Hey guys looking for a sander/polisher, I lost mine in the flood from
that cunt Sandy. My last one was an old Craftsman 2 speed, this thing
worked great never had problems with it. It was probably 25 years old,
heavy but solid and took all the abuse I could throw at it. I noticed
the new Craftsman ones pretty much suck after reading a lot of reviews
and they only come with a 1/2" spindle not 5/8" WTF??!! I only make 4 or
so boards a year so I don’t need a crazy expensive production one. I was
thinking of rolling the dice with Harbor Freight but they look pretty
shitty.
…nothing in the middle, you have the cheaper crap and then the expensive ones.
The good ones have a nice weight; the weight is important in the sanding techniques.
Try to buy a Makita 2 speeds sander/polisher with the normal grab not the hook thing.
Never buy a used sander unless it was rebuilt at a reputable place. A new Milwaukee will run about $200+, a HF about $40 with the extended warranty. Other than the weight, there isn’t much difference working with it. Many people here have HF sanders that lasted years (including me). Depends on how you take care of it. You probably have other expenses recovering from Sandy, so I recommend go cheap if you’re not in production.
I’ve gotten a lot of hours out of my HF. And they are light weight. But it is not a Milwaukee. Or it would say so on the label.
Thanks guys, I have a HF store right by me. I don’t mind a heavy one for sanding. Any preference between Drill Master and Chicago Electric?
Before you commit, check out the Milwaukee 5540 5 speeds all variable.
Spendy but damn good.
High End---- . Milwaukee or Makita. Variable speed. No two or five speed stuff. Otherwise either brand ot the Harbor Freight sander/polisher. The arbor fits the most commonly used pads and the speed/rpm adjustment is thumb screw. Get the warranty. It will do alot of boards. Lowel
Thanks guys, damnit now I’m looking at that Milwaukee it’s pretty sweet. I like the removable chord for storage. I’m great with glassing but I suck at sanding, I really hate it I wonder if a better machine would help at all.
That removable cord on the Milwaukee is the first thing that breaks, second is the speed control. I hardwire the cords on mine. The parts for Milwaukee’s are very expensive, the cord and socket on the tool is more than the HF sander. The speed controller and switch run about $80 together, so major repairs can easily get over $150 and then it’s pretty close to just getting a new one. If you got by with a 2-speed Sears sander, you’ll like the HF variable one better. If it’s the Sears 2-speed I’m familiar with, it doesn’t even fit a power pad (5/16 thread). Get the Milwaukee later, and keep the HF for dirty jobs like grinding down fin boxes, making fins, and repairs.
Gold.
It is good to be able to get advise from the experienced without having to gain the knowledge the hard way. My HF has made it through more than 20 boards and still going strong. When I can spare the cash, l will get the upgrade,
…I mentioned the Makita 2 speed, because possible is cheaper than the multi speed and have the right weight. Also, because you said that you had a 2 speed old sander.
You do not need the variable speed, you need good sanding techniques and certain weight that the lighter tools do not carry on.
All the sanding and polishing are done with low/mid speed not low/low or mid/high.
Triggering is one of the techniques.
Makita is available all over the globe, Milwaukee does not.
But 300 bucks or like that is nothing in USA and for a good tool that if you only sand few boards per year, it will last forever without even change the brushes.
Keep your eyes open. I just scored a really nice used DeWalt DWP849 for $15 last week. My father is an auction nut and he has come through on many occasions including a pristeen Skil 100 for $20, Greg Noll Hawaiian Nollrider for $75 that I sold for $1,000 and a Green Waveset Fin for $2 that I sold for $75 along with a half dozen other surfboards along the way. He keeps his eyes out for anything surfing related for me.
Gotta say though that the $37 vaiable speed Harbor Freight sander has served me well. I’d buy another one in a heartbeat when the one I have dies.
You can buy a router speed control for $35 and any sander you buy becomes variable speed. You do lose the convenience of thumb control but they work great.
I like Milwaukees v/s sander /polisher. Makita is great also with the side handle. I bought a Harbour freight at auction for $10 and it would be fine for backyard non production.
