It is brushed motor - had to service these once. But the brushes are cleverly designed - there is a metal bar inside them, so when they are running out - the machine just stops. Conventional brushes will spark like crazy, and that may lead to some damage to the rotor. The torque comes from the planetary gear set - the output shaft of the motor goes into that planetary reduction, only after that it comes to the crown gear to transfer the roatation 90 degrees. to the surface. Newer Rupes rotary buffers also use a gear reduction, but it is placed after the crown gear - hence the strange shape of the casing where the arbor comes from.
I never realized until now that gunman was doing polisher reviews. I have a Flex Kompact 3 rotary, and the thing is an absolute beast. Flex, no doubt, leads the way in both rotary and dual action polishers. They are expensive, but just like spray guns, you get what you pay for.
I have so many flex buffers, I'm glad you picked one up! If you're looking to do heavy work then go with the corded ones, the cordless ones for any of the Forced rotation/DA kinda is underwhelming. I love the corded ones as they're just so much more powerful and the balancing feels better than the heavy battery on the back.
I love the milwaukee cordless too much to ever go back to corded. I have a corded polisher and would only consider it for big heavy cutting work (I actively try to avoid those sort of jobs).
I have the exact Flex buffer. I love how much lighter it is than my old Bosch, it is quiet like you mentioned but so was the Bosch. One thing I don't like about the Flex is how it SLOWLY builds up speed to the RPM setting once triggered, takes time to get use to the delay.
very nice, anything made in Germany I'm all in for. I have had a Makita and Dewalt for the last 20 years and itching for a reason to get the latest/greatest from Flex. Looking forward to more content with these.
Flex is pretty well known for being direct gear driven. I have the VRG 3401 and have had it for years, I love it man. I will say, the Dewalt rotary’s. The 849x is garbage in comparison to the old 849. I’ve got more hours on an 849 than I do probably driving in my lifetime haha. I used to use the cordless Milwaukee at the body shop I used to work at, and you’re right. It hurts your ears…BAD. That 3in flex, i aka the Pixie. I was able to finally try one out recently when I did a paint correction and ceramic coat on a new C8 vette. I love it! Great content as always gunny 🤙🏻
@@TheGunmanChannel it probably will feel more powerful unless you're on UK or similar 240V. The motors are sometimes the same and the 18v (really 20+v) tools can hang with or beat the equivalent cabled tool over here if your on the 110v power, if it's the 240v tool which has the identical motor the 240v seems to have a ton more torque especially low down on tools with a huge array of speed settings. I've also seen companies like Fein and older Festool purposely use beefier bearings and switchgear on UK 240v tools or tools used on phased wiring 400-440v Hilti for example you will see a huge difference in the tools torque even from a battery and battery charger that is made to be charged from 110-120v or one that has been charged of a 240v charger. Their older earlier li-on batteried 280-300nm impactor the anvil was different between the 110 and 240v model depending on which voltage you specified. The one with the 240v charger had way more torque from the same tool and battery bar the fact the battery came with Japanese cells and the charger for the 240v mains was made in UK. The 110-110v charger version the tool battery had cheaper chinese cells and the charger was made in China or Taiwan. Makita too, see the makita 18v UK tool made in Makitas proper Anjo factory up till 2014, they are the best battery powered tools I've ever known, they came with 18v 3amp batteries top of the range Japanese cells and wiring with a heavier grade of casing. They just do not fail... ever, they need brushes and the batteries never ever seem to fault out and get a warning hit.
