UK - Orbital Polishers, where?

[jdthompson]

As usual lots of choice if you`re american, and (it would seem) very little if you`re in the UK.



Does anyone have any recommendations on where to pick up a reasonably priced random orbital?



I don`t want to go to the expense or trouble of getting anything imported, but all we seem to have over here are the £20 things they sell at Argos - how do these stack up as an alternative to hand polishing, and are good quality pads available over here?



My car is a 2002 Golf, pearl grey anthracite, paint`s not marked and I`d like to keep it that way - to date I`ve been applying Zaino Z2 with meguiars foams and removing with microfibers, but being the UK and not having a garage it`s getting more and more difficult to get good enough weather for anything to dry... I`m contemplating a change...



I`d be grateful for any links or advice,



Paul

[Sci-Fi]

Porter Cable lists 2 dealers, if you are interested in their products:



BEDFORD FIXINGS

1A DEAN ST. P.O. BOX 2355

44-0234-360747 BEDFORD ENGLAND



HAMILTON POWER PRODUCTS

P.O. BOX 2355

44-1206-762470 COLCHESTER ENGLAND



A friend of mine in Belgium, after claying, used Meguiar`s #7 Show Car Glaze, 3 coats of Autoglym Extra Gloss (both products locally available, didn`t want to use the Autoglym Super Resin because of the abrasives/cleaning agent), then a coat of P21S (that I shipped) to get this shine:







Reports that it looks a lot better than the previous car (recently totalled) that had Super Resin in place of the Meguiar`s #7 step. But that is her opinion and all work was done by hand.

[Paintxpert]

There are a few different Orbitals here:



http://www.terratruck.co.uk/online_s...sonline001.htm



When I can afford to next year, I will personally be going for the Dewalt RO

[jdthompson]

They seem a little expensive/OTT though - doesn`t seem to be much middle ground between the £20 halfords jobbies and the £140 "professional" ones.



As an alternative to working by hand what does the extra money buy - I wouldn`t feel happy spending £160 on a buffer, so would it better to keep on working by hand than it would to buy one of the cheaper buffers?



I think the closest equivelent I can see is the "craftsman" line of buffers at Sears.



regards

Paul

[Paintxpert]

I agree



I wouldnt trust the cheap generic ones, but paying 10 times more for what is supposed to be a `good one` seems pretty strange.



I am sure others on the board know what the difference between the cheap and expensive ones are :nixweiss



From what I can tell - the expensive ones have speed adjustability and you can change the type of bonnet cloth that is attached to the machine.

[Lowejackson]

The Halfords type units are designed to add or remove wax and nothing more, with units like a Porter Cable you can remove swirl marks and minor scratches that would take forever by hand and give a more consistant finish.



A DA Buffer, seems to be for more skilled and experienced people, as there is a higher chance of damaging the paint.



I seached hard to find a UK random orbital buffer, the only ones I could find were in the 250 pound plus bracket (the cheaper units ran way to fast eg 10,000rpm!), thats why I ordered a Porter Cable from the States. By doing this, I also get a massive amount of technical support from this forum.



There are a number of threads on what can be done by hand, PC or DA buffer.



http://www.autopia.org/forums/showth...threadid=15479





Steven