Im so done sanding my boards with a random orbit non rotating sander. It takes all f**king day. I have the cash to pickup a power sander, any recomondations? I know about the Milwaukee 5540 and 5545 already, but 250$ seems like a waste even for the industry standard in sanders/polisher combos
Any recomondations for a power sander would be awesome. Of course this sander would be hooked up to power pads and such.
Thanks for looking,
Angus
You could always go the harbor freight direction for $40. A lot of back yard guys, and even some pros that we won’t mention, use their machines. If you do go that way, buy the insurance and it’ll only cost you $10 to get a replacement each time because you will burn through their machines way faster. Even the Milwaukee is made over seas now so the quality has dropped off over the past couple of years. Good luck.
I found this 5" dewalt sander on Amazon for $80.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007KZB2GE
Still waiting for it to arrive, will review it when I get to use it. The grip is a little weird and may not be good if you use it for hours, but the price was right and should help. Anybody else try one?
Jason
okay i think ill go harbour freight. What hardness power pads should i get for sanding dowm boards? A medium for regular sanding and a extra hard for feathering and fin boxes?
A project is always done best with the best tools?
Harbour freight?
Buy the replacement waranty.
You’ll use it several times.
Or you could buy a quality tool.
Miliwaukee, Bosch, Makita, Dewalt etc…
Soft pad. Maybe a hard pad for laps and boxes.
I’ve done about 15 boards with the Harbor Freight sander and its still going. I have a DeWalt now too. The pads are the important part…buy good pads. Soft and medium for me. I have a Habor freight attachment that takes small 40 grit disks for taling down leash cups and fin boxes.
Barry, yes I totally agree that a Chinese pot metal tool is not the best option, but for a backyard shaper who is 17 and no job, 250$ plus 60$ in pads is a lot of cash to spend. I would much rather prefer a Milwaukee or Makita, but I don’t know if i can swing it. It’s either an expensive tool and no gas, or cheap tool and gas money haha! I have always loved Bosch tools, maybe i will end up that route. Mikita is another tool company I trust, but dewalt… I had their trim router burn out in my hands and nearly electrute me. Maybe a bad unit, maybe I will give them another a chance.
I use an eBay Milwaukee single speed, man that is a big heavy beast.
More recently I got a variable speed Dewalt in partial exchange for board work for a pal, it is much lighter and easier to hang on to.
Watch eBay and your local Craigslist. My ebay tools have all arrived in very good condition.
IThe best luck I have had is with Hitachis…
I bought 6 of them about 15 years ago… Still have them all. Although they recently have given me some issues. Until now… I have NEVER had an issue and NONE of the 6 tools have ever been serviced professionally.
I also have one of the old orange harbor freight ones… Easily 15 years old as well. Its my go to for shit jobs… Its wire wheeled 5 cars, sanded countless surfboards and a bunch of furniture projects… because i paid like 25 bucks for it, ive always treated it like shit, I dont think ive ever done any maintenece on it… No problem.
I recently bought a brand new 5540 because the Hitachis are dying… It didnt even last a month before it was sent back.
I also have 4 of the newer Harbor freights just for backups because i got them new for like 25 a piece. Had them about 2 years, tret them like shit… no problems.
When the said Milwaukee went down I ran across to harbor freight and grabbed their Milwaukee and it didnt even make it through 1 board.
So its all relative. Just find what you are comfortable moneywise and weightwise and go with it.
The biggest issue with the Harbor freight ones is balance… seriously fire it up in the store and see if it feels smooth or if it shakes… if it shakes, the pad will rock and you will get swirls.
You can get the 5540s for 160 pretty common around here, ive seen em online that price too.
doing stone, concrete and granite for a living, I’ve burned through a bunch of diiferent grinders and polishers. I like Dewalt & Milwaukee’s warranty and repair policies, they are pricey, some are egregiosuly heavy too…
A bit of a wild card here, I’ve yet to destroy this machine: Amazon.com –I use it on laps, polish, wet polish, you name it. I take it to the jobsite and grind stone with it. Can’t burn it up yet. The speed settings w/Power Pads are awesome. The warranty guys who have the carbon brushes, parts for it are in SoCal–order an aluminum D handle from them if you get one, the plastic handle it ships with is junk. Also, it’s hard to put a dust shroud on this unit.
I own a Dewalt polisher with a 7" shroud and it captures most of my fine sanding. The shroud is $100, but worth every penny if you’re sanding more 10 boards in your lifetime, and glass near your shaperoom. Problem w/my dewalt is that it spins at 1 speed, only use the soft pad with this one:
I also sand laps and do thick stringer work with a $20 air grinder & 2" course sanding discs.
