Bumblebee - Testing out the NEW DeWALT DWP849X

[Mike Phillips]

The Driver's side is all compounded using the Flex PE14 with the new CS Pads and the new Optimum Compound II








Moving onto the polishing step...

[Mike Phillips]

Opinion/Personal Preference - Flex PE14

Both are excellent tools though and you can't go wrong with either one.

Buffing out a special interest vehicle like this because of its size and large smooth panels gave me a really good feel for both rotary buffers. I put the paint through three machine processes, doing a half side of the car with each rotary buffer.

While both tools worked exceedingly well, after hours of holding both tools and working 3 different products, my personal preference at least for the type of polishing I was doing to this car would be for the Flex PE14. In fact by the time I got to the Jewelling step I finished off most of the car using the Flex rotary buffer.

I preferred the lighter weight and more compact size of the Flex to the DeWALT, especially when I was working around the pinstripes, raised or hard body lines and thin panels. I used both rotary buffers without handles.





Rotary Buffer steps completed...

• Compounding: 6.5" CS Orange Cutting Pad with Optimum Compound II at 1000 RPM
• Polishing: 6.5" CS White Polishing Pads with Optimum Polish II at 1000 RPM
• Jewelling: 6.5" CS Red Finishing Pads with Optimum Finish at 600 RPM

Resuts...








Next step, seal the paint then dress the tires and polish the wheels.

[kronos]

Very nice review Mike. That Flex sure does have plenty of good things going for it. The only real negative seems to be the high initial cost.


The one remaining unanswered question I have is, can it be used for high volume paint correction work? The DeWalt looks heavy duty, like it was made for high volume work. Can the same be said of the Flex?

[Wills.WindowsAndWheels]

It does look beautiful indeed. No way i could swing that kinda cash for a rotary right now but its nice to have some input as to a comparison of the 2 polishers.

Quick question...what major differences do you see between the PE and the 3403 flex rotary?

Also to those who were interested in the 3" pads...AG does sell some...they are made by Griots...of course! They make the 3" DA remember? Thought i dont own..nor do i wish to own the 3" DA (i dont think its strong enough from what ive heard) i do have a 3" BP for my DA...and once i finally get a damn rotary i'll have a 3" BP for it too. Soooo, even though it isnt LC pads...its still a 3" pad...i don't know how well it works but...i'll hopefully be finding out soon enough once my nice big juicy order i made with AG today gets in

I must say that detailing cart looks super sweet....another wish list item...grrr....i wont buy it till i finally have a stationary place to do my detailing...too bulky for mobile detailing..im 25..i can still lean over to clean my pads lol.

[Mike Phillips]

Very nice review Mike. That Flex sure does have plenty of good things going for it. The only real negative seems to be the high initial cost.

Quality never costs money it makes money...

The one remaining unanswered question I have is, can it be used for high volume paint correction work? The DeWalt looks heavy duty, like it was made for high volume work. Can the same be said of the Flex?

According to Flex the answer is yes. They state that up to an 8" diameter pad can be used with the Flex PE14 but I prefer to stay a little smaller especially for wool pads.

More reciprocating mass creates more torque
My personal thoughts are that if you're going to be buffing out sanding marks all day long or removing oxidation from large boats all day long then a full size rotary buffer would be a better choice.

The gears are bigger in size as are the rest of the components in a full size rotary buffer and I think having more reciprocating mass creates more torque and this is something you would want if you're going to be doing heavy compounding and polishing with full size pads, (8" and larger), 6 days a week.

It does look beautiful indeed. No way i could swing that kinda cash for a rotary right now but its nice to have some input as to a comparison of the 2 polishers.

Quick question...what major differences do you see between the PE and the 3403 flex rotary?

First major difference is the new Flex PE14 has the design that flushes the tool with air to help the tool run cooler.

More information and a video on this page,

The New FLEX PE14-2-150 Rotary Buffer

Also to those who were interested in the 3" pads...AG does sell some...they are made by Griots...of course!

Correct and these work well too. You can see them in action here,

Pictures + Video of 1932 Ford Highboy Extreme Makeover




The 3" pads I'm using are some prototypes...

I must say that detailing cart looks super sweet....another wish list item...grrr....i wont buy it till i finally have a stationary place to do my detailing...too bulky for mobile detailing..im 25..i can still lean over to clean my pads LOL.

