It’s been a long time since I operated a rotary floor cleaning machine. The last time I got stuck with that job I’d broken something in my dorm room during my freshman year at college.
My small weekly allowance didn’t cover such occurances so I asked the dorm manager if I could work it off. The guy lived for opportunities like that. I became the floor cleaner/buffer and abuse catcher of the week.
From that experience I learned to never allow my fate to be determined by a pea brained dictator and to avoid cantankerous floor cleaning machines too.
But sometimes machines that have been rejected have their revenge on us. This theme was explored for our amusement during the early days of movie making. My experience today would’ve fit well in a Mack Sennett piece.
The machine I rented must have been a little out of balance because it wanted to buck and jump like a rodeo bull. Maybe it was partly my long lay-off but I couldn’t get that machine to run smoothly no matter how careful I was when applying pressure to the cleaning pad.
In the end, after several hours, that peculiar bull and I achieved a truce of sorts. The dirty linoleum floor got a good cleaning and I gained a new respect for machines as karmic instruments.
BTW. I also got another lesson in the importance of seeking advice from the best source available. I could’ve rented a machine at HD, saving a little traveling time, but I haven’t been happy with the Zep cleaning products they sell so I went to a janitorial supply house. There I got excellent advice about products and better prices on everything as well.
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Lol, very well told.
A floor polisher can be compared to a well seasoned curmudgeon, cantankerous as hell with a mind of its own.
My first experience came when I was living in NYC and the acting institute where I was studying had a acquired a huge loft space in need of renovation, and in order to save money, most of the work was going to be done by sweat equity, actors, directors, teachers etc.
The main public floors, I'm guessing about 1800 sf), were yellow pine that needed sanding & finishing, so a bunch of drum sanders were rented and the few of us who were handy with tools & building, (I had only sanded one floor before), were put in charge. It wasn't easy, but at least I got to show Robin Whatshername, standing there in her sweaty t-shirt, how to correctly bend over without killing your back and use the edger. Didn't matter that she wasn't interested in guys, that made it all the more...well, I digress. (clearing throat).
Somehow after some days & nights of backbreaking work we managed to get the floor relatively passable. It was decided that we should screen the floors to really give them a good surface. I never used a floor polisher before, let alone one with a sanding screen attached, and so we were all flying solo. There were, I think, 3 of them. It was absolutely hilarious. We couldn't get control of those damned things for the better part of 2 hours. It just didn't seem like something that big & heavy needed such a light touch. Finally, we managed to get the feel for those things, but I'll never forget the sight of one of them in the hands of an actor, (trying to keep his cool), sail through a sheetrock wall.
One guy froze up and wouldn't let go of the lever-switch on the handle and the machine went in circles around him tying his legs together causing him to trip & fall hog-tied to the floor. He wasn't hurt (thank God), and we all laughed till we cried.
I remember drinking a lot of beer and getting thank you kisses from lots of pretty people.
But that's another story.
I was a general laborer at a Thrift Drug store when I was in High school. One of my jobs was floor upkeep.
being me, and well, I tasted a few drugs back then, I could RIDE the buffer like a Segway..LOL
Knocked over a few things getting the hang of it, but man, what a ride.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
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LOL! Oh man.....I'm lucky I didn't have a mouth full of water just now. God that's funny & what a great image! You & me woulda been partners in crime back in the day.
Haven't laughed like that at a post in a good while.
And I wonder why my body decides NOW to revolt. LOLSpheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
I hear ya man. I works out, and I eats my greens, but some days the bod feels like I'm just one step ahead of the Repo-man.
I learned to use one when I worked at Sears the summer before collitch.once you learn how to control it you can make it go wherever you want with a light touch.What was REAL HAIRY was when they put new stripes on the floor in the auto service area.imagine an oil soaked slab with a degreasing detergent that you had to scrub in with a brush pad on a buffer.once you got you feet wet all you could do was to try and keep it from dragging you around the shop..
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"After the laws of Physics, everything else is opinion" -Neil deGrasse Tyson
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If Pasta and Antipasta meet is it the end of the Universe???
