Home Depot sells a variable speed HITACHI that I bought 4 years ago. The variable speed function is a God send. I think I paid $140.
The expensive top brand tools are great if theyre getting mega use in production…
for a backyarder making the few boards each year, the Hitachi is hard to beat.
HTH
Thanks surfingdog! I’m currently using a Black an Decker excentric machine but it takes forever to finish a board. I’ve also got a cheap variable angled buffing machine with a big velcro pad. It’s modified so I can also use it for polishing w/ w&d sandpaper.
I did this by buying a 1/4" rubber piece to fit the velcro pad. So when I want to w&d sand I put this on and sprayglue my paper on it. The results are pretty good but it surely requires a bit o “mano”. The brand of this machine is called monza and it works the same way as an angled grinder which explaines the price (50$) and the skill when sanding. But I reckon it’s a good option if you dont want to spent to much money.
Ofcourse my major concern is dust so festo seems like a fine tool.
Howzit SA, Try this link to Amazon and check it every couple of days since the price changes all the time. I consider this the best Makita for board work and the price drops as low as $180, but right now they are $199. Aloha,Kokua
I have that same sander. Mine just came with a different accessories kit so the part number is different. I like it. The electronic speed controller works really nice. It maintains rpm under varying load.
The Makita is a great sander/polisher. I’ve got two Makitas and three Milwaukees. Triggers go a little faster on the Makitas than the Mliwaukees. What I really like about the Makita is the “soft-start” and the lighter weight. What I didn’t like was that unisex over the top plastic handle. So I took a handle off of one of my 4-inch grinders and put that on it. I still use my Milwaukees but not until the triggers go out on the Makitas.
Yah, my Makita came with both handles. I put the side handle on right away. I think it came with the “D” handle because it was part of a polishing accessory kit. That handle is probably better for detailers when they have to get strange angles on a car.
The soft start is nice. No more torquey jumps.
Yeah! The second one I bought had the acessory kit with the extra handle. Both of them are down right now, but not actually DOA. The triggers work intermittnatly(sp). I think that if I blow them out and squirt them with that electrical contact spray that “techies” use I will get a few more hours out of them before I have to replace the triggers. I am glad that others have discovered these sanders, because they really are nice.
Howzit Ryan, I have 2 also and they both came with the same extras but have different model numbers,go figure. When they first came out with the D handle those were cheaper to buy by about $75 to $100 and they were a totally different model. Aloha,Kokua
Howzit McDing, 1 of mine is 12 years old and the other is 8 years old and never had to replace the triggers only the brushes and the cord on 1. By all means blowing out the motor and the triggers will make a big difference as far as them lasting longer. I might add,never blow them with the motor running. Blow them out from the front and the back of the motor through the breather slots and hit the speed dial also. I do it before and after each sand job just to make sure they are clean. The fiberglass plays heck with the windings.Aloha,Kokua
Hi Mook, Paper for the Festool 6" sanders is about $0.43 US (80-grit, titan 2 type) from Festool. It’s good paper and holds up well. The only other type I’ve found is made by Joest (German) which is 6" and perforated on the entire surface so it fits anything. This stuff is $1.00 US per disk and I didn’t like it as much as Festool’s brand. The Joest comes is very fine grits 1000+ though. On conventional sanders with an 8" pad, I use one sheet of regular paper which costs about $0.85. If you use a 7" pad you can get two disks per sheet, so the cost is about $0.43; not much difference with Festool. You do have to buy in 50 or 100 disk packs, and the finer grits are less expensive than 80-120. Only buy the Titan 2 type from Festool, the other stuff is open coat and made for wood.
PeteC! Great info, thanks a lot. The Festool sanders are most likely the most expensive tools I know of but not much shapers/sanders seem to use it, so its good to get some feedback from people like you. Cheers,
M.
solitude,
I think you made the right choice. I’ve had the harbor freight sander for 3 years. Between me and a bud, made about ten boards. It isn’t showing any signs of quiting yet! If I were a proffesional, likely drop the three bills or whatever it is, but for a guy who build a board a month or so, can’t beat the HF. BTW, have the crappy planer too (not HF). Only wore out the drive belt smokin’ crazy EPS.
-MW