tuscarora dave
"Luck" Residue of design
Hi Autopians. Well as promised, Barry Theal placed my name on the last HD polisher that he had in stock. Thanks Barry!! A big thanks to Scott Ward (my local 3D guy) as well for taking the time to be sure that my needs were met. They brought the polisher to my shop today and I mentioned that I had read that there were a few polishers that weren't up to speed as compared to most of the new HD polishers.
Knowing that Scott had a job to do, I told him I'd let him know if the machine was up to par with my expectations and I suggested that he just sell it to me and move on with his day. Scott wasn't hearing that, he pretty much insisted that I give it a whirl before he left so he could be sure I was happy with it. Great customer service I say!! I took the polisher out of the package and the box, put a pad on it, dragged a cord out and using some HD Polish and the yellow pad that came with the kit, I gave it a spin on the side of my van. I did just a section pass or two before spinning around to tell Scott "Well, it's definitely a good one, Man this thing has balls." I sat the polisher down on the ground beside my van with the pad facing up and as soon as I let go of it, the machine fell over and the edge of the pad hit the pavement. I said "ouch, I don't like that about it but it feels good and ergonomic in my hands. I can take care of that problem easily."
I've gotten pretty good at detailing and paint correction over the years, but one of things I do better is to come up with custom solutions to life's little mechanical adversities. I had to come up with a rather simple solution to the fact that this machine falls over when it's sat down. Let's face it here, we're not always going to be dragging a clean cart around with us when we're working our way around a vehicle when running a polisher. This little oversight from the designers of this machine could very well be one of the biggest annoyances that I would have while trying to make a living with this machine, so I had to correct this problem right from the start.
There's a local Ace Hardware right up the street from my shop where I go frequently, when needing to figure out a simple solution like this. I walk around the store just looking at everything in there, trying to find something, some little part or item that would work for what I have in mind. With a completely outside of the box thought in my mind, looking for something that's the right size, shape or made of the right material that I could cut apart, drill, tap, grind down to fit etc. etc. The hardware store employees that know me the best just look at me and say, "What are you working on today? Can I help you find anything?" with a look on their face, pretty much knowing that I have some idea in my head that really can't be satisfied from any one department or standard product.
So today I am walking around the hardware store with this polisher in my hand, just looking at everything in every isle, trying to spot the right piece of plastic or rubber or whatever that I can modify and bolt onto the top of this polisher to ensure that it sits flat on the ground with the pad facing up and not tipping over. The whole time I'm thinking, "Man I hope nobody asks me what I am looking for." Because I really have no idea what I'm looking for until something just jumps off the shelf at me. Today it was this thing...
A handle saver for a sledge hammer. I saw it and it just looked like the right size, shape and the right material. Heck it's even the right color so I picked it up and held it up against the polisher at several different angles, thinking of how I could cut it, shape it, drill and bolt it to the machine and make it work for the end goal while being sure it didn't look like a second grader designed and manufactured it. I envisioned what I would use to cut it with, and how I would shape and drill it so that I was sure to get the right bolts to fit correctly to bolt it to the machine. Just as I thought I had it all figured out in my head, it happened...."Can I help you find something sir?" I told him I thought I had everything I needed but he couldn't not ask what the polisher was all about, so I had to explain what I had going on and that I am always in there looking for stuff to complete the weird little projects that I get involved in. Anyway...Back at the shop, I have this handle saver and I need to figure out what tools to use to cut this thing to make it work for me. Here are some of the tools I used and then a few pictures of what I turned the handle saver into.
First though, here's 2 photos that show the problem with the polisher...When I go to sit it down pad facing up...
As soon as I let it go...
It falls over and the pad gets dirt on it. I try to keep a clean shop while doing paint corrections but there's still dirt around.
Some of the tools for this little project of mine...
And I forgot to get a picture of the die grinder and abrasive grinding bit, and the drill and drill bits that I used to shape this thing after rough cutting it with my mini panel saw, tactical knife, exacto knives and bench grinder. In a matter of about 45 minutes I turned this...
Into this little custom made polisher kickstand...
I brought some nice little button head Allen bolts back from the hardware store to bolt this kickstand and the rest of the gearbox cover on with...