@@TheGunmanChannel yeah I know mate but are you not limited to 110-120v in work environments unless industrial exceptions? That's what we are here. Our houses are single phase 240-260v three prong, the workplace is two prong 110-120v and 3 phase is 400-440v. Most of our garages at home of were running air compressors etc we do the phased 400-440v or if certain electric car chargers. The drill kits sold here say from Hilti or Makita there is certain ones that are 18v say but because you bought the one with the 240v charger rather than the workplace happy 110v charger model you would get a better battery cell quality and the bearings or anvil might be better made just because you bought the 18v tool but the one with the 240v charger. Know what I mean? You cloud buy the 110v charger variant kit and the 240v charger variant of the 18v tool and both could use either charger and either ones battery no sweat.. just the 240v charger variant was shipped with a better grade charger, better barrery cells within the same looking 18v battery case. One of them was better though, had more torque and better battery Iops, a tougher anvil or brush holder or bearing set.. just because it was rated as the 240v one. Makita wise the 18v top end fully Japanese made combi drill from 2012 to 2014 was the BHP458 it was brushed and an absolute legendary combo drill it was shiped with two 3amp Panasonic celled battery packs and a Japanese made 240v charger with the battery repair capabilities... but if you bought the same one from 2013 in the 110v charger it was chinese made the label was a stick on label not the alloy press stamped one from Anjo in Japan. Opened it up its Malaysia made bearings not Japanese and the switchgear is from Taiwan. The charger was Taiwan or China made with no battery recovery capability beyond telling you if it had thrown a battery PCB fault or dipped bellow critical voltage. Then in 2015 they replaced the entire thing with a bait and switch with chinese brushless motors and called it the "458BHP" and DHP458.. the difference In build quality is ridiculous the older tool was way torquer at low speeds or modulated trigger speeds but the newer junkier chinese made brushless one claimed it had more torque.. the tool body looked identical but open them up and there is huge differences. See here in the UK gunny people were raging when Makita weren't all made in Japan or UK/USA factories for the sanders or saws, Austria or Germany for the chainsaws as that was Dolmar making them so we knew they were still well made even though not made in Makita factory in Japan. That's the only tolerance we used to have for powertools made outside Japan.. these days its disposable junk and nobody seems to care. A battery pack a month these days,
This is why I buy as many as I can afford of a tool before they ruin it. I think I’ve got a couple of those early Makita drills, brand new unopened as well as the good chargers for if my original one ever dies. Also have a DCS4301 in the box waiting for me, but I’m still using the original one bought in 2009 lol. I just buy whatever I think I’ll need spares of an invariably either the tool gets ‘cheapened’ by accountants running the company, or discontinued altogether. The tools I own now should see me out, so I don’t have to worry about reduced quality now or in the future. It may be too late to do what I’ve done, at least with some tools.
Nice looking polisher Gunny as soon as I saw the lead on it I could tell it's a high quality one which gives you confidence that the polisher is also well made plus it sounds nice in use👍 I finally had to replace my old compressor, I was looking for the same sort as yours but they are around twice the price of the usual belt drive ones here in the UK so went for the belt drive, it's really quiet compared to my old direct drive🙏🙏👍John UK
I have an Hitachi buff that I have used for years in a detailing business I had and then used all through the years I was painting cars, it is now about 38 years old and not one fault, still on the same brushes as well. so after that I could only buy another Hitachi. But that Flex looks mighty nice and considerably lighter.
Actually thinking about it,, it is possible that I may have put a new set of brushes in it about 15 or so years ago. One set of brushes in almost 40 years, gotta be happy with that, still works perfectly and still sounds good.
I have the same Hitachi buff, probably 35yo, hand me down from my old man. Has never had a set of brushes, just a regular clean with compressed air, and is still going strong. Though it does give your arms/shoulders quite the workout!
@@slasher9883 Yes great buff, I’m very used to it so don’t notice the weight. I’d love to try this smaller Flex buff but won’t be affording that anytime soon, I also don’t do as much now so I wouldn’t get the value from it, maybe one day I’ll get to try one.
If you want the absolute best you can get, rotary, orbital are easy to use, you could trust your grandma with one. You won't get nasty swirls with the orbital but they leave very small imperfections. So yeah rotary if you want the best of the best
@@TheGunmanChannel that's the problem, someone has told me they say "engineered in Germany" on some models now. I won't buy any chinese made tool neither will anyone I work with.
