Harbor Freight DA Polisher - New

**4ord** · 03-25-2013, 02:52 PM

Originally Posted by swanicyouth

3" pads work great on a regular DA w/ tons of power. Not sure why people go with the Griots 3" machine.

Only advantage I see is ease of maneuverability over a larger machine.

But $100 for a griots or ~$50 for a HF with more power....

Think ill go with the HF. lol

**4ord** · 03-25-2013, 02:56 PM

Originally Posted by ski2

I've been thinking of doing this also--I wonder if it makes sense to use a 3" rotary backing plate, a 1.5" rotary extension and a rotary to DA adapter--this way the 3" pad will be away from the counter weight shroud on the polisher which is pretty close to 3" itself. Would seem to allow more flexibility in tight spaces.

If that's doing what I think it is, you're allowing lots of room for fingers to accidentally slip into the path of the spinning counter weight, and that does not sound fun.

My 3 inch LC backing plate seems to do ok without any crazy extensions on my my Griots 6 inch. Maneuverability is still pretty good. It's not 100%, but it's still very good.

**ski2** · 03-26-2013, 06:46 AM

Originally Posted by 4ord

If that's doing what I think it is, you're allowing lots of room for fingers to accidentally slip into the path of the spinning counter weight, and that does not sound fun. .

I think you're right on having to be careful to not get your fingers into the counter weight area, but I believe I've seen Mike use a set up like this on a number of his articles. If I remember correctly he actually uses a 2 7/8" rotary BP that has a raised area where it screws onto the polisher that he inserts an DA adapter. This seems to get the BP/Pad an inch or so away from the shroud for more manuverability.

**2BlackChevys** · 03-26-2013, 09:04 AM

I picked up one of these for a backup or 3" BP machine yesterday and the were giving out 25% off 1 item coupons good for Easter Sunday only!

**Purple87SS** · 03-28-2013, 09:09 AM

An an update:

I went to a different HF store since original store was quoting me $34.99 on the 2 year protection plan. I picked up the DA polisher(used a 25% off coupon) and 3 pads, and the 2 year protection plan for the correct $9.99 price. Was bout $73 OTD for everything. I also went to Autozone where a friend works, and picked up some 32 oz. Meguiar's M105 & M205 at 20% off.

Tested out the DA/polish/pads on my test panel and was pretty happy with the results. Can't wait to get the whole car done, as well as our other cars. I will report back in a few weeks with a update on the machine.

**Becciasm** · 03-28-2013, 02:13 PM

Can it be????

Worth picking up at this price???

**JSou** · 03-28-2013, 02:19 PM

^ do it.

**4ord** · 03-28-2013, 03:00 PM

Originally Posted by Becciasm

Can it be????

Worth picking up at this price???

I also got that coupon in the mail....

Very tempting....

**Sunshyne** · 03-31-2013, 12:18 PM

Originally Posted by Becciasm

Can it be????

Worth picking up at this price???

went with a friend yesterday and picked one up for him. He only will use it for his own ride once every few months. Should be interesting

**Vaipulu** · 03-31-2013, 12:54 PM

My brother ran over my PC a few months ago. In a pinch I bought this. Swapped b/p to BnS and counterweight from the PC. This machine was just supposed to hold me over until the a new PC came in the mail. I'm still using it, and see no need to retire it now. I feel bad for trash talking on harbor freight, it seems they have turned things around. It's all still china... But china is still going strong after daily abuse for 6 months now.

Just my personal experience.