# BumbleBee



## Mike Phillips

*Bumblebee*

For some reason when I look at the new *DWP849X* I think of *Bumblebee*



















Probably comes from my son being a fan of Transformer movies... 

Been kind of busy lately with some other projects but plan on taking the Bumblebee out for a test drive this weekend if I'm not on the water...

*What's in the box...*










I like that it comes with a stick handle, I'm not fan of hoop or "D" handles for 3 reasons so like that they configured it so each person can choose their own setup. The head of the unit has a firm rubber molded cover to prevent marring paint should you accidentally bump it into a painted surface and I'm guess to also act as an heat reducing, ergonomic grip should you choose to use it with no handle at all, which is my normal preference.









*For reference, here's the new DeWALT in a swarm of rotary buffers...*









A couple quick observations, first the new RB is very quiet, just as quiet as the Flex PE14, I ran them side by side at similar speed settings and there wasn't a striking difference in noise level.

The Flex PE14 is a lighter but the new DeWALT isn't bad either...

Fit and finish is very nice. I like that the dust screens are easily removable for cleaning, nice feature. It also has a very heavy duty rubber cord which is a feature I've always liked about the Flex tools. The gloves are nice and a nice touch to include with the tool.


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## Mike Phillips

*Test Vehicle: 1949 Chevrolet Sedan Delivery - Light Swirl Removal*

I lined this up to give the DeWALT DWP849X a test drive, I figured since it was yellow and needed a good polishing it would be a good candidate. Plus there's lots of real-estate to really get a good side-by-side comparison.

My initial evaluating of the finish shows,


*Basecoat/Clearcoat paint system*
*Light swirls throughout the entire finish*
*Some kind of Above Surface Bonded Contaminants on the paint*

Here's a few pictures...

*1949 Chevrolet Sedan Delivery*









*Flex PE14 and DeWalt DWP849X*


















These next 4 pictures were taken at different places on the car, the swirls are pretty much the same over the entire finish. They don't look too deep so as long as the paint isn't too hard they should buff out pretty easy.

*These first two pictures were taken on each of the vertical side panels...*


















These next two pictures were taken on the the horizontal panels of the front clip, I think one is on the hood and the other the top of the passenger fender, you can see little black contaminants on the paint and this is after I wiped the paint down with a spray detailer.


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## CraigQQ

haha yes bumblebee indeed mike..

but he is the coolest transformer after all


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## Kokopelli

+1. Exactly, I felt the same. 

I handled a Dewalt last week and it was a heavy beast, only 3.9 kg's!! So they can be human friendly after all with 6.5lbs of this machine.


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## chillly

Always a pleasure to read your posts mike you always manage to put some fun in them :thumb:. I think you are taking Detailing to the next level by using colour coded polishers mate


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## Mike Phillips

Okay, after a few side projects I finally have everything set up to do some buffing...

I have more pictures but this car detailing project is actually for something else, I'm just taking advantage of the large, smooth panels and no trim whatsoever to test out the new rotary buffer plus some Constant Pressure Pads with some of the new Optimum products.

All the places I don't want to detail are covered and taped-off... note the Cobra Microfiber Bonnets over the side mirrors... I'll remove them to do a little polishing on the paint but I don't want to detail or wipe any splatter dots off the glass mirrors.

I also covered the massive finned aluminum grill for the same reason, there's not a lot of buffing around the grill but it it only took me a few minutes to cover it.










*Wheel Maskers on the wheels and tires, I'll clean and dress these later...*









Fine pin-striping on top of the clear coat is a hassle to deal with, all I'm going to do is carefully buff around them and then wax these areas... these painted stripes don't look like they would even be safe with a DA Polisher, maybe... I'll test... 









*New Optimum products and Constant Contact foam pads and the Flex PE14*









*New DeWalt DWP849X and the new Grit Guard Cart with Pad Washer*


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## southwest10

What a lovely 49er!!!!


