Re: Orbital Polisher
I got the detailing bug long before I got the boating bug and have a mountain of supplies and several polishers including 2 random orbit (Porter Cable and one from Griots Garage) and a couple rotary polishers including the cheapie one from Harbor Freight. All of them have a purpose including the Craftsman one depending on what you want to do.
If you have a new hull and keep things pretty clean, the Craftsman will do a good job of quickly putting a coat of wax on and then you can remove by hand. If there is any underlying oxidation, scuffs, or swirls you will never get them out with this machine.
Next step up in aggressiveness is a random orbit like the Porter Cable. These are great in applying wax, removing swirls and minor oxidation, but the power generally limits you to using 6" pads, so it can take some time to cover large areas. The best part is that there is virtually no learning curve for defect removal and it is nearly impossible to damage the finish with one of these. If you have painted surfaces, I'd go with a random orbit, they run about $150 plus backing plate and pads.
Finally you have rotaries (including the Harbor Freight one). These are you best choice for removing water stains, heavy oxidation, etc. They do have a learning curve so initially you'll be slinging wax and compounds everywhere and they tend to be heavier, so your arms will get tired quicker. They will take 8" pads, so you can cover larger areas quicker. If you have oxidation, this is the way to go. By the time you get compounding figured out, you should be more comfortable with applying polishes and waxes, though hard to work on tight areas. Used on a car finish, a rotary with a wool pad can burn through the paint quickly if you don't know what you are doing. Gelcoat is pretty tough and you would have to try to hurt it with a rotary. A good rotary is close to $300 (Dewalt, Makita) but obviously well constructed and have better speed control. My Harbor Freight unit bogs down easily and the speed varies all over the place, but for $29 it wasn't bad. HF also sells wool pads and a polishing foam pads for less than $10 each (don't waste your time with tie-on pads). Just don't even think about using it on your car - you might not like the damage.
I'm not associated with these folks, but they have a great selection of polishers, waxes, polishes, etc, incredible custtomer service and a geat forum.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ is the link to their forum.