The cart is nice, it makes using the pad washer a lot easier plus gives you plenty of storage space for other related tools.


After about 6 hours of running both rotary buffers here's what I think, the new DeWALT is a great rotary buffer especially for the price. The 600 RPM low range is the most valuable feature. I also really like the rubber bumpers on the back side that enable you to set it down on a polished fender or hood without scratching the paint.

Apples to Oranges
Comparing the Flex PE14 to any of the full size DeWALT rotary buffers, or the Makita, or any other brand of full size rotary buffers is like comparing apples to oranges in that the Flex PE14 is a true compact rotary buffer and falls into the Compact Size category, while the DeWALT DWP849X falls into the Full Size category for rotary buffers.


Makita 9227C vs DeWALT DWP849X
A better comparison would be to compare the Makita 9227C with the DeWALT DWP849X as they are much more similar and my guess is that DeWALT introduced this new model to compete against the Makita rotary buffer. Both of these buffers, the Makita or the DeWALT would be great choices. I've always been a fan of Makita rotary buffers if for no other reason because I used one for years until it finally wore out having purchased it new in 1988.


The best of both worlds
In a perfect world a person would have at least two rotary buffers, a full size working dog for doing all of the grunt work and a compact, light-weight rotary buffer for when you need to dosurgical precision work. This way you can use the one that best fits the job at hand.


The compact size and low weight of the Flex PE14 plus the 600 RPM range are the features I'm most attracted to. It's light weight and small size make it really easy to control when doing intricate work. Perhaps we'll see the introduction of other compact, lightweight rotary buffers into the future.

After the compounding the upper half of the 1949 Sedan Delivery, I just switched over to the Flex PE14 due to the light weight and compact size features. I could have used either for the rest of the job by my preference was for the easiest tool to work with as this streetrod has a lot of real-estate to buff.


Here's some pictures to show relative sizes...

The two Flex rotary buffers on the left are in the Compact category while the other 4 rotary buffers are in the Full Size category. Comparing the compacts with the full size rotary buffers can be done but it trends towards the comparing applies to oranges analogy as in person and in use you can tell right away when you switch from a full size to a compact or visa-versa.






The new DeWALT DWP849X is wider and more bulky like the other full size rotary buffers in these pictures.



You can that the Flex is more narrow from top to bottom...

[Mike Phillips]

Did the 3 rotary steps yesterday, this morning I wiped the paint down very softly using a 12% IPA Solution and then applied Opti-Coat II

Here's how the finish started.... These next 4 pictures were taken at different places on the car, the swirls are pretty much the same over the entire finish. They don't look too deep so as long as the paint isn't too hard they should buff out pretty easy.


These first two pictures were taken on each of the vertical side panels...





These next two pictures were taken on the the horizontal panels of the front clip, I think one is on the hood and the other the top of the passenger fender, you can see little black contaminants on the paint and this is after I wiped the paint down with a spray detailer.








Here's some after shots....

[Mike Phillips]

When this car first arrived, to most people the paint looked pretty good. Non-detailers would have thought it had a show car finish. Detailers would look at the paint and see the potential for how good the paint could look.

When I took this project on the primary purpose was to have plenty of real-estate to provide plenty of time to run two different rotary buffers to really be able to compare them and get a feel for their own unique characteristics.

At the same time I also needed to test out the new Optimum Compound, Polish and Finishing Polish as well as some new types of foam buffing pads. I could have just done a quickie using a number of different approaches but instead decided to buff the car out as though it were really my car. That is approached this detailing project as explained here,

The Mindset of a Professional Detailer


And I hope the pictures do the results justice as the paint is very smooth and clear and as a result it's now incredibly glossy.


Here's pretty much everything I used... I'll post a write-up for this project with more information about the products and process later... I will say that the new Optimum products worked exceedingly well as did the CS Pads.

[C. Charles Hahn]

Hey Mike, I just noticed something. Is the rubber grip at the front of your PE14 starting to come apart a bit along the seam? Or has it been like that all along?

[Mike Phillips]

Hey Mike, I just noticed something. Is the rubber grip at the front of your PE14 starting to come apart a bit along the seam? Or has it been like that all along?

Not sure, I would have to go take a look.

[C. Charles Hahn]

Not sure, I would have to go take a look.

That's what I was looking at