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## Mike Phillips

*Test Spot Results*

Did 3 Test Spots starting with the least aggressive products and pads to get the job done...

After each section was buffed I then wiped the section clean using MS followed by IPA.

The percentages below are simply based upon experience from doing compound and polish testing. Usually it's timed, for this test I just counted to 6 section passes after 1 pass to spread the product out.


*Test Spot 1* - Optimum Finish with a Gray CS Finishing pad on 1000 RPM - 65% Swirl Removal


*Test Spot 2* - Optimum Polish II with White CS Polishing Pad at 1000 RPM - 80% Swirl Removal


*Test Spot 3* - Optimum Compound with an Orange CS Cutting Pad at 1000 RPM - 95% Swirl Removal

After the compounding on Test Spot 3 I then re-polished using the gray finishing pad with the Optimum Finish and chemically stripped again with both MS and IPA and the finish looked swirl free. The sun is too far down in the sky to pull the car out and inspect in the sun so all I used was the Brinkmann Swirl Finder Light.










Tried to take close-up shots across from where I marked the painter's tape with the numbers, 1, 2, and 3 but what I could see with my eyes I just couldn't capture with my camera.


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## james_death

Great as ever looking superb..:wave:
Nice to see you on again Mike...:thumb:


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## WHIZZER

Bumblebee for sure - looks a good bit of kit


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## Mike Phillips

Question asked about working around pinstripes on the AG forum...



Wills.WindowsAndWheels said:


> Also a question about the pin striping...thats something ive wondered about for a while...what do you do with the paint that is BETWEEN the striping/flames. I
> 
> ts such a small area that i wouldn't think a pad could get in there (or do you have some sort of technique you use?) or do you hand polish those areas?


You can tackle the paint in-between the pinstripes by hand but if the paint is hard then removing swirls is going to be hard and you have to be careful not to leave *Fingermarks* behind at the same time.

A good best practice with foam pads is to hold the pad flat to the surface whenever you can hold the pad flat to the surface. In situations where you cannot hold the pad flat to the surface then as an option you can hold the pad on edge. You're choice, rub the swirls out by hand, (actually with a couple of fingers pushing against some type of applicator pad), or by machine and the risks that go along with it...























































I have some 3" pads that are not actually available. I asked Eric Dunn for these late last year and have been using them with great results. You can also see I'm using an Optimum Optimum Double-Sided Rotary Adapter attached to a 2-3/4 inch Hook & Loop Rotary Backing Plate with these small rotary buffer pads.

The adapter acts as an extension which allows me to better see where the pads touching the paint as I buff and also works sometimes to give you enough clearance to buff into tight areas.



















Before buffing out a tight, curved area like above you want to prime the outside of your buffing pad and then smear a little product on the paint itself with your finger as shown in this thread,



> *If it has paint... it gets polished... *


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## Mike Phillips

I came in this morning to get some Gel Coat Labs products to test out on the boat and found this guy on the floor next to the Sedan Delivery, I don't know if he crawled out of it overnight or came from somewhere else but he's about the size of a half dollar and kind of creepy. He looked a little sluggish so I started to pick him up and about a second after I grabbed he came to life! So I scooped him up with a little cup and set him on the paint and took this picture.


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## Mike Phillips

Previously all the compounding has been done using the new DeWALT DWP849X, now I'm switching over to the Flex PE14, already I like the smaller size and lighter weight, especially for any of the places where I have to be real careful.

These small, 3" foam pads work really well for buffing around,

Delicate areas
Thin panels
Edges










Pinstriping paint tends to be more on the soft side versus hard side so you don't want to run your buffing pads over any pinstripes but you do want to buff as close to them as you can. In this picture I'm using an extension to position the pad a little farther away from the polisher so I can more easily see where the edge of my buffing pad is on the panel.










When buffing thin panels, or working next to edges, hold the rotary buffer with a firm grip and focus on the task at hand...









