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United States of America, Fort Wayne
1 Level
716 Review
47 Karma

Review on Maxshine ShineMaster Refurbished Polisher Backing by Steve Stone

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Good Long Stroke DA Polisher at a Good Price - Recommended Buy

I'm by no means a paint correction specialist, but I make a significant amount of touch ups and corrections in one go. I do a two-step fix from time to time, but for now I'm trying to stay away from them. I started my detailing business with a Harbor Freight 6" DA polisher that everyone in the world has used before. It vibrates a lot. It's too loud, it's very loud and doesn't cut very well and it hurts My hands are in my hands within hours of using it It has its place in detailing, but it's not really a full-fledged piece of automotive gear Max Shine 15mm DA (now called the Shine Master - the same new name for a polisher) and this is my first burnisher a long stroke machine and I was dying to use it. And screws, extra brushes, a washer to modify the washer and a hex wrench. The 5" washer was already installed and torqued at the factory so this is not necessary. In addition, the base plate rotates freely when the device is switched off. Basically, it was ready to use right out of the box. There was also a small bag to carry all your spares. I was very excited to test it and being unable to work at the moment due to the COVID-19 pandemic I tested it on my wife's gray metal Saturn. with very heavy oxidation, scratches, halos, whatever, it's on the car. I didn't prep the panel properly (didn't even wash it), just did a no-rinse wash on the test area, nothing else. I glued my test surface. Unfortunately I didn't have 5" foam pads (I thought I had ordered a 6" base plate but oh well) so I put on a 6" Orange cutting pad and 3D One 400 (one step fix) used. Using the standard criss-cross method, I tried to remove scratches and swirls. With just a few drops I was able to remove some scratches. I would say the orange pad removed about 50% of the scratches. I then switched to a buffing pad to get the job done. There were still visible scratches so I switched to a 5" Uro 50-50 pad. I primed the block and did the standard 2 passes at about 1" per second. Well it did. The clear one Layer was harder than I thought. Then I reapplied the buffing pad and actually saw the metal flakes pop! This is exactly what I was hoping for so I was very pleased with how easy it is to get deep scratches with this one device. And even with decent pressure, it never stopped once. Pros: WAAAAAAA better than the HF 6" polisher. Very easy controls. Soft start. I don't have them because this is my first DA long throw polisher. But compared to the HF, it's like night and day. BUT! The grease in the Maxshine gearbox is terrible. Just don't use their fat. It is cheap and does not protect the polishing machine well. Service the machine just before using it for the first time. Remove the bad lube that came with the kit. It's crap and it won't help you. Pretty loud. So instead I got some Valvoline High Heat, red lithium, marine grease and a full gear. This had a major impact on how well the machine worked. It was less noisy, less vibration, smoother and didn't get hot at all. I have literally no experience with long throw DAs, but I really like this polisher even though I know there are better polishers out there. However, I think this is an adequate polisher for my needs. It's not heavy, feels very good in the hand, doesn't vibrate too much and hands didn't go numb after use (unlike HF DA). I would recommend buying this machine based on my first impressions. The state has a self-isolation order and because of this I am not allowed to run my detailing company. So I don't know how long it will be before I can open again. I mention this because I'd like to provide updated feedback, but it will be a while before I can do so. Again, I think this is a good long throw beginner DA polisher. It is not very expensive for long casts and is made of very high quality materials. I would not only recommend buying it, but buying another if needed. Maybe instead of 21mm once I get used to the larger cross section compared to 15mm. Edit: 7/14/2020 - I've used the polisher a few times now. He feels good and has no problems. There is some vibration, but that's only true on large body panels like the hood, as there's less support in areas that I believe are prone to vibration with any type of buffing machine. I am very happy with my purchase. It wasn't difficult to learn how to use either. I was a little scared as I've never used a long cast. But it was very easy to learn. I still recommend this as a good polisher. It just works and it doesn't feel uncomfortable or leave my hands numb. Well, if you had to use this every day, all day, I'm not sure. I don't do that much detail and I don't want to laugh. It feels more like a solid and well-made entry-level device.

Pros
  • Certified
Cons
  • Useless Features