DA + surbuf pads = rotary + wool?

C

CJ from Granite Bay CA

New member
Everyone has their favorite wax, polish, cloths etc. in their garage for their cars/trucks. What about tools? Some people have a plethora of tools, albeit Sears Craftsman, Proto, Mac or S & K to name a few. What are your favorite tools?
 
This has been one of my recent past times, figuring which kind to tools to stock my garge with. I'm mostly picking and choosing. I love the style and quality of facom and snap-ons but can't justify buying everything from them. ($$$)



So some of S&K, (socket sets mostly, thumbwheel ratchet) some craftsman(their roll around tool box and wrench sets i've had for 20 years).



I like to pick the coolest things from each line -like ratchet drivers from facom, adjustable wrenches from snapon ... and mix some less expensive things, such as sockets from homedepot.



Oh hey, I got some new "Gear wrenches" from KD tools ... ever see those? i think they are slick.
 
I have mostly Craftsman hand tools with a growing number of Snap On. (I daydream about hijacking a SnapOn truck.)



My buffer is a Baldor, one of the best electric motors on the planet.



My drills are all Porter Cable. 1/2 " corded. 3/8" 14V cordless. They make excellent rotary motors and transmissions. Torque city!



My jig saws are Bosch. I love the feel and look of them. My reciprocating saw is a Milwaukee pro counterbalanced--smoother than my old Porter Cable.



I can't forget my Dremel and a fishing tackle box full of attachements.



And of course by PC rotary and PC orbital buffers.



I have a ton of cheapo Buffalo air tools. I really need to start replacing them with good ones.



I also have just about every specialty wrench and attachment including a stand from Park. Most of this is specialty bicycle equipment.
 
Most of my hand tools are Snap-On, the rest are Craftsman.



As for power tools, some of my favorite brands are Porter Cable, DeWalt and Milwaukee.
 
As an ex-mechanic, I have a pretty large selection of tools and have tried just about every brand there is. Here are my thoughts:



For the professional mechanic who's constantly using his tools and running back and forth to his tool box, you simply have to have quality pieces. Snap-On makes great sockets, ratchets, screwdrivers, air tools (3/8" ratchet, 3/8" impact, air drills, die grinders) and wrenches (for the most part). Snap-On torque wrenches are second to none, as are their pry bars & gauge kits (compression, leakdown, etc).



Mac makes great boxes (Maximizer rules!), air tools (their 1/2" Impact is awesome as is their 1/4" ratchet) and cutting tools (side cutters, etc). I also prefer Mac electronic tools as they use Techtronix. I have their handheld scope/DVM, and an assortment of other electronic tools (timing lights, etc).



Matco has some cool specialty tools, and I really like their pliers and needle-noses. They had some great diagnostic tools at good prices, too.



Most importantly is the quality of the tool salesman. We had a really bad Matco dealer (went out of business after a while), so I rarely bought tools from them. Our Snap-On & MAC guys were great, so that made a huge difference.



Sears makes some great tools for the weekender, but there's some stuff that you just have to break down and spend the cash with the "big guys" for. I started out with a Craftsman box, but it wore out after about 4 months of everyday use. I bought a Snap-On box and then traded it for a Maximizer top/bottom combo. After I got the Maximizer, I fell in love...there's no beating a quality tool box.



Long and short of it is: buy what you can afford, and upgrade when possible.
 
I've read that a DA(PCXP for instance) + surbuf + 105 can almost level the paint as much as a rotary + wool + 105, how true is this?
 
07 z-oh-6 said:
I've read that a DA(PCXP for instance) + surbuf + 105 can almost level the paint as much as a rotary + wool + 105, how true is this?
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From my limited experience with Surbuf I'd say it's close, but not quite to that level yet. However, the Surbuf will leave the finish looking better, often only needing to be followed with one step....so there is definitely a trade off.
 
RaskyR1 said:
From my limited experience with Surbuf I'd say it's close, but not quite to that level yet. However, the Surbuf will leave the finish looking better, often only needing to be followed with one step....so there is definitely a trade off.
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Thanks Rasky.

I'm not quite ready to deal with holograms, so that's why I'm still sticking to a PCXP for now. I have a 3401, too. Eventually, I might sell the FLEX and pick up a rotary, that way I'll have both a rotary and DA. :biggrin:
 
07 z-oh-6 said:
Thanks Rasky.

I'm not quite ready to deal with holograms, so that's why I'm still sticking to a PCXP for now. I have a 3401, too. Eventually, I might sell the FLEX and pick up a rotary, that way I'll have both a rotary and DA. :biggrin:
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I almost always have the DA in my correction steps to eliminate the chance for swirls. ;)
 
The DA + Surbuf is a powerful duo indeed. If you are working on hard paint, and you don't have a rotary, this will certainly do the trick.
 
07 z-oh-6 said:
I've read that a DA(PCXP for instance) + surbuf + 105 can almost level the paint as much as a rotary + wool + 105, how true is this?
Click to expand...

The Surbuf can level paint more accurately than a rotary.

Do not read this to mean the Surbuf cuts paint faster than a rotary. I didn't claim that.

Do not read this to mean that it will be easy to do. It's not necessarily easy.

Leveling, in the world of paint polishing, means to minimize the height variance between the high and low points of a surface.
It does not mean "eliminate paint".

But yes, I have done it, and am only a wee bit ashamed to say that on several occasions, I could not LEVEL a painted surface to the same degree using a rotary as I could using the Surbuf (powered by the lowly random orbital). I am not saying that the rotary, at times, will not outperform the Surbuf because it certainly will, and do so with ease. But for those of you that do not know how to rotary polish or don't own a rotary machine, this pad/machine combo gives you some hope!
 
Kevin Brown said:
The Surbuf can level paint more accurately than a rotary.

Do not read this to mean the Surbuf cuts paint faster than a rotary. I didn't claim that.

Do not read this to mean that it will be easy to do. It's not necessarily easy.

Leveling, in the world of paint polishing, means to minimize the height variance between the high and low points of a surface.
It does not mean "eliminate paint".

But yes, I have done it, and am only a wee bit ashamed to say that on my several occasions I could not LEVEL a painted surface to the same degree as I could using the Surbuf powered by the lowly random orbital. I am not saying that the rotary, at times, will outperform the Surbuf because it certainly will, and do so with ease. But for those of you that do not know how to rotary polish or don't own a rotary machine, this pad/machine combo gives you some hope!
Click to expand...

I'm going to have to pick your brain on this one some day. :)
 
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