Review: Griot's G9 - 9mm Orbit Stroke Random Orbital Polisher by Mike Phillips

Review: Griot's G9 - 9mm Orbit Stroke Random Orbital Polisher by Mike Phillips





Griot's G9 - 9mm Orbit Stroke Random Orbital Polisher

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Review
Below are some pictures of a real-world paint correction I did to a blown 1979 El Camino that belongs to my buddy Ike. (thanks Ike for letting me use you Elky). But to just cut to the chase and read my thoughts on this new tool from Griot's, here you go.


LOTS OF POWER!

This is the first tool I've used in my career where I didn't feel the need to go to the highest speed setting, which is 6 on the speed dial. It's that powerful, or better said, it's spins the pad so fast. I found myself running the tool on the 5 speed setting the majority of the time. Why is this important? Because I know my audience and they are looking for power. And in the context of a free spinning random orbital polisher power means the ability to maintain pad rotation under pressure.

This tool has TONS of power.

I used this tool in its factory configuration, that is with the factory installed 6" backing plate. I know most of you that have been reading my articles or have attended any of my classes know I show and recommend 5" backing plates for tools like this. Two reasons for this are,

1: With a 5" backing plate you can use 5.5" diameter buffing pads and simply put, smaller diameter pads tend to fit thinner body panels on modern cars better. That is you can buff out a section of a panel that has an edge on one side and a raised body line on the other side so you're never buffing on top of the edge or the body line. (good best practice)

2: Smaller, thin pads are easier for tools to maintain pad rotation. While this has been an issue historically, this isn't a problem with the new Griot's G9 - like I mentioned above, it has a TON of power.


Besides the most important thing I know you are all curious about there's the other things you're looking for,

Low vibration, smooth operation. CHECK. The tool is very smooth and very low vibration at any speed during operation.

Well-built. CHECK. This new G9 polisher, like the BOSS polishers, feels so SOLID, it feels stout enough that you could drive nails through wood with it. It's as solid as ANY tool I've used and even more solid.

Ergo design. CHECK. The forward handle and rear grip give you plenty of leverage over the tool and make controlling it easy.

Switch and lock button function and location. CHECK. The speed trigger is progressive and smooth. The ambidextrous speed adjust is available on either side of the tool. The lock button is angled to match your thumb placement when buffing.

Noise level. CHECK. For this I ran this new tool side-by-side with the Griot's 6" Random Orbital Polisher, but on speed 6 and the G9 is a tick louder. My comment is, it's the side-effect of MORE POWER. And from reading comments in the detailing cyber-world since the Internet was invented, I think this is something that you folks always want - more power.

Detachable Power Cord. Check. This is a cool feature and I think everyone is going to love this new idea. Because the power cord LOCKS into the rear of the handle it won't come unplugged. Then at the end of the day you can remove the cord. This makes it easier to store the tools and makes it easier to coil-up your cord to prevent damage to the cord. (no more wrapping the cord around the tool)



From Griot's Garage


Innovative features

• Patent-Pending Fan-Cooled Counterbalance extends tool and pad life
• Quick-Connect Power Cord makes tool storage a snap
• Quick-Access Brush Ports for easy maintenance
• Temperature Management System monitors machine and shuts down when it exceeds normal operating temperature
• Unplug Safety Kill Circuit preventing inadvertent uncontrolled power


Features

• Precision wound 1000 watt -8.5amp finely balanced motor
• Low-resistance premium Japanese sealed bearings
• Constant-speed control for consistent power and rotation
• Intake vent screens to prevent internal contamination
• Precision machine gears with a 45% increase in strength over current
• Lubricated with Mobil® Mobilux™ Premium Grease


Ergonomics & Design

• Extensive double-shot rubber enhances comfort, grip, and control
• Ergonomic counterbalance shroud grip, platypus head, and rear pistol grip
• Lower finger-grips enhance control
• Comfortable, lockable on/off trigger




Review
The first car I buffed out with this new tool was a 1968 Shelby Mustang. This car was restored a few years ago and has a modern basecoat/clearcoat paint system. It had light swirls and scratches throughout the vertical body panels with deeper scratches on the hood and trunk lid. Not knowing what to expect, I did a few test spots and dialed-in a process using BOSS Creams and BOSS pads that removed a majority of all the "removable" scratches in the finish. What caught me by surprise however was after dialing-in my process on the hood, I found myself turning the speed down on the tool to buff out the rest of the car. Normally I run all my orbital polishers on the highest speed setting when doing correction work. With this new tool I turned the speed setting down to the 5 speed setting and it had MORE THAN ENOUGH POWER to maintain excellent pad rotation over all the various body panels.

