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

General Discussion
1

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

2

get yourself one of these and never look back

750×1334 102 KB

3

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

4

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.

 

 

5

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

6

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.

 

7

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 

8

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.