I have just started painting guitars as a hobby / side business. I am looking to upgrade my cut/buff/polish tools and I wanted to see if I could get some recommendations on what to buy.

I want to look into smaller sized tools because the larger diameter wheel tools are just way too big for working on a guitar. I basically want to get a whole complete setup for cutting / buffing / polishing my clear coats.

My current setup is basically just a 5" orbital sander for leveling, a 5" orbital polisher (very cheap), and some foam pads. I've been using Meguire's compound and polish from the auto store. It's very bare bones and obviously a novice setup. I can manage a somewhat decent finish with this, but nowhere near professional quality.

After researching, I decided I definitely need to upgrade if I want to get a quality finish. So, I could use some recommendations for some equipment. I'm thinking of maybe a 3" rotary sander for leveling, a 3" diameter rotary polisher for most of the cutting/polishing, and a 3" diameter orbital for removing swirl marks. Plus, new pads and compound that is more thought out than just going to the auto parts store and grabbing what's on the shelf. lol.

I could also use something smaller than 3" in diameter that can really get in the very tight areas near the neck of the guitar (the "horns" of the guitar). There are some very tight curves there and I'm at a loss on how to level and polish those confined areas. I end up doing a lot of that work by hand for now because I've yet to find a good power tool that can reach in there.

By the way, I have been using a catalyzed polyurethane clear for my clear coat.

Also, I want to stay under $300 for my new cutting / buffing / polishing setup.

Thanks.

can ya post a picture or 2 of the area you are referring to thats hard to buff? might help folks here give some suggestions.

suggestions:
as for the buffing supplies, the 3" griots garage orbital would be a good choice
https://www.autogeek.net/griots-orbital ... er-hd.html

it is possible,however, to put a 3" backer on something like the porter cable 7424
https://www.autogeek.net/porter-cable-7424xp.html
im not sure how it would be for control- the griots is a bit more low profile.

my personal preference for pads for cut and buff are lake country CCS pads
https://www.autogeek.net/lake-country-ccs-pack.html
i dont get crazy with all the different varieties;most work i do(both cut and polish) i do with the orange pads.

as for compounds, ive been using meguiars for quite a few years , so kind of biased here. i switched from M105 to M100 for cut
https://www.autogeek.net/meguiars-m100- ... pound.html
i switched because the m105 works real good but LOTS of dusting of the product. dont get that with the M100

then i switch to megs m205 for polish
https://www.autogeek.net/meguiars-finis ... h-128.html

this all done on clears that have been sanded to at least 1500 grit

suggestions from others should be comin in shortly.

Well, as you've pointed out you can go smaller with buffing equipment however,ha, ha, I grew up around finishing brass and stringed instruments. When you have to do a lot of polishing/buffing on instruments it is much easier if you go "bigger"with your equipment. In the instrument shop I hung around in and was taught how to do maintenance and service they used large 15 to 20 inch buffs on a large long steel rod with a center bearing, belt driven down to a 2 or 3 hp motor. Here is a pretty good example of how it was set up....
https://www.stewmac.com/Materials_and_S ... utfit.html
Watch the video about half way down on that page. You get a "burnishing" effect with this type of equipment you just won't get with the smaller equipment. The single buffs can reach deeply into recessed areas and since they are running a low speeds they just don't tend to "grab" like smaller tools. Yeah, yeah, I know something like that is out of your price range but hey, if you are a good scrounger you could probably build a poor man's version of that for $200 or less......

DarrelK wrote:Well, as you've pointed out you can go smaller with buffing equipment however,ha, ha, I grew up around finishing brass and stringed instruments. When you have to do a lot of polishing/buffing on instruments it is much easier if you go "bigger"with your equipment. In the instrument shop I hung around in and was taught how to do maintenance and service they used large 15 to 20 inch buffs on a large long steel rod with a center bearing, belt driven down to a 2 or 3 hp motor. Here is a pretty good example of how it was set up....
https://www.stewmac.com/Materials_and_S ... utfit.html
Watch the video about half way down on that page. You get a "burnishing" effect with this type of equipment you just won't get with the smaller equipment. The single buffs can reach deeply into recessed areas and since they are running a low speeds they just don't tend to "grab" like smaller tools. Yeah, yeah, I know something like that is out of your price range but hey, if you are a good scrounger you could probably build a poor man's version of that for $200 or less......

Sorry for the delayed reply. This info is awesome! Thanks so much! I'm going to really look into going this route! I'm really excited about it. I think this will really be the right way to go rather than using hand tools. I'm going to read more about these buffers and see if I can put together something like what you shared. Thanks a ton!

Yeah, I had built a similar rig for production sanding chairs years ago. We used to do a lot hotels, restaurants, and such. I mean we were talking hundreds of chairs with lots of spindles and stretchers. We didn't need to polish them, we needed to sand them. Instead of the big fluffy buffs we had what are called "flutter wheels" of sand paper strips on each end. We cut our prep times in half compared to our regular air equipment. I think I built that entire rig with a used motor for under $100 or so.

DarrelK wrote:Yeah, I had built a similar rig for production sanding chairs years ago. We used to do a lot hotels, restaurants, and such. I mean we were talking hundreds of chairs with lots of spindles and stretchers. We didn't need to polish them, we needed to sand them. Instead of the big fluffy buffs we had what are called "flutter wheels" of sand paper strips on each end. We cut our prep times in half compared to our regular air equipment. I think I built that entire rig with a used motor for under $100 or so.

That website lists the buffing wheel rpms at 715, is that because of the big 20" diameter wheels?

Yeah, the rpms low like that work well with those large buffs. Keeps you from tending to "sling" parts as well. I rigged my sander that I built with an external rheostat box so we could pick the best speed. When I was hanging around the instrument shop they had an infinite speed foot pedal on their set-up. Higher speeds were used for brass polishing while I remember guys doing the lacquered string instrument bodies at lower speeds.

Don't confuse a polisher with a buffer, two completely different tools
for two different things.
If you're sanding clear coat, you need a buffer.
A polisher is much less aggressive and will take forever for buffing.
It's for polishing, that's what you do after buffing.
A buffer can do both by using different lighter cut pads, but most painters don't
use polishers at all. I know I never do, except maybe for waxing.
I have buffing pads & back plates for my full size buffer from 8" all the way down to 1".
I use 3" & 4" a lot. They work really good.