Ok, so I plan to purchase my first polisher soon, I think I can make the money back in just a few months from detailing other people's cars, however my question is this...

I plan on using a lot of the Dodo Juice range and I also am a novice to machine polishing, so which is better the Buff Daddy orbital polisher or the Swirl Doctor rotary polisher?

I know people may use different brand, but essentially they are the same but re-branded.

Thanks!

you're likely to do far less damage with the buff daddy than you would with a rotary. so from a 'safety first' perspective orbital over rotary, especially on other peoples cars.

I read that you can't use Buff Daddy with the Supernatural stick though and also it's slightly more difficult to get polishing pads for?

Initially I will ONLY be using it on my own car and families until competent

It's a tough question that mate as there's obvioulsy pros and cons for each machine. Yes, the DA is an easier machine to use and will definitely be safer on yours and others paintwork but can be very frustratingly slow in terms of correction (paint type dependant of course)
Smaller areas and longer work times are needed to get anywhere near the same results as you'd get from a rotary.

If you consider yourself to have a decent amount of common sense and class yourself as fairly tool savvy then I'd say go for the rotary.
A wise old boy once gave me a good example... you've got a supercar thats capable of doing 200mph but your the one thats in control of the loud pedal so it's totally in your control how fast you make it go.
It's also perfectly acceptable to start of with a very forgiving polish/pad combo, say a light polishing pad and a finishing polish, you'll find it an easy way to break into the world of the rotary as the pad is softer and more flexible while the polish won't be aggresive enough to do any real damage. Once you're confidience builds then you can up the anti and go for a heavier combo.

Another good idea is to nip off to your local scrappy and get yourself a practice panel, get some wire wool and sctatch away, then set about correcting/refining said scratches. You could even try the strike through test, wind the machine to flat out and hold it hard to the panel just to see how long it actually does take to strike through (you'll be surprised)

Simple answer is, if you can afford it get both. Not always an option but if I had to choose one machine to use for the rest of my life it'd definitely be my rotary.

Have you already got some pads/polishes in mind?

I almost sure the meg pads fit on the buff daddy,the spin doctor is a nice tool,like all rotarys they have to b masterd.i think Scottb did a small write up on the new meg kit,if wud go for buff daddy master that then pos move up.also dodo juices training days may help u out to achieve great results.hope this helps

Thanks for this matey, makes a lot of sense, I think for me then, getting the Orbital is a better place to start, I'd rather be safe and move up to a rotary, than using one straight off the bat, my life is pretty mental busy, I'm doing a combined honors degree in English and History, work at Hein Gericke, have twins due in 5 weeks and a new car to collect, in my spare time I have exams to revise for and about 40+ hours a week of revision and am learning guitar too, so may have bitten off more than I can chew lol...

However enough of me saying how hard my life is. Regarding the pads/polish I was thinking of the multiple surface, soft/medium and firm pads, not flat pads, I already have Lime Prime, but was thinking maybe something like Poorboys SSR to start with?

Thoughts?

Good god man you have got your work well and truly cut out, all that and twins in 5 weeks!
Totally agree with you then, go for a DA and have a play when (and if) you get 5 mins spare.

All the best to you and the missus with the incoming duo mate

Opps forgot to add the polish/pad comments.

As many pads as I try, I keep going back to either the 3M yellow and blue and the Lake Country range. I really like the Hydrotech and Constant pressure pads.
http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/polishing/lake-country-6-5-flat-pads/cat_79.html

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/polishing/lake-country-hydrotech-pads/cat_98.html

As for polish, I've not had a lot of experience with the Poorboys stuff simply because I've never needed to. I've not had a problem with what I use now. Megs 105/205 Both cracking polishes, Scholl S17+ a very good all rounder, and 3M stuff always gets an outing.

Plenty of choice out there mate, were just here to try and make things a little easier for you.

Is something like the Silverstorm Rotary awful? As it seems to tick all the rotary boxes lol...

I've also looked at this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PROFESSIONAL- ... 081wt_1396

obviously I wouldn't use the product, but thought for a rotary it was ok? Thoughts?

The silverline is probably a ok machine, never used one myself. I cut my teeth on a sealey many many years ago (what a tank that was) but basically the same as all these machines based around the price of that ebay one, silverline etc.
My personal opinion is give it a swerve, they get very hot quite quickly, their big, heavy and bulky which makes hard work of side panels and tighter areas and more than often the start speed is way too high.

If after your stint on the DA you want to go down the rotary route then consider spending a little extra and go for something like the spin doctor, the 3M machine, Chicago cp8210, Metabo PE12 etc. Yes they are more money but way worth it.

Some great advise there. I'm using a rotary with 3m and festool pads with scholls 17+, and to be honest I'm managing but struggling a bit. things happen much faster with a rotary, trouble is bad things happen just as fast as good things. Given your situation and experience I think an orbital will do you very comfortably. Theres a bit of a prestige thing associated with using a rotary, but if you read mike Philips book the art of detailing, he never moves beyond using an orbital. Above all it's a much safer machine and it will do everything that a rotary will, just more gently. Some detailers (back me up here guys) will do the major corrective work with a rotary and then switch to an orbital for the final stages to give the best possible best finish. And as Lewis says, if you can get in on the DJ training days then all to the good; remember the old addage - learn from your mistakes? Well it's actually much better to learn from someone else's! There is a literal fountain of knowledge on here and some fantastic people to learn from, so whichever machine you choose you can be sure help is never far away.

Thanks guys, think I will go with the Orbital then after all the comments