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The electric polisher is a very versatile tool. It has a wide variety of features, both in the professional and home environment. At home, polishers are used to polish the floor or car body and in the professional sector they are usually used for the glossy finishes of veneers or wood.
In this article we will explain everything you need to know about the polisher, an often indispensable tool. Its main features, its most common uses and all the factors that will help you make the best possible purchase, both for your professional workshop and to complete your toolbox.
- Polishers allow you to achieve professional results and excellent finishes. If you are a DIY enthusiast, you will definitely appreciate one of these machines.
- Polishers allow you to remove any damage to metal and plastic surfaces, leaving them shiny and smooth. That is why they are indispensable in body shops and in the production and repair of vehicles.
- One of the factors often overlooked by polisher users is speed control. However, this is an important factor that we will see in more detail in the last section of the guide, dedicated to the purchase criteria.
The best polishers on the market: our selection
Polishers are not the most common tools on the market. That’s why it’s easy not to have a great deal of knowledge. Buying a tool with these features blindly is usually not a good idea. Therefore, to help you choose the one that best suits your needs, we have researched and selected what we believe are the best polishers on the market:
Baca Juga :
- The best-selling floor polisher
- The most suitable vehicle polisher for beginners
- The best professional vehicle polisher
- The most complete vehicle polisher
The best-selling floor polisher
The Hoover Polisher F38PQ is consumers’ preferred polisher for cleaning and waxing their floors, be it marble, wood or tile. The product is judged very positively for its versatility, its effectiveness, and the overall power of 800 W.
It comes with a set of brushes for the parquet and 6 felt pads. It has a 3.5 L dust bag and a rubberized bumper to protect the furniture.
The most suitable vehicle polisher for beginners
The Einhell CC-PO 90 polisher is a small, handy and robust tool. With a large 240mm diameter polishing disc, a 230 volt (V) electric motor and a force of 3700 oscillations per minute.
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This orbital type polisher is ideal for beginners who want to learn how to polish their car without damaging the bodywork. It has a spare pad and a compact design, with handles on either side of the body.
The best professional vehicle polisher
The Makita 9237CB is an expensive but highly effective 18 cm rotary polisher that can be used on cars and boats. It is a proposal suitable for the most demanding professionals and enthusiasts, and includes a large D-handle and pad with cloth.
Buyers confirm the quality of the product, praising its reliability and quality of materials. It is also possible to use it for several hours without overheating or impacting its performance, validating the idea of what a professional polisher should represent.
The most complete vehicle polisher
Meterk’s proposal is part of a complete and convenient set, demonstrating one of the highest quality-price ratio. It is a random orbital polisher with a 15 cm pad, maximum power of 1200 W and rotations per minute that can be set on 6 speeds, between 600 and 4000. It also supports slow start.
Buyers find the article in question valid and functional, easy to handle and convenient. Particularly appreciated is the set of accessories supplied, consisting of 2 spare charcoals, two removable handles, assembly keys, multilingual manual and various discs and pads.
Shopping Guide: Everything you should know about the polisher
When it comes to correcting or removing paint from a vehicle, totally or partially, correcting imperfections or removing traces of rust and material, polishers are the right tools. Next, we present a buying guide where you will learn everything you need about polishers and their most important features.
What is a polisher?
Polishers are power tools whose versatility is important for polishing ridges or edges, as well as for loosening rivets, rounding corners, and repairing damage to metal and plastic surfaces. For this reason they are widely used in various processes of sanding or surface edging, especially in the mechanical industries.
Although grinders have special polishing discs, in reality they are completely different machines. Polishers cannot be used for cutting work and also have two types of motion that grinders do not have.
What is a polisher for?
Polishers are used to eliminate any type of damage on metal and plastic surfaces, obtaining the original shine of a new piece. For this reason they are widely used in sheet metal working and painting workshops. With a polisher you can also remove old paint, wallpaper and restore shine to old surfaces exposed to the sun.
In the market you will find a large variety of models. You can choose a larger and more professional machine or a domestic model equipped with an accessory case, for different jobs. In any case, polishers are very useful machines even if they require a certain skill in order not to leave streaks.
How is a polisher composed?
Basically, polishers consist of three parts, which you should know as best as possible in order to handle the tool correctly. Some parts, since the discs are interchangeable, it is important that you know how to differentiate them. Here are the different parts of a polisher:
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- Handle: with ergonomic features, it is the key piece of the polisher, as it incorporates the activation trigger of the polisher. It must be of non-conductive material.
- Body: it is the part that protects the internal parts and the motor of the tool. The best tools have IP watertight systems that protect them from dust and moisture.
- Disc: abrasive, rotating and of different gradations depending on the need for polishing. This is the main accessory of the polisher.
- Cable or battery – provide power to the machine. The batteries must be lithium-ion, as they have no memory effect.
What are the uses of a polisher?
For both home and industry, an electric polisher is a fundamental tool. With it, you can do a wide variety of jobs, from removing damage to a body to polishing or leaving a piece of shiny wood for a carpentry project. As you can see, they are very versatile.
