time, I'll include buffing pad options for all three polishers here.

[JustJesus]

***Placeholder***

As I get time, I'll include buffing pad options for all three polishers here.

GOOD. This saves me some time


These tools are great. The 3401 is still my fave....just got to get the other two Beasts added to my collection!

ahhhh some day.

[Me Time]

***BUMP***

Mike, did you ever show the buffing pad options for these three polishers? Or did I miss it somewhere?

Thanks, Greg

***Placeholder***


As I get time, I'll include buffing pad options for all three polishers here.

[Mike Phillips]

***BUMP***

Mike, did you ever show the buffing pad options for these three polishers? Or did I miss it somewhere?

Thanks, Greg

Ha ha.... I did write 2 new articles for this topic but never circled back to include them in this article.


Here's the most recent article where I includes B&S pads

Mike Phillips recommended foam pads for the FLEX Family of BEAST 8mm Gear-Driven Orbital Polishers


I get asked a LOT about which pads to get for the FLEX family of BEAST tools. If you don't know, the BEAST family of tools includes,


FLEX XC 3401 VRG - the original and also known as The BEAST - and the BEAST is spelled with all capital letters. This is a 8mm gear-driven fixed orbit orbital polisher.

FLEX XCE 10-8 125 aka The Supa BEAST - Supa is short for super and only the first letter is capitalized. This is a 8mm gear-driven fixed orbit orbital polisher.

FLEX XCE 8-125 18.0 aka The CBEAST - All capital letters and the letter C before the word BEAST simply stands for cordless. This is a 8mm gear-driven fixed orbit orbital polisher.



As of February 9th, 2021 - here are my preferred choices for pads for compounding, polishing, finishing work and when using AIOs









Here's the previous article - both articles have lots of extra info.



Buffing Pad Recommendations for the FLEX BEASTS Trio - BEAST - Supa BEAST - CBEAST


Lake Country and RUPES Foam Buffing Pads for the FLEX BEAST Trio











And this one is important too....


Supa BEAST and CBEAST Backing Plate Swap by Mike Phillips








It's what I do - create content.

[Me Time]

Thank you Sir.

I broke down and bought the Supa BEAST finally. I'm just an old weekend warrior, but I like how you keep preaching about it saving time and your body vs. my GG polisher. Getting old sucks so I'm ok with spending a couple of bucks to make it easier.

Now if they weather would just straighten up. Last week we had 3/4" of ice and then 2 days of snow that left us with 8". But you have been in the Sunshine State too long to remember snow.

Ha ha.... I did write 2 new articles for this topic but never circled back to include them in this article.


Here's the most recent article where I includes B&S pads

Mike Phillips recommended foam pads for the FLEX Family of BEAST 8mm Gear-Driven Orbital Polishers


I get asked a LOT about which pads to get for the FLEX family of BEAST tools. If you don't know, the BEAST family of tools includes,


FLEX XC 3401 VRG - the original and also known as The BEAST - and the BEAST is spelled with all capital letters. This is a 8mm gear-driven fixed orbit orbital polisher.

FLEX XCE 10-8 125 aka The Supa BEAST - Supa is short for super and only the first letter is capitalized. This is a 8mm gear-driven fixed orbit orbital polisher.

FLEX XCE 8-125 18.0 aka The CBEAST - All capital letters and the letter C before the word BEAST simply stands for cordless. This is a 8mm gear-driven fixed orbit orbital polisher.



As of February 9th, 2021 - here are my preferred choices for pads for compounding, polishing, finishing work and when using AIOs









Here's the previous article - both articles have lots of extra info.



Buffing Pad Recommendations for the FLEX BEASTS Trio - BEAST - Supa BEAST - CBEAST


Lake Country and RUPES Foam Buffing Pads for the FLEX BEAST Trio











And this one is important too....


Supa BEAST and CBEAST Backing Plate Swap by Mike Phillips








It's what I do - create content.

[FrankS]

The original BEAST has always been my go to tool. I wanted to know more about the difference between them. Very informative article. Thanks Mike!

[Sizzle Chest]

^^Hey Frank, hope all is well buddy!

ALL great machines Mike, good job on showing the differences between them.

[PaulMys]

^^Hey Frank, hope all is well buddy!

ALL great machines Mike, good job on showing the differences between them.

Scottie-- Any updates on your repairs?