Nice tool for sure but for occasional home use not sure it justifies it's price. We used a Skil 9955 with a team of 3 for 5 years daily - probably 1000's of hours on it by now. Still works like new. Think I paid around 90€ for it on sale.
Seen many bad detailer jobs stuff like clear burn throughs getting handed to custom grade painters to fix before the customer throws a wobbly, they guys use makita🤣
@@bigduphusaj162presently I have a busy detailing shop next door. Some of our most lucrative jobs come from their burn throughs and subsequent desperate need for a quick fix. When they're desperate and in a rush we can dictate ridiculous prices and still come off as angels for helping them, putting them at the front of the queue 😎
@@john2335yeah I think we are talking about the same grade of "detailer" the sort that only get someone else to fix their burn throughs when one of them is too obvious, on some body ridge line on the door or the likes where it's blatant AF. Then when the guy who knows what hes doing needs to fix the "one burn through" he finds every edge, ridge and angle has no clear coat left on it whatsoever and all the "detailer" has done is continue to wax up so it looked like he only did one burn through. Soon as you put pre-cleaner wax degreaser then a water based degreaser over the full vehicle there is not just one burn through, or two or even 10, the entire thing is a joke and the wax was hiding the hollograming too. 👎
Just the ticket gunny,first night on holiday,can't sleep, cheers brother
Do you not finish polishing with a dual action polisher?...
It is brushed motor - had to service these once. But the brushes are cleverly designed - there is a metal bar inside them, so when they are running out - the machine just stops. Conventional brushes will spark like crazy, and that may lead to some damage to the rotor.
The torque comes from the planetary gear set - the output shaft of the motor goes into that planetary reduction, only after that it comes to the crown gear to transfer the roatation 90 degrees. to the surface. Newer Rupes rotary buffers also use a gear reduction, but it is placed after the crown gear - hence the strange shape of the casing where the arbor comes from.
I never realized until now that gunman was doing polisher reviews. I have a Flex Kompact 3 rotary, and the thing is an absolute beast. Flex, no doubt, leads the way in both rotary and dual action polishers. They are expensive, but just like spray guns, you get what you pay for.
You in it to win it now!! That's a super nice machine bro!
I have so many flex buffers, I'm glad you picked one up!
If you're looking to do heavy work then go with the corded ones, the cordless ones for any of the Forced rotation/DA kinda is underwhelming.
I love the corded ones as they're just so much more powerful and the balancing feels better than the heavy battery on the back.
I love the milwaukee cordless too much to ever go back to corded. I have a corded polisher and would only consider it for big heavy cutting work (I actively try to avoid those sort of jobs).
I have the exact Flex buffer. I love how much lighter it is than my old Bosch, it is quiet like you mentioned but so was the Bosch. One thing I don't like about the Flex is how it SLOWLY builds up speed to the RPM setting once triggered, takes time to get use to the delay.
After watching your review on Flex ore 150, you convinced me to buy one for myself...great tool
very nice, anything made in Germany I'm all in for. I have had a Makita and Dewalt for the last 20 years and itching for a reason to get the latest/greatest from Flex. Looking forward to more content with these.
Flex is pretty well known for being direct gear driven. I have the VRG 3401 and have had it for years, I love it man.
I will say, the Dewalt rotary’s. The 849x is garbage in comparison to the old 849. I’ve got more hours on an 849 than I do probably driving in my lifetime haha.
I used to use the cordless Milwaukee at the body shop I used to work at, and you’re right. It hurts your ears…BAD.
That 3in flex, i aka the Pixie. I was able to finally try one out recently when I did a paint correction and ceramic coat on a new C8 vette. I love it!
Great content as always gunny 🤙🏻
WHATS THE DIFFRENCE BETWEEN LAMBS WOOL BUFFERS AND FOAM?
Lambs wool is much coarser. If you've sanded the paint with 2,000-3,000-5,000 you don't need lambs wool.
