Attaching backing pads to orbital sanders with a 5/16" to M14 adapter

Hi people

I have a Hitachi SAY15A sander. The thread for the disc is  on the sander is 5/16" female but the backing pads I had my eye on (these:  http://www.seabase.eu/product/WCN/Seabase/Sanding-Pads/Sander-Super-Pad-150mm-PSA-M14–SOFT and http://www.seabase.eu/product/WCNO/Seabase/Sanding-Pads/Sander-Super-Pad-150-mm-PSA-M14-MEDIUM) have a M14 female thread.  I can find  a medium backing pad with a 5/16" male thread but not soft.

My instinct was to get a 5/16" to M14 adapter which I have found for well cheap, £3.  However when reading through some motoring forums, using backing pads with M14 thread was not advisable with a sander with 5/16" thread via an adapter and I did not understand the explanations (here’s one: http://rmsmotoring.com/forum/threads/5-16-m14-adaptor-for-polisher.163343/)

What do you guys reckon, yes or no?

And alternative recommendations welcome - including for a relatively cheap variable speed random orbital sander with an M14 male spindle, since this seems to be the standard (I’m in the UK).  

Cheers

get yourself one of these and never look back

Not available in the UK unfortunatelly.  196USD though, bloody 'ell that’s a bargain.  

In the end I’ve ordered a Clarke CP185 Sander & Polisher.  Min rev 600RPM, hopefully that’ll be slow enough

Balkan_B-that one should be fine, seems much like the Harbor Freight ones in the US.

Is the spindle 5/8"-11 TPI or M14?

You’ll really like it once you have a little softer pad than the stock one.

 

 

Hi J, it’s M14.  It was toss up between this one at £70 or a DeWalt at £149.  Do you have one of these?  If so, please tell me which backing pads you’re using.  I was going to order some backing pads from Seabase but they’re out of stock on the 150mm’s.  Cheers

I have 2 of the HF ones, the old style non-digital variable speed, 5/8 spindle. One’s been in service for a few years maybe 10-12 boards and the other is my back-up new in the box.  They go on sale for 30$ US with a coupon:

http://www.harborfreight.com/7-in-10-amp-variable-speed-polisher-60626.html

I got a 6" medium Flex pad years ago. I used the  HF 7" hook and loop paper until the edge clogs or frays and then cut it down to 6".

I just treated myself to a party pack from South Shore Mfg: soft-med-hard 8" Flex Pads, a bunch of 8" sanding disks, and a t-shirt. Now I just need to get out there and learn to sand better.

 

Hah party pack and t-shirt included :slight_smile: and thanks for the info, as it happens a colleague is travelling to New York next week and he’s very kindly offered to bring me back a couple of these.  Although I tried calling South Shore Mfg three times this evening with some stupid questions but kept getting voicemail… is the quality of the finish the same for hook & loop vs cloth face?  Appart from the obvious sandpaper attachment method, is there any other noteable difference?  Sorry for all the questions!  Cheers 

B_B, I would try email too, just in case they are hesitant to answer an international call.

I was happy with the advice given so I bought a shirt along with the other goods.