Next I buffed out a 1979 El Camino. This Pro Street streetrod also has a modern basecoat/clearcoat paint system and like the 1968 Shelby Mustang, it had light swirls and scratches throughout the vertical body panels with deeper scratches on the hood. (El Caminos don't have a trunk lid). For the El Camino, (pictures below), I dialed-in a process where I used the Fast Cut Correction Cream with the white aggressive foam BOSS cutting pad for the hood and this removed 99.9% of the defects, everything I was comfortable removing. I then used the BOSS Finishing Sealant and the BOSS Orange pads to knock out the vertical panels. From start to finish it took me around 2 hours to do the correction work and the polishing/sealing step. The tool easily powered-through this project. And like the Shelby Mustang, I used the 5 speed setting for the entire job as I found I didn't need to go all they way to the 6 speed setting to maintain pad rotation.

For years I've been sharing the Griot's 6" Random Orbital Polisher as THE best bang for you buck when it comes to getting into machine polishing. And it was the best bang for your buck. But now this new tool is going to take it's place as the best bang for your tool investment for this category of polisher. This is the perfect tool for hobbyist and professionals as well.


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On Autogeek.com

Griot's Garage G9 Random Orbital Polisher




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Continued....



Testing out the Griot's G9 Random Orbital Polisher

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Documenting the before condition
Under florescent lights, the paint on the El Camino looks good. That's why you can't judge paint condition using just one type of light. I would have used my Griot's Swirl Finder Light to inspect the paint on this El Camino but the one I have was a gift to me by Jeff Brown at Griot's and I take it to all my Roadshow Classes. And when I was buffing out this car, it was packed inside a tote heading back from my last roadshow class. So I broke out another swirl finder light. BIG PICTURE is in order to really see and evaluate the true condtion of car paint you need a quality swirl finder light.



Swirls and Deeper scratches
The hood had the normal light swirls any car has but there were also a lot of RIDS or Random Isolated Deeper Scratches

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Driver's side sail panel

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An ounce of prevention
Hard not to see the blower, carbs and air scoop sticking out of the hood. Me? I'm not going to be the guy that covers all this with splatter dots from machine polishing.

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Autogeek Cover-up Towel
I use these all the time to "cover things up".

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Quick, fast and easy
Now after buffing out the El Camino I won't have to go back and remove splatter dots off carb linkage using a toothbrush. Been there done that back when I was a teenage. That's when I came up with the Beach Towel Tip and then Autogeek turned my beach towel tip into the cover-up towel.

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Test Spot
I practice and teach,

Use the least aggressive process to get the job done

I tried the BOSS Correction Cream on the hood and it removed the shallow swirls and scratches but left a lot of deeper RIDS behind. So I switched over to the Fast Correction Cream and the very aggressive white foam BOSS cutting pad. This worked great!

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Griot's BOSS Finishing Sealant
The Finishing Sealant has some light cut, like a light cutting polish but it also has a sealant in it also, so technically it's a cleaner/sealant or an AIO. After compounding the hood I went over the hood and the rest of the El Camino using the BOSS Finishing Sealant and the BOSS orange foam correcting pad.

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Results
The paint on this car is now worthy of the car.

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Pads, Products & Tools
I try to always take a picture of all the pads I use when I buff out a car. Why? Because most people don't know how many pads they need and I would day from about 32 years of experience, most people don't have enough pads to buff out a car. So when purchasing a Griot's G9 polisher, be sure to get plenty of pads.

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The Sun Shot
While Ike was leaving, because the sun was out, I took a moment to get the "Sun Shot". The sun is the true revealer of a quality finish.