Hey gunny must say the corded has some advantages in that you don't loose power and it really seems a bit more quiet cheers man
I agree, that's why I went with it. It feels more powerful too
@@TheGunmanChannel it probably will feel more powerful unless you're on UK or similar 240V. The motors are sometimes the same and the 18v (really 20+v) tools can hang with or beat the equivalent cabled tool over here if your on the 110v power, if it's the 240v tool which has the identical motor the 240v seems to have a ton more torque especially low down on tools with a huge array of speed settings. I've also seen companies like Fein and older Festool purposely use beefier bearings and switchgear on UK 240v tools or tools used on phased wiring 400-440v Hilti for example you will see a huge difference in the tools torque even from a battery and battery charger that is made to be charged from 110-120v or one that has been charged of a 240v charger. Their older earlier li-on batteried 280-300nm impactor the anvil was different between the 110 and 240v model depending on which voltage you specified. The one with the 240v charger had way more torque from the same tool and battery bar the fact the battery came with Japanese cells and the charger for the 240v mains was made in UK. The 110-110v charger version the tool battery had cheaper chinese cells and the charger was made in China or Taiwan. Makita too, see the makita 18v UK tool made in Makitas proper Anjo factory up till 2014, they are the best battery powered tools I've ever known, they came with 18v 3amp batteries top of the range Japanese cells and wiring with a heavier grade of casing. They just do not fail... ever, they need brushes and the batteries never ever seem to fault out and get a warning hit.
@@bigduphusaj162 we also run 240V here in Australia.
@@TheGunmanChannel yeah I know mate but are you not limited to 110-120v in work environments unless industrial exceptions? That's what we are here. Our houses are single phase 240-260v three prong, the workplace is two prong 110-120v and 3 phase is 400-440v. Most of our garages at home of were running air compressors etc we do the phased 400-440v or if certain electric car chargers. The drill kits sold here say from Hilti or Makita there is certain ones that are 18v say but because you bought the one with the 240v charger rather than the workplace happy 110v charger model you would get a better battery cell quality and the bearings or anvil might be better made just because you bought the 18v tool but the one with the 240v charger. Know what I mean? You cloud buy the 110v charger variant kit and the 240v charger variant of the 18v tool and both could use either charger and either ones battery no sweat.. just the 240v charger variant was shipped with a better grade charger, better barrery cells within the same looking 18v battery case. One of them was better though, had more torque and better battery Iops, a tougher anvil or brush holder or bearing set.. just because it was rated as the 240v one. Makita wise the 18v top end fully Japanese made combi drill from 2012 to 2014 was the BHP458 it was brushed and an absolute legendary combo drill it was shiped with two 3amp Panasonic celled battery packs and a Japanese made 240v charger with the battery repair capabilities... but if you bought the same one from 2013 in the 110v charger it was chinese made the label was a stick on label not the alloy press stamped one from Anjo in Japan. Opened it up its Malaysia made bearings not Japanese and the switchgear is from Taiwan. The charger was Taiwan or China made with no battery recovery capability beyond telling you if it had thrown a battery PCB fault or dipped bellow critical voltage. Then in 2015 they replaced the entire thing with a bait and switch with chinese brushless motors and called it the "458BHP" and DHP458.. the difference In build quality is ridiculous the older tool was way torquer at low speeds or modulated trigger speeds but the newer junkier chinese made brushless one claimed it had more torque.. the tool body looked identical but open them up and there is huge differences. See here in the UK gunny people were raging when Makita weren't all made in Japan or UK/USA factories for the sanders or saws, Austria or Germany for the chainsaws as that was Dolmar making them so we knew they were still well made even though not made in Makita factory in Japan. That's the only tolerance we used to have for powertools made outside Japan.. these days its disposable junk and nobody seems to care. A battery pack a month these days,
This is why I buy as many as I can afford of a tool before they ruin it. I think I’ve got a couple of those early Makita drills, brand new unopened as well as the good chargers for if my original one ever dies. Also have a DCS4301 in the box waiting for me, but I’m still using the original one bought in 2009 lol. I just buy whatever I think I’ll need spares of an invariably either the tool gets ‘cheapened’ by accountants running the company, or discontinued altogether. The tools I own now should see me out, so I don’t have to worry about reduced quality now or in the future.
