Buffer / Polisher

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dudaduma

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Does anyone have any experience with the Chicago 7" Polisher/Sander, typically sold at Harbor Freight? My Makita is dead (bad armature) and I need to get another buffer. I'm either going to spend over $100 to get my armature replaced or $30 to buy a brand new Chicago buffer from Harbor Freight. If anyone has used one of these, please let me know your opinion of it.

Thanks
 
You get what you pay for comes to mind. I havent had much from them that was worth a hoot but I havent tried that buffer. I just had my 2 makita's rebuilt.
 
I've had one for years. It's been loaned out many times and fell in the river once. Still works great.
 
I bought one last year on sale for like $29. Figured if I got one hull polish out of it, that was fine. It worked just fine. It's heavy as heck although I have not heffted the competition for comparison. My logic on stuff like this is any machine I'm going to use regularly, I try to get the best I can afford. But a polisher I use for about 6hrs a year doesn't need to be top of the line. So far, so good.
 
Works great and when it dies it doesn't cost an arm and leg to replace.
 
I have used one for about four seasons and it is still going strong. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another, I county that you'll get four times as much useout of a Makita.
 
Thanks everyone! I have a coupon and can buy it for $30. I'm only doing my boat; if I get a couple of years of use, it'll be worth it. My Makita is much heavier than the Chicago buffer I looked at, and the Chicago buffer actually looks like a knock-off of the Makita.
 
They are fine for the job. Been using them daily for 4yrs now. I still have the makitas and dewalt, but the price of these make it worthwhile. From my experience they work very well for the money, and for $10 the warrenty is a no questions asked, just bring it back and get a new one every year. I find them more comfortable to use then the makitas or dewalt due to weight. I like the fast start also rather then the bogged out delay of the makitas. The 2 problem areas I do notice are the cords are easily ripped out and the backing plate for the pads are easily proken, as in if you hit a cleat or similar to hard. You either put a crack in the plate by the nut or off balance it and get vibration. Regarless, you'll spend $30 on just a new backing plate for the makita
 
Thanks Mike. I'm definitely picking one up before the coupon expires. Also, thanks for all your helpful posts.
 
I have one. I guess it's OK but it's pretty heavy and bulky. I've never had another except for the small Ryobi buffers so I don't have much to compare it to.

It would be nicer if it had a 20' or so cord on it. A couple times, I've ended up with the cord/extention cord connection in the water and it trips the GFCI breaker on the dock. At least I know it works.

I've wondered about the Shurehold orbital/rotary polishers. Anyone used one of these?
 
I have a buffer similar to the one below that I picked up years ago to do my car:

image_1037.jpg


Should I invest in one of these:

image_2513.jpg


or are the results going to end up the same and the only difference is the handles?
 
I own both. I pretty much agree with most of the experience here, especially Mike Ryans details. However, I'm recommending to fix the makita. Owning both I use them for different things now. The HF is Sooooo much lighter, its much nicer to polish an area that does not need much weight. The backing pads break easily, so I bought a good 3m one to go on the HF so I did not have to keep replacing it, at times when it was inconvenient. The white wool HF pads are made in the US and although they shed worse than my dog, they work well for the money, good value.

The HF does not pull like the Makita will. While it can obtain the speeds with a fresh pad (which you should be using anyway), it does not have but a fraction of the power. It simply can't power through and polish a section like the Makita can. When I did my 48 this season, a huge monstrous job, I found I gradually switched back to the Makita and by finish time would use nothing but the Makita. I might pick up the HF now to do some very light polishing on area that have already been mowed down by the Makita.

Personally I'd fix the Makita and then decide whether to also buy the HF. It's nice having two machines. But if money is short, then first I'd buy a fleet of white and yellow wool pads. I'm pooped after about 7 or 8 pads, so buy 4 of the white and 4 of the yellow (white for cutting, yellow for polishing). Then count your money and invest whatever is left on your machine of choice. Fresh pads are more important than a fresh machine. Don't forget to wash them every day and change out when scoring can't keep up.
 
The one you have I believe is a random orbit buffer. If you bear down it basically sstops, the second is a dedicated polisher and is the one asked about in the topic post. Second one does a much better job, imho.
quote:
Originally posted by KiDa

I have a buffer similar to the one below that I picked up years ago to do my car:

image_1037.jpg


Should I invest in one of these:

image_2513.jpg


or are the results going to end up the same and the only difference is the handles?

Click to expand...
 
Thank you dancerscap. I'll get the HF next time they are on sale. So if I understand correctly, the bottom pic is a rotary, not orbital buffer and you just have to keep the RPM's down to avoid burning the paint/gelcoat. Is that correct?
 
I used a borrowed HF a couple of years back and although it was a little lighter, I prefered a more professional machine.
I normally borrow my friends machine. I don't remember the brand name off hand, but he has had it since he had his first auto body shop back in the late seventies. He now has a regular repair shop, but still uses it when he does body work for his customers.
It's a great machine, but weighs a ton.
After using it this past spring I splurged and bought myself a much lighter Makita. I know that its heavier than the Harbor Freight, but then again there is really no easy way to do the sides of the boat that won't cause your arms and shoulders to feel like you beat the crap out of them. Unless of course its something you do every day.
I have two random orbitals that I use for my cars. A Porter Cable 7424 and a Flex 3401. While they are pretty good at some correction and polishing on a car with paint that is in good shape, I find them a little lacking when it comes to my 23 year old boat. They are both great machines and head and shoulders above those inexpensive random orbitals you see around. Those cheaper machines are probably fine for applying wax or something, but you'll be chasing your tail tryng to correct or polish the gel coat on your boat with one.
Bottom line: If you can only have one machine for the boat, the Makita (because of its quality) is probably the way to go. I generally believe in buying quality tools because they last a long time. Bite the bullet and resign yourself to the fact that you're going to get a workout doing the boat a couple of times a year. I usually just turn on the radio and get to it.
If the Makita is a little too expensive, than go with the Harbor Freight.
 
OK guys,
I just bought one from HF today and I'm still confused regarding what bonnet I should be using.
I will be using Fleetwax fiberglass cleaner first and follow up with regular Fleetwax paste wax. I will use my polisher sander to put on the cleaner and then the wax and will use just plain old towels to wipe off the residue.
There are terry cloth, foam, wool and micro fiber bonnets. Which one should I use for each step, the cleaning and the waxing?
 
Foam or wool. Personally I find foam to be too delicate if you have much in the way of obstacles. Works on the hull, but I tear them up on the topsides.

If you are going to all the trouble of breaking out the big guns, I would actually use a polish. As far as I know the cleaner is not really a polish like a finesse. At least, if your talking about collinite fleetwax cleaner, I've never used it as such. Good stuff, I use it where I get frequent stains, but I never used it as a polish.
 
Ghost,
Thanks for the response. I'm not using the cleaner as a polish, but strickly as a cleaner. I've been doing my boat that way for some years and have been happy with the results.
I just wasn't sure which bonnets I should be using for both steps.
I guess I'll get the foam as I'm only doing the hull as there are few "obstacles"
 
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