*Edging* - Buffing along an edge to knock it out before buffing out the rest of the major portions of the panel. By edging a panel first you don't have to buff near the edges as close when you switch over to a larger pad to buff out the panel.


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## Mike Phillips

As I've been working around the car I've been cleaning my pads in a Grit Guard Pad Washer using the new Grit Guard Universal Detailing Cart.

*Love this cart!*

*You no longer have to bend over to clean you buffing pads!*
By elevating the Grit Guard Pad Washer off the ground in a sturdy cart *you no longer have to bend over to clean you buffing pads*. The cart comes with 2 lockable wheels and if you lock them the cart stays in place as you run your polisher to clean the pads.










And of course the Grit Guard Pad Washer works great!

No camera flash shots...


















With camera flash on... (same pad before and after shots)


















You can see the compound residue building up around the inside top of the bucket via centrifugal force as you increase your RPM's to sling out excess cleaning solution and spent product.



















If you machine buff cars for a living or often, you will love this cart and the pad washer...


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## Mike Phillips

The Driver's side is all compounded using the Flex PE14 with the new CS Pads and the new Optimum Compound II




























Moving onto the polishing step...

So far I prefer the lighter Flex PE14 especially when working around the pinstriping or the long, thin narrow panels.


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## Mike Phillips

*Opinion/Personal Preference* - Flex PE14

Both are excellent tools though and you can't go wrong with either one.

Buffing out a special interest vehicle like this because of its size and large smooth panels gave me a really good feel for both rotary buffers. I put the paint through three machine processes, doing a half side of the car with each rotary buffer.

While both tools worked exceedingly well, after hours of holding both tools and working 3 different products, my personal preference at least for the type of polishing I was doing to this car would be for the Flex PE14. In fact by the time I got to the Jewelling step I finished off most of the car using the Flex rotary buffer.

I preferred the lighter weight and more compact size of the Flex to the DeWALT, especially when I was working around the pinstripes, raised or hard body lines and thin panels. I used both rotary buffers without handles.










*Rotary Buffer steps completed...* 

*Compounding:* 6.5" CS Orange Cutting Pad with Optimum Compound II at 1000 RPM
*Polishing:* 6.5" CS White Polishing Pads with Optimum Polish II at 1000 RPM
*Jewelling:* 6.5" CS Red Finishing Pads with Optimum Finish at 600 RPM
Resuts...




























Next step, seal the paint then dress the tires and polish the wheels.


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## Mike Phillips

Some more questions that were asked in the AG thread, thought I would share them here too...



kronos said:


> Very nice review Mike. That Flex sure does have plenty of good things going for it. The only real negative seems to be the high initial cost.


* Quality never costs money it makes money...*

The one remaining unanswered question I have is, can it be used for high volume paint correction work? The DeWalt looks heavy duty, like it was made for high volume work. Can the same be said of the Flex?[/QUOTE]

According to Flex the answer is yes. They state that up to an 8" diameter pad can be used with the Flex PE14 but I prefer to stay a little smaller especially for wool pads.

My personal thoughts are that if you're going to be buffing out sanding marks all day long or removing oxidation from large boats all day long that a full size rotary buffer would be a better choice. The *gears are bigger in size* as are the rest of the components in a full size rotary buffer and _*I think having more reciprocating mass creates more torque*_ and this is something you would want if you're going to be doing heavy compounding and polishing with full size pads, (8" and larger), 6 days a week.



Wills.WindowsAndWheels said:


> It does look beautiful indeed. No way i could swing that kinda cash for a rotary right now but its nice to have some input as to a comparison of the 2 polishers.
> 
> Quick question...what major differences do you see between the PE and the 3403 flex rotary?


First major difference is the new Flex PE14 has the design that flushes the tool with air to help the tool run cooler.












Wills.WindowsAndWheels said:


> Also to those who were interested in the 3" pads...AG does sell some...they are made by Griots...of course!


