Orbital polishers, do I need top of the line?

[Young Roids]

So I know that the 7424 seems to be the polisher of choice but what about cheaper models? Will they get swirls out just as well? Here is a ryobi ten inch polisher that I have my eye on. What do you guys think will it do the job?

edit: Well I guess the picture exeedes my quota to show it on here.

 

[Big Nate]

I would say go with a more powerful machine. The ryobi is not a powerful as the porter-cable and the porter-cable is not as powerful as the flex. So the less money you spend on machine the more time it will take to work out the swirls and some may not come out at all.

 

[Young Roids]

The ryobi 10" is a single speed that is about 2800rpm. What speed is needed for polishing out swirls in the clear coat? And are there cutting pads available for 10" polishers?

I have found the 7424 for $99 at one place that seems pretty good. I am searching the web for prices.

 

[Big Nate]

are you talking about Rotary polisher or Random orbital??

 

[Young Roids]

The ryobi is a "10" orbital buffer". I have been researching this right now and the auto geek site talks about these cheaper ones like the ryobi and says they are only good for waxing since they are not powerfull enough to polish clear coat. So I will probly get the 7424 for $99 I am thinking.

 

[Picklz]

I bought the PC and its the best $100 I've ever spent on an item for my Car, I wouldn't mind getting something a bit more powerfull at some point but for the most part the thing does an awesome job.

 

[Young Roids]

Just found a 7424 on ebay I bid $71 hopefully it will hold up.

 

[Big Nate]

wow that would be a steal. I got my porter-cable at Lowes when they where closing them out.

 

[YSOSLO]

I'm stoked! I just got notification today that my Flex is finally on the way. It was on back-order for a bit. I got the best price I could find on it by tracking down an online promo code through catalog.com that gave me 10% off of my first purchase from Classic Motoring, so I got it for $261. I picked up a pair of white and orange pads, a Menzerna starter kit and a new clay bar which took me over the $300 mark, so it all shipped for free too. Can't wait! I've heard a lot of great things about the PC, but after reading a bunch of online reviews from different sites it sounds like the Flex has the ease-of-use of the PC with the extra power necessary to get the job done a lot faster. We'll see.