Next, we present a table with the main uses of polishers:
| Professional | Domestic |
|---|---|
| The most used in the professional field is the rotary press. | Used to maintain glossy patinas and finishes. |
| Vehicle body repair. | Cleaning and polishing of the car body. |
| Sheet metal and metal parts polishing. | |
| Stone polishing. | |
| Polishing and cleaning of parts and boards in wood and plastic. |
What types of polisher are there?
There are basically two types of polishers: rotary (circular) and double action (orbital). Rotary ones are the most popular, their maneuverability requires skill and experience, which is why double action ones have appeared, easier to use and capable of obtaining perfect finishes even in the hands of beginners.
The key difference between one type and another is in the way the polishing disc or pad rotates. The presses rotate on their axis in a perfect circle and speed is measured in revolutions per minute (RPM). The double action rotates circularly and oscillates describing elliptical orbits and is measured in oscillations per minute.
| Type of polisher | Speed | Speed control | Ergonomics | Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roundabouts | Variables. From 1100 to 2000 RPM. |
Electronic. | Comfortable. | Uniform distribution of abrasives. Very flexible for paint correction. It generates a lot of heat which can affect the paint. Foam or wool brushes. Ideal for removing deep scratches. |
| Double action | Fixed. 1100 oscillations per minute. |
Unavailable. | Lighter and easier to use. | They are much less used. Generates less heat on top of the paint. Best for novice users. They are more expensive. They do not adapt to current, so they need transformers. They only use foam brushes. They do not leave halos. |
Corded or battery-powered polisher?
One of the most common questions that can arise is: which is best: a battery-powered or an electric polisher? It is a common debate in the field of power tools, as every day more and more manufacturers opt for battery-powered products and stop producing corded machines, as they are more comfortable for users.
There are some aspects that do not change, for example, any corded tool will always be more powerful and, moreover, will always be ready for use, while cordless tools can leave you stationary at an inappropriate time, especially when the batteries run out. getting old.
In the following table we compare the pros and cons of cordless and cordless polishers:
| Pro | Versus | |
|---|---|---|
| Battery-powered polisher | Lithium-ion batteries have a long life. They are lighter. They do not depend on external power sources. Ideal for confined spaces. They are easier to store. |
Even the best batteries lose power over time. Having to carry batteries and chargers, you’ll have to move more material. |
| Corded polisher | They have a continuous feeding, which makes them more powerful. Its performance is not affected by the battery. |
You must have a long cable or extension cable. They are heavier. They don’t allow you to have a lot of mobility, as the cable isn’t super long. They are more difficult to store, as they take up more space. |
Purchase criteria
Now that you know what polishers are, why buy one and how to use it, it’s time to choose the one that best suits your needs. Choosing a polisher can become a daunting task, which can get complicated if you don’t know what factors make the difference between a good polisher and the best of all. This is why we have selected what we believe are the most important purchase criteria:
- Usage
- Speed
- Speed control
- Ergonomics
- Typology
Usage
The first thing to consider is the use you will make of it. Do you want a polisher for your car? Do you want one for DIY jobs? A floor polisher? It is not the same if you think of a sporadic use, for example every three or four months to polish the car, than a frequent use for different types of surfaces or for projects of a certain size.
For occasional use, a simple, basic, double action polisher at an affordable price will suffice. These cars are ideal for beginners, as they leave no marks and you can familiarize yourself with the process with them without damaging your car. These polishers, on the other hand, have little power and take a long time to process, so they’re not ideal for professionals.
Speed
Rotary polishers have more power and their speed is measured in RPM. They are the most common and the most used in both professional and domestic settings. The speed range of these machines is between 700 and 2800 RPM, considering any machine between 1100 and 2000 RPM suitable.
On the other hand, double action polishers, also known as rotary orbital polishers, have less power but their results are finer. They are ideal for beginners as they do not easily leave polishing marks. When it orbits on its axis, its speed is measured in OPMs (orbits per minute), with intervals ranging from 4,000 to 6,000 OPMs.
Speed control
Speed control is an important factor in buying a polisher. Being able to adjust the speed electronically will be beneficial, as you will have more control over the machine and, therefore, you will get better finishes. Control will become an essential element if you need high quality and professional finishes.
To give you an idea, delicate jobs require low speeds, while large, coarse jobs require high speeds. Obviously, if you use too high speeds, you run the risk of destroying the paint. If the speed is too low, it could take hours and sometimes not achieve the result.
Ergonomics
Ergonomics is a factor to consider in all our purchases, and even more so when we talk about electric and heavy machines. If you plan to spend many hours working with the polisher, the ideal is that it fits well on your hands and body. This can be a somewhat subjective factor, as each body is different and each person has unique strength and endurance.
It is generally best to test the machine in person before purchasing and see how it fits. If that’s not possible, you can always look at comments from other buyers. It is important to pay attention to the weight, as it can affect both its power and its comfort.
Typology
On the market you will find basically two types of polishers. Random orbital and rotary ones. They differ in the mechanism and type of movement they offer, which will be decisive depending on the work you want to do. Orbitals are the most common on the market and perform circular movements, are efficient, but require some experience.
Unlike rotary ones, which often leave polishing marks (called holograms), orbitals are easier to use. These are suitable for beginners, although they are less powerful, harder to find and a little more expensive, so in the end you will have to calculate if they are worth the money.