Correct and these work well too. You can see them in action here,
(google the title if you want to see the pictures)

*Pictures + Video of 1932 Ford Highboy Extreme Makeover*










The 3" pads I'm using are some prototypes...



Wills.WindowsAndWheels said:


> I must say that detailing cart looks super sweet....another wish list item...grrr....i wont buy it till i finally have a stationary place to do my detailing...too bulky for mobile detailing..im 25..i can still lean over to clean my pads LOL.


The cart is nice, it makes using the pad washer a lot easier plus gives you plenty of storage space for other related tools.

After about 12 hours of running both rotary buffers here's what I think, the new DeWALT is a great rotary buffer especially for the price. The 600 RPM low range is the most valuable feature. I also really like the rubber bumpers on the back side that enable you to set it down on a polished fender or hood without scratching the paint.

It's still in the Full Size Category while the Flex PE14 is in the Compact Size Category. The compact size and low weight of the Flex PE14 plus the 600 RPM range are the features I'm most attracted to. It's light weight and small size make it really easy to control when doing intricate work.

In a perfect world a person would have at least *two* rotary buffers, a full size working dog for doing all of the _*grunt work*_ and a compact, light-weigh rotary buffer for when you need _*surgical precision*_.

After the compounding and halfway through the polishing step I just switched over to the Flex PE14 due to the weight and size features. I could have used either for the rest of the job by my preference was for the easiest tool to work with.

*Here's some pictures to show relative sizes...*

The two Flex rotary buffers on the left are in the Compact category while the other 4 rotary buffers are in the Full Size category. Comparing the compacts with the full size rotary buffers can be done but it trends towards the comparing applies to oranges analogy as in person and in use you can tell right away when you switch from a full size to a compact or visa-versa.


















The new DeWALT DWP849X is wider and more bulky like the other full size rotary buffers in these pictures.









You can that the Flex is more narrow from top to bottom...


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## Mike Phillips

Did the 3 rotary steps yesterday, this morning I wiped the paint down very softly using a 12% IPA Solution and then applied Opti-Coat II

Here's how the finish started.... These next 4 pictures were taken at different places on the car, the swirls are pretty much the same over the entire finish. They don't look too deep so as long as the paint isn't too hard they should buff out pretty easy.

*These first two pictures were taken on each of the vertical side panels...*


















These next two pictures were taken on the the horizontal panels of the front clip, I think one is on the hood and the other the top of the passenger fender, you can see little black contaminants on the paint and this is after I wiped the paint down with a spray detailer.


















*Here's some after shots....*


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## Mike Phillips

When this car first arrived, to most people the paint looked pretty good. Non-detailers would have thought it had a show car finish. Detailers would look at the paint and see the potential for how good the paint could look.

When I took this project on the primary purpose was to have plenty of real-estate to provide plenty of time to run two different rotary buffers to really be able to compare them and get a feel for their own unique characteristics.

At the same time I also needed to test out the new Optimum Compound, Polish and Finishing Polish as well as some new types of foam buffing pads. I could have just done a quickie using a number of different approaches but instead decided to buff the car out as though it were really my car. That is approached this detailing project as explained in an older article of mine, I think it's posted somewhe

*The Mindset of a Professional Detailer*

And I hope the pictures do the results justice as the paint is very smooth and clear and as a result it's now incredibly glossy.

Here's pretty much everything I used... I'll post a write-up for this project with more information about the products and process later... I will say that the new Optimum products worked exceedingly well as did the CS Pads.


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## WHIZZER

Mike you do get some great cars to work on


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## james_death

Outstanding and intricate detail work...:thumb:
Stunning motor and great product write up...:thumb:


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## Mike Phillips

WHIZZER said:


> Mike you do get some great cars to work on


For my detailing class this weekend I've scheduled a very rare 1967 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible with *horrific rotary buffer swirls*. throughout the entire finish. This should be fun for our students to cut their teeth on...

This isn't the car but it looks like this... will get a picture tomorrow...


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