It may be too late to do what I’ve done, at least with some tools.
Nice looking polisher Gunny as soon as I saw the lead on it I could tell it's a high quality one which gives you confidence that the polisher is also well made plus it sounds nice in use👍
I finally had to replace my old compressor, I was looking for the same sort as yours but they are around twice the price of the usual belt drive ones here in the UK so went for the belt drive, it's really quiet compared to my old direct drive🙏🙏👍John UK
Great review and im not a dog person, but man that dog is cute as :)
I have an Hitachi buff that I have used for years in a detailing business I had and then used all through the years I was painting cars, it is now about 38 years old and not one fault, still on the same brushes as well. so after that I could only buy another Hitachi. But that Flex looks mighty nice and considerably lighter.
Actually thinking about it,, it is possible that I may have put a new set of brushes in it about 15 or so years ago. One set of brushes in almost 40 years, gotta be happy with that, still works perfectly and still sounds good.
I have the same Hitachi buff, probably 35yo, hand me down from my old man. Has never had a set of brushes, just a regular clean with compressed air, and is still going strong. Though it does give your arms/shoulders quite the workout!
@@slasher9883 Yes great buff, I’m very used to it so don’t notice the weight.
I’d love to try this smaller Flex buff but won’t be affording that anytime soon, I also don’t do as much now so I wouldn’t get the value from it, maybe one day I’ll get to try one.
Been using DA lately maybe its time to go back to rotary. Good info Gunny. PS thanks for the messages yesterday
thanks for the reply.
Is the 3m quick connect better than the regular backing plates?
Rotary vs DA. Everyone seemed to get into DAs a while ago, but now rotaries seem more popular. What's the go?
If you want the absolute best you can get, rotary, orbital are easy to use, you could trust your grandma with one. You won't get nasty swirls with the orbital but they leave very small imperfections. So yeah rotary if you want the best of the best
Hey thanks for review on the flex polisher I’m going to get one can you tell me what backing plate came with it, cheers.
It doesn't come with one. You'll have to get one separately.
Where does it say its made mate?
I'm pretty sure it was Germany
@@TheGunmanChannel that's the problem, someone has told me they say "engineered in Germany" on some models now. I won't buy any chinese made tool neither will anyone I work with.
Vc é top , seus trabalhos são ótimos.
Parabéns
Nice tool for sure but for occasional home use not sure it justifies it's price. We used a Skil 9955 with a team of 3 for 5 years daily - probably 1000's of hours on it by now. Still works like new. Think I paid around 90€ for it on sale.
Seen many bad detailer jobs stuff like clear burn throughs getting handed to custom grade painters to fix before the customer throws a wobbly, they guys use makita🤣
@@bigduphusaj162presently I have a busy detailing shop next door. Some of our most lucrative jobs come from their burn throughs and subsequent desperate need for a quick fix. When they're desperate and in a rush we can dictate ridiculous prices and still come off as angels for helping them, putting them at the front of the queue 😎
@@john2335yeah I think we are talking about the same grade of "detailer" the sort that only get someone else to fix their burn throughs when one of them is too obvious, on some body ridge line on the door or the likes where it's blatant AF. Then when the guy who knows what hes doing needs to fix the "one burn through" he finds every edge, ridge and angle has no clear coat left on it whatsoever and all the "detailer" has done is continue to wax up so it looked like he only did one burn through. Soon as you put pre-cleaner wax degreaser then a water based degreaser over the full vehicle there is not just one burn through, or two or even 10, the entire thing is a joke and the wax was hiding the hollograming too. 👎
Hey Gunny, have you tried the forced rotation?
No but I don't like orbital polishers
@@TheGunmanChannel yeh, I have orbital and a rotary, prefer the rotary, thought u may have reviewed one and i missed it, keep up the awesome content.
Can u use 3ms 8in perfect pad on this?
Dobra maszyna - polerka 👌 🙋
😁😄👏