So here's what it looks like completed and bolted onto the machine...
And now when I get done working a section or two and want to sit the machine down....
It stays pad facing up instead of falling over potentially getting dirt or grit on the pad....
Problem solved... :waxing:
Knowing that Scott had a job to do, I told him I'd let him know if the machine was up to par with my expectations and I suggested that he just sell it to me and move on with his day. Scott wasn't hearing that, he pretty much insisted that I give it a whirl before he left so he could be sure I was happy with it. Great customer service I say!! I took the polisher out of the package and the box, put a pad on it, dragged a cord out and using some HD Polish and the yellow pad that came with the kit, I gave it a spin on the side of my van. I did just a section pass or two before spinning around to tell Scott "Well, it's definitely a good one, Man this thing has balls." I sat the polisher down on the ground beside my van with the pad facing up and as soon as I let go of it, the machine fell over and the edge of the pad hit the pavement. I said "ouch, I don't like that about it but it feels good and ergonomic in my hands. I can take care of that problem easily."
I've gotten pretty good at detailing and paint correction over the years, but one of things I do better is to come up with custom solutions to life's little mechanical adversities. I had to come up with a rather simple solution to the fact that this machine falls over when it's sat down. Let's face it here, we're not always going to be dragging a clean cart around with us when we're working our way around a vehicle when running a polisher. This little oversight from the designers of this machine could very well be one of the biggest annoyances that I would have while trying to make a living with this machine, so I had to correct this problem right from the start.
There's a local Ace Hardware right up the street from my shop where I go frequently, when needing to figure out a simple solution like this. I walk around the store just looking at everything in there, trying to find something, some little part or item that would work for what I have in mind. With a completely outside of the box thought in my mind, looking for something that's the right size, shape or made of the right material that I could cut apart, drill, tap, grind down to fit etc. etc. The hardware store employees that know me the best just look at me and say, "What are you working on today? Can I help you find anything?" with a look on their face, pretty much knowing that I have some idea in my head that really can't be satisfied from any one department or standard product.
So today I am walking around the hardware store with this polisher in my hand, just looking at everything in every isle, trying to spot the right piece of plastic or rubber or whatever that I can modify and bolt onto the top of this polisher to ensure that it sits flat on the ground with the pad facing up and not tipping over. The whole time I'm thinking, "Man I hope nobody asks me what I am looking for." Because I really have no idea what I'm looking for until something just jumps off the shelf at me. Today it was this thing...
A handle saver for a sledge hammer. I saw it and it just looked like the right size, shape and the right material. Heck it's even the right color so I picked it up and held it up against the polisher at several different angles, thinking of how I could cut it, shape it, drill and bolt it to the machine and make it work for the end goal while being sure it didn't look like a second grader designed and manufactured it. I envisioned what I would use to cut it with, and how I would shape and drill it so that I was sure to get the right bolts to fit correctly to bolt it to the machine. Just as I thought I had it all figured out in my head, it happened...."Can I help you find something sir?" I told him I thought I had everything I needed but he couldn't not ask what the polisher was all about, so I had to explain what I had going on and that I am always in there looking for stuff to complete the weird little projects that I get involved in. Anyway...Back at the shop, I have this handle saver and I need to figure out what tools to use to cut this thing to make it work for me. Here are some of the tools I used and then a few pictures of what I turned the handle saver into.
First though, here's 2 photos that show the problem with the polisher...When I go to sit it down pad facing up...
As soon as I let it go...
It falls over and the pad gets dirt on it. I try to keep a clean shop while doing paint corrections but there's still dirt around.
Some of the tools for this little project of mine...
And I forgot to get a picture of the die grinder and abrasive grinding bit, and the drill and drill bits that I used to shape this thing after rough cutting it with my mini panel saw, tactical knife, exacto knives and bench grinder. In a matter of about 45 minutes I turned this...
Into this little custom made polisher kickstand...
I brought some nice little button head Allen bolts back from the hardware store to bolt this kickstand and the rest of the gearbox cover on with...
So here's what it looks like completed and bolted onto the machine...
And now when I get done working a section or two and want to sit the machine down....
It stays pad facing up instead of falling over potentially getting dirt or grit on the pad....
Problem solved... :waxing:
