Polishing Machines

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Last week we looked into Rupes as part of our manufacturer Spotlight series, but thanks the rude interference of mother nature and our offices being flooded, we never got around to our third instalment. In the intervening days much has happened – Rupes have brought out their iBrid 15mm and 21mm battery-powered machines, we have surveyed our readers as to their favourite machine movement, and our Rupes swag prize has been won – well done Chris from Inverness! – but now let us ponder polishers…

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In the early days, rotary polishers were based on angle grinders and DA polishers were adapted from sanders – we wouldn’t say they were an afterthought but in the world of power tools, they were very much an outlier. For the home user there was little on offer bar fearsome great rotarys from the likes of Makita and short-throw DAs such as the Porter Cable 7424 that were only available as 110v machines from the USA. Detailing as a term was positively esoteric back in the noughties, as hobbies went, campanology drew bigger crowds. Compare that to the present day, where when you tell someone you’re into detailing, they will have some idea of what that means. Furthermore, it’s not seen as such a geeky, uncool thing – we wouldn’t suggest bringing it up on a first date, but people don’t assume you’re on various lists if you’re into it.

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The popularity of detailing has exploded over the last two decades for all sorts of reasons, but we want to look at the two most instrumental machines that have shaped the art of modern detailing. First up is the DAS-6, spiritual successor to the Porter Cable – for most it is their first polisher, and has been a safe and unintimidating gateway device to fancier fayre. While you can get a DAS-6 with pretty much any brand label, and there are countless versions and revisions that have appeared on the market, the fundamentals have been consistent – lightweight, short throw, affordable. Most of us are self-taught, perhaps with a little assistance from YouTube or a more experienced friend, and the DAS-6 is perfectly suited to those formative experiments into abrasion – it’s really difficult to damage a car with it, yet you can make a car look so much shinier than you can with just a glaze and some elbow grease.

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The DAS-6 has been, arguably, the most influential machine for home detailers, but for the professionals, the Rupes LHR15 has been changing the game since 2010. A quick online search will reveal a huge range of long-throw DAs but back then there was nothing – your options were rotary or short-throw DA, with the exception of the forced-rotation, 8mm throw Flex VRG that appeared around 2007. As a professional, using a DA was slow and ineffectual compared to a rotary, but rotarys take years to master, and few were able and willing to put the effort in – the skilled, old-school detailer was a rare breed as a result. The LHR15 could correct nearly as well as a rotary, it was much faster due to the larger swept area, and crucially, it was easy to use. Suddenly every Tom, Dick, and Harry had one – much to the irritation of the Old Guard – and it opened up the industry, allowing it to feed the growing demand from the public as they saw what can be achieved – the rest as they say, is history.

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We love an automotive analogy here at PDM, and we’d compare the LHR15 to the double-clutch gearbox – before DSG you had those who slushed about with autos, and the heel’n’toe clutch heroes with ‘stick shift’ – the latter were more skilled and faster. With flappy paddle gearboxes however, anyone could drive them, and they were just as quick, if not quicker.

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Next week we will be looking at another bastion of our industry – this time from the UK, known for their technological innovations… any guesses?

To keep abreast of the latest developments in machine polishers, and indeed the rest of the detailing world, subscribe to PRO Detailer Magazine at https://prodetailermagazine.com/product/pro-detailer-magazine-subscription-1/