Is this a good choice for a polisher/sander? I can’t find the 9207spb. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=37642
Maybe if your doing a lot of boards… I got the Harbour cheapie, it was on sale, only ran me $35, with an 18 month warranty… 6 boards so far, zero problems, no signs of wear.
makita is very good tool. much smooth. ok? ok. http://groups.msn.com/thegrasshoppersurfboard/shoebox.msnw
The longest lasting and nicely balanced machine I’ve had for hundreds of boards is a Dewalt. It is available exactly the same as a Black & Decker Industrial. I have one of each, one for fine one for coarse.I realise this is a luxury, but saves time if you doing six boards a day!!! Don’t know what they cost in America…About $350 Australian. Not the cheapest!!! http://www.speedneedle.com.au
Scour eBay. I just picked up a Hitachi SP18V for $66 and a DeWalt DW-849 for $113.
Nothing against the upper end stuff (as they are top notch equipment)but it is hard to beat the Harbor Freight variable speed model(25 bucks) if you are not doing a lot of boards - or if you are on a budget. Its ergonomics, weight, and power are competitive. The downsides are the bearings are not sealed, it makes more noise, and it is probably more susceptible to breakage if dropped/bumped. Regards, Herb Bean http://www.surfingsandiego.com/school_shaping_racks.shtml
Hey Sanding, polishing causes lots of dust. Make sure you wrap tool with some cloth, tightly, and zip tie…for filter.
invest in a Festool rotex and vac combo, the sander works insane, the vac is silent and anti static, the pads last a long long time, it sands dust free, and sandpaper is great, and it is not made in china…
hitachi sp18v an awesome tool one of my favorites you will have it your whole life…its light has a great u shaped handle and goes 600-3500rpm lickitd split.has the slow start to with a nice soft rubber pad get it …get it now.
I paid $230 for the best Milwakee and I fried it in less than a year. $300 to fix it at the shop. (YA Right) My new Hitachi is going strong.
Just a note on ALL sanders: Resin dust and fiberglass are hard on the internal workings of electrical tools. So blow out the motors (through the air vent slots), and the switches after each use. An easy way to protect the toys, and avoid nagging headaches. Doug
or else this might happen… i was once sanding a polyester board ,and the sparks from the brushes must have ignighted some dust in the machine which in turn ignighted the dust floating in the room coz my exhaust fan was very weak the cloud was thick ,right in front of me the whole room turned into a fireball it only lasted a few seconds. i threw my sander screamed and ran ,when the rest of the crew in the factory came running to see what happened …they just started laughing when they saw me, all my front and face was black and my hair was blown back and looked like one of those cartoon characters after hes been blown up…i didnt get hurt just startled …so yea blow out your machines and get good ventilation… regards BERT
For what it’s worth - that’s not the first time that sort of thing has happened with dust. Flour mills, for example, have this nasty tendancy to blow up or burn down; it’s a poor man’s fuel-air explosive. One blew a seven story limestone building literally up and across a river. It’s not just the resin fumes that go ‘bang’ around what’s called a ‘source of ignition’ in the fire service. Any flammable dust can do the trick. Lots of ventilation is a Real Good Thing. That and being real careful about flames, sparks and what have you. hope that’s of use doc…
Howzit Doug, Blowing out the dust in your grinder is a must. One tip is don’t run your grinder while blowing it out since this can cause damage to the wiring. I always use the compressor on my grinders and they have lasted for a long time. One of them is 9 years old and I haven’t even had to replace the brushes, the other is 6 years old and both just keep going, going, going, by the way they are both Makitas. Aloha, Kokua
makitas rule
Howzit Bert, Yeah I love Makitas and I understand they are made in the USA, even though they have a japanese name. Where as Milwaukee is made out of the USA. Aloha, Kokua