Review: 5" Heavy Duty Rotary BP

[PAR Detailing]

I am a big fan of my rotary for compounding and polishing and when you see show and shines you see people use the 3m foam backing plate, atleast I have seen alot of the greats use it. My old roomate has one so I have been able to use it and play around with it, and I have to say its a great BP and if you have the money by all means go for it. But if money is tight or you cant justify spending $70+ then consider the 5" Heavy Duty Rotary BP

I decided to get this and some 5.5" pads for my rotary because I like the handling and feel of the rotary better with the smaller pads. I feel like it is easier to control, it fits in spaces better, and I get more uniform correction out of it.

Since I have access to both backing plates I decided to do a little comparitive review of the two.

The 3m BP:


The BP Autogeek sells:


A side by side Comparison: (Both are practically the same size, a few mm difference)


Now a side by side with a pad attached:


A side by side of the velcro. The 3m has hook and loop to the very edge, the HD doesnt have it going to the far edge


Now I am attempting to show the flexability of the foam. I tried to use the same pressure on both pads. Obviously there is human error in this but you get the picture
3m:


HD:


Overall, I have to say they are pretty similar and obviously have similar concepts. The 3m foam is softer and more pliable than the white foam but both are flexable none the less.

In actual use of the BP's (sorry no pics) I could hardly tell a difference between the two, both were smooth and easy to use on the rotary and held the pads well. The lack of hook and loop going to the edge on the white BP is not an issue and does not affect the performance one bit.

I am very happy with my purchase of the HD BP and would highly reccomend it to anyone with a rotary wanting to use 5.5 pads. If money were no issue then go with the 3m but if it is then the HD BP is roughly 1/4th the price of the 3m and works great!

If anyone has questions or comments please feel free to throw them out there

Jon

[VISITOR]

nice review. hmmm... that looks pretty similiar to the backing plate CG sells. wonder if it's the same one...

[Rsurfer]

I have both, but for 20 bucks it appears to be a deal. I like the way 3M has the female shaft wedged into the plate...less chance that it could ever spin free.

[DonMTV]

Can you use larger pads with either of these backing plates? If so, how large could you safely go? I have only seen these foam ones in the smaller diameter. Doesn't anyone know of larger sized versions of these as I believe the larger backing plates don't have any foam.

I haven't gotten a rotary yet, but I have been looking into it.

Don

Biggest pad I have is 6 1/2" for my Flex.

[PAR Detailing]

Can you use larger pads with either of these backing plates? If so, how large could you safely go? I have only seen these foam ones in the smaller diameter. Doesn't anyone know of larger sized versions of these as I believe the larger backing plates don't have any foam.

I haven't gotten a rotary yet, but I have been looking into it.

Don

Biggest pad I have is 6 1/2" for my Flex.

you could but I don't think it would be as effective. You can use the megs w66 bp for 6.5 pads. That bp also has foam.