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Dang! Looks like there's a Palm Tree growing out of the hood....

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Final comments....

This is a really nice tool. I'm not going to say it's a great tool for enthusiast detailers, that would be the person that just wants to detail their own cars, but not a great tool for Pro Detailers because that would not be accurate. It is a GREAT tool for enthusiasts or hobbyist detailers but it's also stout enough for professionals.

I told my friends at Griot's their price point is too low. It's too nice of a tool for such a low price. So if you're looking to get into machine polishing, or if it's time to replace or upgrade from your current polisher, you won't be disappointed in the new Griot's Garage G9.

You want power? It has the power!




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On Autogeek.com


Griot's Garage G9 Random Orbital Polisher



:)

Excellent review! I am sold on this one. Is there going to be a longer power cord available like there was for the previous generation 6 inch Random Orbital Polisher?

RamAirV1

Thanks Mike that answered my questions, yes we all like or truly love power in our tools. It will not replace the new Cordless Beast on my want list but this one is going to be coming into my toy chest soon! And when they have both power cords this is really a sweet option. By the way I did ask if their existing 3-in pad kit will work and the answer is a big NO. I guess too much power can be a bad thing on small pad and mostly the air cooling with the 6 or 5 inch backing plates.

Oh what fun your classes are going to have when you get refreshed tools in 2020!

KIrby

Thank you Mike for a thorough review. Now I am really looking forward to receiving mine.

Thanks for the review Mike. This G9 seems so awesome it almost makes me wish I didn’t have a Boss G15. This is a great tool for the enthusiast that will have a single polisher because he/she doesn’t detail a large amount of cars. Sure makes the future look great for updates they’ll put in place for a refreshed line of Boss polishers.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RamAirV1

Excellent review! I am sold on this one. Is there going to be a longer power cord available like there was for the previous generation 6 inch Random Orbital Polisher?

RamAirV1

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Yes, an optional 25ft cord can be purchased.

Ding dang - forgot to mention what the 9 means in the G9

9mm Orbit Stroke

The Griot’s Garage 6” Random Orbital Polisher is 8mm orbit stroke length.


Most tools like the Griot’s Garage 6” Random Orbital Polisher are 8mm. So this is a new change feature about this tool that separates it from all the 8mm tools.

Still considered a short stroke polisher.


:)

Ahhh, very interesting. :xyxthumbs:

Great write up Mike. :props:

Is that really the price??? $149.00 Far out, that’s incredible value. A shame these won’t come down here . . . Actually, it’s a shame a lot of the Griot’s Garage line doesn’t are it down here to be honest.

I’m digging the cord idea & it really makes sense & a bit odd now that this hasn’t been done before. Interesting that despite recent trends they have gone to a small throw configuration, any reason given for this? The tool appears short but that may perhaps be because of the detached cord, any chance of a side by side picture with another tool please? It looks comfy, & I see they have a grip around the head of the tool also.

Pretty cool, I like it.

Aaryn NZ. :dblthumb2:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BSoares

Thanks for the review Mike. This G9 seems so awesome it almost makes me wish I didn’t have a Boss G15. This is a great tool for the enthusiast that will have a single polisher because he/she doesn’t detail a large amount of cars. Sure makes the future look great for updates they’ll put in place for a refreshed line of Boss polishers.

---

I said the same thing to myself since I already have a Boss-15, a PC7424XP, and the GG3. Of course $150 won't break my bank account, but seems I have enough for the time being.

This new G9 appears to be the new gold standard for an entry level Polisher. I'm guessing that this machine will eventually replace and obsolete the GG6.

For those who already own a GG6, looks like there's various options, some might choose to simply convert and dedicate their GG6 or PC-etc to the use of smaller Plates and Pads.

Not that it's recommended by Griots, but since the G-9 does possess the same spindle size as other common D/A's, it "might" work OK with maybe a very small size reduction in backing plate to 3-7/8", thus using 4" Pads without harm being done?

Hope I haven't committed some sin by mentioning this? LOL

I'd imagine there will be some who might try this for the heck of it.

This machine isn't like the Rupes, where some people then felt a need to do the washer mod for additional backing plate clearance.