electric buffer/polisher?

[Tom Nas]

<auditude at cox.net> wrote:

>Does anyone here have experience with using an electric buffer/polisher?  I=
>  suppose I mean the kind that is supposed to be orbital.
>
>My Coupe GT has sort of a "rolling red chalkboard" appearance to it, and I =
>would like to polish out what I can to make it look as good as possible.  I=
>  have usually done this type of thing totally by hand, but I'm curious abou=
>t using technology to help out.
>
>Are these things easy to use without burning through the paint, or are they=
>  a lazy man's shortcut?
>
>I have no problem with hand polishing the nooks and crannies, and only usin=
>g the power buffer for the flat expanses.

I have two; one a dedicated buffer, one an orbital sander with a foam
polishing mop. The former isn't great, works only for mild tarnishing. The
sander has a much higher speed and you sould take care not to go through
the paint. It is however a lot lighter and smaller which makes it easier to
handle.
I've achieved excellent results with the sander (Bosch PEX-125 A) and would
recommend it over the dedicated buffers. The cheaper buffers just don't
have enough power, it's easy to get them to stop.

HTH, Tom