? for Herb

I was looking in the archives and noticed you said the sander/grinder from Harbor Freight tools was good for someone that does not do production. Which one were you talking about? Where can I get pads for it? Looking for a good sander/grinder on a budget. Can’t take the palm sander anymore! Any info would be much appreciated.

I was looking in the archives and noticed you said the sander/grinder from > Harbor Freight tools was good for someone that does not do production. > Which one were you talking about? Where can I get pads for it? Looking for > a good sander/grinder on a budget. Can’t take the palm sander anymore! Any > info would be much appreciated. … …If you really dig deep in the archives you can find more info. Just go to resources and find Harbor Freight Tools,dial-up there web site and look under sanders.It’s the 2 speed sander/polisher(2800&3300rpms).The sander has a 5/8" x 11 thread size so any standard power pad,etc will fit it.Herb

Thanks Herb! I’m going to check it out. I’ve never heard of some of this stuff, but for the price I’ll definitly give it a try.

I bought one of those Harbor Freight $45 sanders. It grinds things down. It just ground down its own pinion gear after minimal use. The reason I didn’t use the HF sander that much, I have another sander/grinder. It’s a 4500 rpm, 1 3/4, 7"-9" hp Sears Craftsman sander/grinder. I thought it was a little too powerful for buffer bonnets and sandpaper glue. I used the Harbor Freight special and found it to be pretty weak. So I solved the buffer and sander problems of the Sears tool. I got some better sandpaper glue, and I replaced the buffer bonnet with a buffer head. Still, the HF tool was easier to use, so for lightweight tasks I sometimes pulled it out. But it died WAY before its time. Sears doesn’t show Craftsman sander/grinders on their website, but they may still stock them at the stores. Sears started carrying Makita and Dewalt tools, but the Craftsman tools are usually a lot cheaper.

…Noodle are you grinding epoxy? …I’m still on my first HF sander(at least 2 years old).I bought 3 as to use as disposables.#1 has seen better days ,but it’s done the lion’s share of sanding for me and still has alot of life in it.95% of my glassing is single/double layers of 4-6oz wt.fiberglass,and polyester resin…I can’t count the number of boards,fins,skaters,homemade sandingpads,and junk I made with this HF toy sander…Maybe I got lucky?I’ll have to give one of the others a spin.Herb

…Noodle are you grinding epoxy? Herb, I’m about 40% done on my recumbent bike. That’s where my HF sander failed. After the sander stopped spinning I took it apart. The ring and pinion were dry, causing the pinion to grind away. There was lots of grease in the differential housing, but none on the gears. You might want to check the grease on your gears.

Herb, I’m about 40% done on my recumbent bike. That’s where my HF sander > failed. After the sander stopped spinning I took it apart. The ring and > pinion were dry, causing the pinion to grind away. There was lots of > grease in the differential housing, but none on the gears. You might want > to check the grease on your gears. …Yeah,I greased #1 before I started using it from the get go(Slick-50 bearing grease).I don’t care for the cheap-ass grease they use in those Chin-tools anyway.It’s been awhile so I do need to maintenance it soon.It’s not making any unusual noises,but it is slowly losing it’s balance.Herb