Harbor Freight?

[Calais]

I just got back from Harbor Freight. I found a foam-gun type device, 6-piece brush set and a heat gun (with a 1-year warranty) for under $30!!. Should I buy a Chicago electric rotary for $30? Any good experiences with the rotary? I may just wait until next summer, **** it up and buy a Makita. Perhaps I should get a Harbor Freight special to just practice with? Is it good enough to actually work with? It seems as though the pads that come with it are garbage though, need to order a Meg's backing plate and some pads...

[gsxr310]

Re: Harbor Freight?

i'd by that rotary and use it as my dedicated pad washer (UPW).

[scott0999]

Re: Harbor Freight?

I heard the cheaper rotarys may not keep a steady speed

[sanddrag]

Re: Harbor Freight?

I have that rotary. Don't even bother trying the pads or backing plate that come with it. Just throw them out. I used some Kustom Shop pads and backing plate though, and it seems to work just fine. All I've done with it so far is wetsanded and buffed out a couple doors. Under pressure the speed will slow down, but it's easy to kick up with the dial. In a way you could almost call that a feature, in that it's not going to keep spinning super fast if you really press down on it. Probably a little safer to learn with. It is definitely powerful enough though if you turn it up a little. I never go close to full speed on it.

[Mister B]

Re: Harbor Freight?

Aaron (a.k.a. - Nappers) has the Chicago brand rotary from Harbor Freight and he has used it on several of the details he has done write-ups on, and I do not believe he has had any problems with it so far.

Maybe he will chime in later with some more info about it.

[tcope1]

Re: Harbor Freight?

I have that rotary and tried it once on my car (company car). It was first time using any machine so I was worried about the speed. What I can say is that the speed setting is almost useless. It goes from off to fast with no setting in between. Also, it's difficult to keep at any one speed. It will keep changing. I think it will work... it's just not as exact as more expensive machines.

[ColonelCash]

Re: Harbor Freight?

I have heard that Harbor Freight electronics are notorious for shorting out. Best to buy the extended warranty. My dad bought their rotary for about $25, I have yet to try it out. Was hoping to pickup a solid used unit for around $100 and get comfortable with that before dropping $200 on new a Makita / DeWalt.

[visaliaipa]

Re: Harbor Freight?

While some Harbor Freight stuff is ok, just remember you get what you pay for.

[the_invisible]

Re: Harbor Freight?

If you only have a small budget to buy a rotary for long term use, and do NOT intend to upgrade, then a $30 rotary would probably be fine. I did a research on the Harbor Freight units. The complaints on this unit is that it is heavy. Other than that, I am not reading much issues on this device. You are only 17, go for the cheaper, heavier unit and spend the extra cash on a date or something. You'll be glad you did. You only live your teenaged years once.

If you just want to "learn" and would eventually buy a more expensive one down the road, just get a more expensive one now and pay for it with your credit card (and pay 30 days later).

I have two rotary polishers, one Makita and one Milwaukee, that I will probably never need again (I hope that will be the case with foam lance/two bucket washing method). I should have bought the cheaper one instead.


The pads that come with the rotary are actually not bad. Just don't use it on ANY painted surface. They work great on granite and stones.

[hacker-pschorr]

Re: Harbor Freight?

I have two of the rotaries (on sale for $20, I figured why not?)

One of them works great after many uses, the other is stuck on high speed.

[the_invisible]

Re: Harbor Freight?

ouch... lol...

Doesn't HF have a refund policy?

[hacker-pschorr]

Re: Harbor Freight?

Next time I go over there I'll exchange the high speed one.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Harbor Freight?

I also purchased the Chicago Electric rotary from them. It really depends on how much your going to use it. If it is for personal use, it will do the job. Just remember you get what you paid for. If your have a large ckient list, you would want a Makita or comparable brand.

To practice and get the hang of a rotary, I have no problem using this machine. It is not that bad of a unit.

[sontakke]

Re: Harbor Freight?

Couple weeks ago, I purchased the CE rotary. After coupon, I paid $26. I do NOT have experience with DA. All my three cars are ten years old and I was OK with the idea that there is possibility of screwing up paint with the cheap rotary.

For the price, you can not beat this. It comes with everything you need to start practicing on old beater or at least on a vehicle which you do not make love to everyday. It has 7" non-flexible backing plate and comes with a foam pad and wool-like bonnet and terry bonnet. The variable speed works but it will slow down under load. You can consider that to be feature as it makes it little bit idiot proof. I used wool bonnet over the foam pad and also the foam pad alone to buff out using M105. I have the v1 of M105 and it flashes quickly but the method works. I was NOT able to get rid of deeper scratches but it did remove tiny scratches. I also ran the wool at high speed (NOT RECOMMENDED) and it did not burn the paint or take the paint off the edge as I was lead to believe. I did few panels and I got them at least 80% scratch free. I am still learning and it is not as easy as Youtube video makes it :-)

I will be investing in Meguiar's Backing Plate and SoftBuff 2.0 pads later. It will cost me more than the price of this buffer for the backing plate and the pads :-)

But you can practice with the included pads and bonnets and as long you have little bit of common sense it will not bite you.

Go for it! Lot of warnings and dis-recommendations on internet are from people who have NOT actually used this rotary. Just keep that in mind.

- Vikas

[Nappers]

Re: Harbor Freight?

In my experience, my CE rotary works okay, the load speed stinks but it works fine for me and my limitations.....

I just used it on a Ford Explorer with an 8207 pad and W68D backing plate and knocked the swirls out with a single punch with it and no problems at all. I didn't even sling any product all over the windshield.

Thanks to Tim Lingor for some tips for using the rotary. Mostly bead pickup, the rest is just practice.....Being left handed, I was picking up the bead backwards and it rained whatever product I was using at the time......"M80 drops keep falling on my head....."

edit: If I were to do it all over again, I would probably buy the CE again....Not that I wouldn't buy a better one such as a Makita or Dewalt, they are just out of my price range as of now. The CE rotary has bad load speeds, meaning the second you place the pad on the paint, it slows it down. I do maintain it by checking the brushes and greasing the head unit with fresh grease every year or so. Someday soon hopefully I will buy a Makita/Hitachi/Dewalt when money is better.....

I am not sorry I bought it. Some have experienced faulty rotaries but use a good extension cord and grease the head unit and you should be fine.

It's also great to sling the water out of pads you washed, but now I dry my 2.0's in the dryer and don't do that as much.....