Porter Cable on e-bay

[dougster]

PC kit for all you detailers out there!

I have no connection to the seller.
 

[st3ph3n]

Bought some stuff off this guy last year and no complaints at all. Good delivery. Added him to my favourite sellers list.

[STi_Bandit]

Ive fancied one of those for awhile, have always wondered what is better for finish a mechanical polisher or a hand polish, the hand polish is always going to get into the wee bits n bobs where a mechanical polisher wont

Bandit 

[C_WRX]

The polisher will help get out light scratches and swirls where as that's difficult to do by hand. If it is just a shine then polish by hand, if it correction and a fantastic shine go mechanical. You can get 4" or 6.5" (I think that's the sizes) pads, the 4" for slightly harder to reach bits, but yes there are areas you can't get the machine in to - I found behind the door handles a pain to get too.

[oobster]

C_WRX - do you use a paint depth gauge before you use the machine?

[dougster]

Andy, a paint depth gauge would be nice to have but expensive.

Anytime I have applied a sealant or a wax I have done it by hand. If you want to correct some defects and swirls then a PC would be your best bet. 

I'd just make sure you were using the correct pads and product for the job you intend to do. (I'd also get someone else's car to practice on!! [])

[C_WRX]

I don't/haven't used a guage. Very possible you could take the paint off and that's why the guage exists, but I've not met any issues by not yet. No expert on this kind of thing, just what I've read/told and limited experience so far. Suppose you could say personal choice and if you wanted to be completely sure should use one. With the PC best advise I found was to practice, perhaps on a scrap piece or even a company car (obviously not me that did that!), and start off at slow speed and work up using minimal amount required to correct. On my car i only plan on using the PC twice at most a year, exception, as I found recently, after someone put 4 small scratches in my rear bumper - PC near but completely removed it, unless I pointed it out never know was there.

[oobster]

I don't/haven't used a guage. Very possible you could take the paint off and that's why the guage exists, but I've not met any issues by not yet. No expert on this kind of thing, just what I've read/told and limited experience so far. Suppose you could say personal choice and if you wanted to be completely sure should use one. With the PC best advise I found was to practice, perhaps on a scrap piece or even a company car (obviously not me that did that!), and start off at slow speed and work up using minimal amount required to correct. On my car i only plan on using the PC twice at most a year, exception, as I found recently, after someone put 4 small scratches in my rear bumper - PC near but completely removed it, unless I pointed it out never know was there.

Fair enough. Not brave enough to have a go at this myself - would rather pay someone that knew what they were doing (and possibly had some sort of insurance should they buff an edge down to the primer or something!) 

[C_WRX]

A lot comes down to cost too - PC and pads/polish/etc ain't exactly cheap all in, and the guage I saw advertised a while back was around £450 if I remember right (main reason I don't have one!). Sure plenty of folk have good experiences of using it (me for a start), but they'll likely be a couple who've had a bad one no doubt. Polished Bliss have a good section that explains a bit more about them and also hand -v- machine polish if it helps any. On the other hand paying someone with experience means you don't need to spend a whole knackering day on it and as you say they'll have the experience.