I know that this has been asked in the past, but the old posts do not address the issue. Ive inherited a craftman grinder, and bought a powerpad with 5/8-11 sizing. Low and behold it didnt fit the spindle size of the grinder, so ive spent 2 weeks searching the internet, and various stores around San Diego to find an adapter that takes a 1inch - 20tpi adapter to a 5/8 - 11tpi for the pad. If there is no such accessable adapter, is there a machine shop in the area that anyone has used for such an item?
Before the dogs come out, the adapters at lowes and homedepot are for 10mm - 1.25 to 5/8-11.
I know that this has been asked in the past, but the old posts do not address the issue. Ive inherited a craftman grinder, and bought a powerpad with 5/8-11 sizing. Low and behold it didnt fit the spindle size of the grinder, so ive spent 2 weeks searching the internet, and various stores around San Diego to find an adapter that takes a 1inch - 20tpi adapter to a 5/8 - 11tpi for the pad. If there is no such accessable adapter, is there a machine shop in the area that anyone has used for such an item?
Before the dogs come out, the adapters at lowes and homedepot are for 10mm - 1.25 to 5/8-11.
Please help, i wanna glass these boards!
Blaine
PROBOX-Larry Wrote:
Blaine, Give me a call at the factory, 310-530-1383. Mahalo,Larry
Craftman rotary sanders have a 1/2-20 spindle (I have one), and there’s no off-the-shelf adapters that I know of going from 1/2-20 female to 5/8-11 male. One option would be to get that M10 Black & Decker adapter and have it re-bored and threaded to 1/2-20. Unfortunately, 1/2-20 is a non-standard size, so there are no taps available and the threads must be single-point lathe cut. If you know somebody with a machine shop this is a possibility, but if you just take it to a shop the cost may be well over $100. It would be a lot cheaper for you to just get a Harbor Freight sander with a 5/8-11 spindle for $30 and be done with it. It’s a better sander than the 2-speed Craftman anyhow. Power pads, buffing pad backers, etc are all 5/8-11 thread. Only Craftsman uses the 1/2-20 spindle, and they don’t even sell any accessories for it, go figure.
Thanks for the advice guys! Larry gave me a gem of advice, and once i give it a try this weekend i will post it up with pictures so i can spread the swaylocks love.
I called Larry to ask him about his technique and heres what he said; “A german engineer suggested that you use the teflon tape(plummers tape) to wrap the spindle in a the direction that you screw the pad on. Wrap it until there are no longer thread marks, and you have a new smooth spindle a little wider than the 5/8 inch size female pad. As you screw the pad on, the pad threads will make new grooves and attach the pad to the grinder…german engineering!”
Great advice from a great man.
Heres what happened…tried this technique using my craftsman grinder with 1/2 inch spindle(manual states 1inch!?). I wraped the spindle by using my thumb as a guide on the tape, and spinning the grinder on the floor until it was a little greater than 5/8 inch. The pad screws on fine, although the smooth tape makes it easy to screw off. Unfortunately, after applying a little pressure to the surface that your working with, the tape ends up heating, warping, and breaking apart so that the pad just falls off. I then tried duct tape, but had the same experience. I took some pics, but i dont think they are usefull.
Solution;
Cheap china made harbor freight sidewalk sale this weekend…bought a cheapo grinder that actually fits the pad.
Thanks for the advice and help, hope my swaylocks contribution is helpfull.
OK, well I’m an engineer of German heritage and you should never, ever, try and jam together mismatched threaded parts on anything that rotates. For one thing, it will rotate eccentric because the centerlines are mismatched and the pad will get wrecked. This is why I didn’t advise you before to modify that M10 adapter by drilling/tapping and using setscrews in the sides. Threads are just a wedge wrapped around a helix, and tape doesn’t make a very good wedge. Don’t toss out that Sears sander, it can be used as a buffer. Get the rubber pad than goes on it, puts some velcro tape on the face and get a wool bonnet from HF. As for the engineer who advised the tape, I will send a fully detailed report to Berlin.