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according to statistical analysis, "for some time now, bears apparently have been going to the bathroom in the woods."
I could RIDE the buffer like a Segway..LOL
ROFLOL. What an image. A stoned teenager surfin' the aisles at Thrifty Drugs.
Not just a stoned teenager, but this long string bean of a body wrapped around the machine viewing life through reddened half-moon slits, head back & laughing wildly through the days of light and the nights of pain. That image describes my buddy to a tee.Some can ride the big lightning bolt, some can't, and some never even try.
As the former owner of a small aerobatic bi-plane, I emphatically agree. <G>
Just in case I get a chance...does the handle go in front,like a horses neck or is it behind ya?
I seem to remember it was most def. in front, but locked in the straight up and down storage position. Had a paddle switch, and that was basically a deadman sw.
Feet straddle the motor hump, heels more towards the behind you. Stand wall toed. Forward is handle away from you, rearward ( don't try that at first, it's hairy) is weight on both heels. Toe weight and handle to steer sideways. Motor torque is like a front wheel drive car, allow for rotational skew and yaw, and don't back up over the cord.
The pharmacist and I would do eye dropper squirts of the Grain Alcohol late nights at closing, and he always did some toot, I always had some puff, so we had a blast.
Man , he was a hoot, just outta college, and wild. He'd go back in the stickroom before his shift and take some D.O. off the shelf and take a whores bath..then put the D.O. back. I eventually would stock it on the store shelves, this was like '76-'77 before all the tamper proof stuff came along.
He eventually got fired, I dunno when I quit and went to a lumber yard as an Asst. Purchasing agent/stock room worker.
Hey, your name is A Trident, if you can handle a Trident Submarine, you can drive a buffer!Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
Running a single rotor floor buffer/polisher is defiantly an art. Once you get the touch it is like riding a bike but like riding a bike, you can get pretty beat up in that learning curve.
I was in the military. Floor buffers are a rite of passage. If you can't do it with 2 fingers, you ain't doing it right. If you grab both handles and try to make it mind, you are going for a ride.
Running a single rotor floor buffer/polisher is defiantly an art.
Defiantly, huh? I couldn't agree more. As for it being an art, if it was up to me it would become a lost art.
My first experiance with a floor buffer came when I was about 9 years old.. Grandpa got hurt and he needed help in his janitorial jobs.. I quickly learned that you don't muscle those machines. It's all about technique. Push down to go right lift up to go left. Tilt side to side go forward and backward. We did bakeries and banks, pharmacies and gift shops.. Worked at night after everybody went home. I did that untill I was old enough for a paper route and staying up untill 11:00 and then having to get up at 4:00 just wore me out.. Grandpa tried other kids but couldn't find those willing to do the work..
The rental I was using wore out one side of both pads I worked with, well before the other side. When I returned it this morning and mentioned the pad wear, the machine was tested and found to be "slightly" out of balance.
Would like to hear brownbagg's comparison of floor cleaner vs. a power trowel?
Own opinion is once you have learned a power trowel, then, like somebody else said, the floor polisher is a 1 or 2 finger operation.
Would like to hear brownbagg's comparison of floor cleaner vs. a power trowel?
By all means.
Own opinion is once you have learned a power trowel, then, like somebody else said, the floor polisher is a 1 or 2 finger operation.
I've never tried my hand with a power trowel. I imagine if can be funny to watch a newbie doin' it.
When the floor polisher is used to to buff a clean, shiny floor it's is easy to guide the machine. The situation I refered to involved dirty floors requiring a heavy duty pad. That pad tends to grab much more easily than a finer pad or a brush.
When I returned the floor cleaner yesterday morning, it was determined that the machine was "slightly" out of balance. That condition, coupled with the grabby-ness of the heavy duty pad, was what caused my struggles with it.
To further that...try a polisher on a raw wood floor with a sanding screen. A lot of friction there, liable to go places.Never tried a power trowel & always wanted to. I'm assuming you're talking about the walk behind model as opposed to the one you ride. Lord knows I've floated & troweled my share of mud by hand. Those days are behind me for the most part.