I think the Milwaukee with the removable cord is a bad move. they suck.Also It’s the bigger sander that you dont need.
I see Milwaukees at pawn shops quite often as they are also the choice of body shops and serious car detailers.
my two cents
lastly…those old porter cable half sheet vibrator sanders are unreal for getting the lap lines flat. they have a stiff base and work kinda like hand blocking. Expensive though.
Thanks again everyone, didn’t know the Milwaukee had issues. I’m surprised, usually everyone says don’t cheap out on your tools. Looks like I’ll go down to HF and pick one up from there. I have an autobody DA but my compressor isn’t great at powering it. I also have one of those half sheet sanders and they do work well for flats sanding.
The issues with a Milwaukee are what we put up with to use a tool that gets the job done. Having said that; I have been buying two Makitas to one Milwaukee over the last ten years. Makita-------- Variable speed, thumb dial, lighter weight, soft start, goes longer before it starts giving you trouble. Lowel
Bought a new Milwaukee 5540 about a year ago the cord is not removable.
It's got a number of new boards and a couple of vintage restores on it and with all the pads out there you can get around glassed in fins better than ever. haven't tryed shaping with it yet.
When it was time to get a new one I was sick of troddle and coast.
Spendy but damn good.
I have had a run of trouble with my HF sanders. They are from different lots but from appearances seem to be the same units. For lack of better names I call them #1 and #2, like the ‘Things’ from Dr Seuss.
#1 has been around 3-4 years and has gotten me through 10 boards. Some of the boards were normal sized, but the list also includes a couple 12’-6" SUP’s and a 13’-9" Blake where the sander was used for fairing wood.
I took #1 out to sand board #11 and it was making a racket from the gear head. I called HF and was told there are no replacement parts to be had except brushes, which they include in the box. I took it into work and we pulled and replaced the main bearing, a common size. I went to reassemble it and one of the machine screws stripped. There is still play in the spindle, even after the bearing change. My guess is that the bearing cup is wallowed. Ir runs quieter but I can see it wearing quicker from the missing screw and loose bearing.
#2 was a couple years newer and ‘new in the box’, the backup for #1 since HF is a 50 mile drive one-way. #1 came with disks and a bonnet along with the backer, #2 shipped with less accessories. No worries since I have accessories. So when #1 acted up I got out #2. I sanded fill coat (or was it gloss coat? I can’t remember, board sot for a while…) on the 11-footer. The trigger seemed stiff and did not always engage. I got through the board in 30 degree (F) weather in the driveway and put things away. I went to grind the flash off a molded fin base a couple days ago and it would not fire at all. Muttering, grabbed #1 -missing screw and wallowed cup-and got the 10 second job done. Decided to dismantle #2 to see if switch was dirty. Switch was fine, found one motor wire broke at the Alu jumper to the speed control and the other one missing insulation, probably a pinch at assembly. I replaced the broken Alu wire with copper and the brass clip with solder. I also taped the one wire missing insulation and it fired right up. Ran the speed control all the way up and it coughed out a cloud of epoxy.
Moral to the story? Maybe none, but my observations are such:
The HF sander/polisher is a deal when it’s 30$US with the coupon,
test them before you lose the receipt,
and don’t expect much more than 10 boards.
I am including some pics. Don’t try to fix electrical stuff unless you are familiar and comfortable doing so and remember to UNPLUG stuff before picking up the screwdriver. There is precious little keeping the 110VAC from you when this thing is apart.
Anyone have experience with the DeWalt DWP849X ?
https://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DWP849X-7-Inch-Variable-Polisher/dp/B004W1WGIC
My main sander is just an older version of that Dewalt. I got mine used 4 years ago for $15 and it is still going strong. Only problem I’ve had with it was a bad connector inside the handle that was arcing and losing contact intermittently.
On my Harbor Freight sander I’ve had to clean the switch and speed control a couple of times but other than that I have gotten more than my money’s worth out of it. Mine is the orange one. Got it 6 or 7 years ago and I’ve done a lot with it between board building and boat work.
We have 6 of those dewalts. Each went over a year before any real maintenance needed to be done.
A couple of the shapers use them too.