Is it crazy to think an ETS EC-150 5 can be used for polishing?

[Woody Knotsensplintah]

Is it crazy to think an ETS EC-150 5 can be used for polishing?

The Rotex line is offered as Polishers that can sand, but the ETS sander descriptions don't mention polishing.

Is there an appreciable difference I should learn about?

Thank you.

 

[mino]

ROTEXes .. force-rotate the pad .. in addition to the eccentric motion .. "normal" eccentric sanders do not. Check some videos on the tube explaining this.

Also, ROTEXes are both good sanders and good polishers. They are not "sanders that can polish", nor "polishers that can sand".

Ref. sanding, the main thing is that while a ROTEX sander can be used as a casual sander, this is quite inconvenient as it is a pretty bulky machine in comparison.

Most people use them for the heavy materiel removal jobs and/or polishing, both in ROTEX mode and use "pure" eccentric sanders for "casual" sanding jobs.

 

[Cheese]

Is it crazy to think an ETS EC-150 5 can be used for polishing?

Yes...

 

[Coen]

Is there an appreciable difference I should learn about?

The ETS lets the pad randomly rotate

The Rotex has a mode where the pad is rotated by a gear. You can also switch that off on a Rotex, but then it just becomes a highly un-ergonomic ETS

I don't know much about polishing, but apparently it requires the rotation, so you are out of luck with an ETS for that.

 

[Woody Knotsensplintah]

Thank you, everyone.

 

[Packard]

For $30.00 I bought a dedicated polisher designed to polish automobile finishes.

I just checked Amazon:: Two categories. Several options under $50.00 and $35.00 seems to be the sweet spot, and several options above $200.00. I got mine from Walmart.

The car polishers have a major eccentric action, far greater than any sander I have ever used. They also offer several types of bonnets for applying the compound or wax.

I believe mine was 9” in diameter. I recall a 7” and a 9” and maybe a 12”.

Polishing with compound can get quite messy. If I were to do it over, I would buy the same one (a Bosch, as I recall).

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Orbital buffers/polishers are a fairly new thing, but they are far more forgiving than the "old school" purely rotary style machines. It takes quite a bit of skill to operate those old units without burning or cutting right through the finish.
I spent most of the 90s, in a bodyshop, using a Porter-Cable single-speed rotary. They are far more aggressive, which is both good and bad, at the same time.

I certainly wouldn't do a whole car with it, but I frequently polish plastics with my RO 125 or the RO 90 for edges.

 

[Chainring]

The good ole Porter Cable 7424 has been used in the detailing world for YEARS and it has no forced rotation. It's known as being very beginner friendly. I can't find it's spec for mm of throw but I know it's not a whole lot. The biggest reason I'd think you wouldn't want to use a ETS EC sander for polishing is, there's no cooling fan.

If you want something effective on the cheap, go for this clone of the Flex 3401 (The Beast).

https://www.harborfreight.com/8-amp-6-in-forced-rotation-dual-action-polisher-59561.html

 

[timwors]

I've not tried using my Rotex 90 for polishing (I don't have the right attachments). For automobile use I believe the dedicated polishers have much greater orbit eccentricity, e.g. 12mm, which presumably makes them faster/more effective

 

[Steve1]

I looked into this when I started polishing my finishes.

The short answer is that a random orbit sander will not polish.
Polishing pad will commonly be something like 1" thick soft foam or lambswool. When the top of the pad moves 5mm, the bottom of the pad might not hardly move at all. Polishers that orbit will typically have much larger orbits.
I ended up getting a Makita 9237C polisher (rotates only, no orbit) and always have run it at lowest speed. The motorised portion of the Makita is good enough, but the first pad had massive axial run-out. The replacement pad that the retailer sent me only had moderate axial run-out. But it gets the job done for me.
By the way, you will be slinging polish everywhere, so outdoors, or garage with drop cloths on floor.

See below, sanded through 3000 grit then polished with Mirka Polarshine 10, then Mirka VF-5
(actually just a dresser back-panel, but my first attempt at polishing)

 

[onocoffee]

In relation to this discussion about polishing. I've seen that Festool has and orange and other polishing products. Then, at my local supply house, they have Meguiar's products that seem similar. What kinds of pads and product do you need to successfully polish finishes? This is something I am completely unknowledgeable regarding.

 

[Packard]

On a peripheral subject, will all clear finishes polish to a high gloss?

I know shellac will, and it is used for violins in high polish.

Will oil-based glossy also polish to a high shine?

Water-based?

Black pianos are sometimes very high gloss. What finish is that?

 

[Cheese]

In relation to this discussion about polishing. I've seen that Festool has and orange and other polishing products. Then, at my local supply house, they have Meguiar's products that seem similar. What kinds of pads and product do you need to successfully polish finishes? This is something I am completely unknowledgeable regarding.

Actually, Festool has discontinued a lot of their polishing equipment and polishing accessories. They offered many more sponges & polishing items 15 years ago. They even obsoleted their Shinex around mid 2022. Here's some polishing information from Festool.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

On a peripheral subject, will all clear finishes polish to a high gloss?

I know shellac will, and it is used for violins in high polish.

Will oil-based glossy also polish to a high shine?

Water-based?

Black pianos are sometimes very high gloss. What finish is that?

Pianos are usually nitrocellulose lacquer.
As far as polishing, it really needs to spray out shiny, in the first place. All polishing really does is take the texture away from the application process. Any of the finishes that are called anything but gloss, have flattening paste mixed into them. (semi-gloss, satin, dull, etc) That will never go away. You can sand it smooth, but it will always have a cloudy appearance.

 

[Coen]

They even obsoleted their Shinex around mid 2022.

Yeah and it wasn't even that old either.

 

[Packard]

Pianos are usually nitrocellulose lacquer.
As far as polishing, it really needs to spray out shiny, in the first place. All polishing really does is take the texture away from the application process. Any of the finishes that are called anything but gloss, have flattening paste mixed into them. (semi-gloss, satin, dull, etc) That will never go away. You can sand it smooth, but it will always have a cloudy appearance.

When I was the sales manager for wire forming company, I opened the Steinway account (Long Island City, NY — not in Germany). They had just switched over from solvent based finish to a water based finish. They gave me a tour. The transition to water-based was not going smoothly, and when I was there they were having a problem getting a satisfactory finish.

About that same time, I bought a first-generation Scion XB. It also had a first generation water-based finish. It looked fine, but you could scratch the finish with your fingernails. I drove past an over-grown boxwood bush and it left a slew of small scratches. When the car was 2 years old, the finish got hard enough to be acceptable (to me). It appears that they have solved that issue. Part of the problem probably was that it was a dark charcoal grey, and dark colors tend to be softer than light colors in the water-based finish world.