Im looking to get into the polishing scene. My car has some swirl marks that I could not get out by hand that everyone tells me a machine could easily do it. I have no freaking clue which way to go though. Electric, Pros: Quiet, Cons: Heavy, electric cord. Pneumatic, Pros: Light, Reliable, Adjustable, Cons: Loud. I was wondering what makes a good orbital. At Advance Auto Parts they have 20 dollar electric cheapies and at places like Griots Garage Pneumatic ones are 160 . I was at Sears today and seen a 6'' Random Pnuematic that was very light and fit nicely in my hand, 80 bucks. The Porter Cable is a very popular electric one it seems and runs about 100 bucks.

What I am wondering is what is the main differences between pneumatic and electric orbitals, performance wise? How hard are orbitals to use? What are things to stay away from and what is the cream of the crop?

 

get the porter cable. Goto properautocare.com they have plenty of guides on the bottom of their home page.

 

^^^^Good advice^^^^

 

i love my Dewalt Variable speed, 0-3000rpm... Expensive and i wouldnt reccomend it to a "rookie"

 

We use dewalt 849's at work, I like them too but there kind of heavy.

 

I just picked up the Hatchi SP18VA for under 100$ from Coastal Tools, after researching various low cost polishers/sanders. Also bought some good quality foam pads for different applications.
This machine has gotten some good feedback from people who have used it and thus far, has proven to be perfect .