we were at costco yesterday and they had a cheap 8 or 10in orbital buffer. it was cheap. only like $20. i meant to buy it, but got pulled away and then ended up forgetting. it only had one speed, and i think it was 3200rpm. <BR> <BR>i was going to use it to detail and buff out my boat. just curious if any of you guys use these or if i should stick to elbow grease?

3200rpm is fine for your boat. It's more dependent on what type of pad is hitting it and the cutting ability of the polish/wax/compound. Did it just use the standard wool "mop" type pads or did it use the foam pads?

it had like 6 or 7 of these disposable elastic band type pads. they actually looked more like cloth then a pad though. probably nothing special. <BR> <BR>i was going to use good polish with it, probably mcguires, then wax by hand. <BR> <BR>thanks for the reply and any advice is greatly appreciated.

I bought that one at costco on sat!! I figured you can't go wrong for $20 bucks!

are the pads nice and soft abe?

Bruce that is more for waxing the boat, it's not a polisher. It will make quick work of the waxing though. I've got the same kind, craftsman brand though.

so nubu, i've just always used the ralph machio approach. so you just baste her up and go to town with the oribtal? you use any polish prior?

No with these you just use wax. Get your favorite wax squirt a glob on the pad, swirl it around on the boat to get some of the wax off the pad. Pull the trigger and then go to town.

Bruce you ride on samammish right?

cool, right on, going to run into costco on my way home then. see if for once, i can actually get out of there for $20!!!

yeah, i do now! <IMG SRC="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":-)" BORDER=0> <BR> <BR>just moved here from west seattle last year nubu. <BR> <BR>if you want to call it riding. ;) <BR> <BR>i'm a noob.

Watch out for all those Malibu guys on samammish <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/lol.gif" border=0>.

yeah no kidding, last time we were out, it was bake's demo days. <IMG SRC="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":-)" BORDER=0>

so i bought this thing, brought it home and plugged it in to check it out. <BR> <BR>man, it's a beast. it almost feels like overkill. sure looks maybe this thing could get away from ya and possibly cause swirls or something. <BR> <BR>what do you guys think? anybody use these on their boats. <BR> <BR>it came with an applicator and then these like fake fine lambs whool pollish/buff pads. they've got like 3/4in fine hairs but they're not <i>that</i> soft

Post a pic of it bruce. Or give the manufacturer and model number.

Only thing I don't like about them, is they waste wax/polish. <BR> <BR>It takes a bit more to "load them up" and I can do it just about as fast by hand. And not vibrate my arm off <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/proud.gif" border=0>

BonAire AP120C <BR> <BR>it's this one: <BR> <BR><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bonaire-Orbital-polisher-Bonnets-Included/dp/B0014H1YIU" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/Bonaire-Orbital-polisher-Bonnets-Included/dp/B0014H1YIU</a> <BR> <BR>tanner do i risk doing more harm than good?

I don't know how soft they are. Its still in a box in the garage.

That looks just like the one I have, dont' worry it won't harm the boat. Use the bonnets to wax and remove. Use the wool pad to buff to a shine, won't hurt the boat.

Nah your fine

I used this <a href="http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=90219" target="_blank">Harbor Freight palm polisher</a> on my MC when I stripped all the decals off it. Anything that was on the black part of the boat left a shadow behind. This thing &amp; some Meguires removed it all &amp; shined it up nicely. <BR>Looks like it specs out similar to the one you mention, but I'd hardly call it a beast. It definitely did a good job though.