Harbor Freight belt/disc sander?

[RJD2]

Harbor Freight is currently offering their 4" x 36" belt/6" disc sander (97181) on sale for $59.99 as well as an additional 20% off with coupon. Does anyone have this model? It seems like potentially a reasonable deal for $48. Thanks.

http://www.harborfreight.com/4-inch-...der-97181.html

Ron

[JoeyGee]

I saw that in the flyer, and I think the sale price requires the coupon in the flyer, so you wouldn't be able to double up with the 20%, but I could be wrong.

[Bruce Cohen]

Just got a Hitachi 8' x 4/36 bench sander from Lowes, its on sale for $99.00. I feel that for a few dollars more, its well worth the price. Bigger disk and a real named company not some Harbor Freight tit or miss crap.

Along with both Hitachi's and Lowes reputation.. This was new in the box and it was perfect.

P.S. No Flyers and lowe's is everwhere.

Bruce

[pelligrini]

There's some recent comments on the bigger HF one here:
http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=51279

I recently got the Hitachi that Bruce mentioned from Lowes. It was a display model and I picked it up for a $50 offer. Sarge did a pretty good review of it here: http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=31397

[phrog]

some Harbor Freight tit or miss crap.


Bruce

They're selling breasts at HF now?

[herb fellows]

Well, yes, but the quality is suspect; too many 'plastic' parts.

Given a $99 price at Lowes, if you can get it for that, I would spring for the Hitachi as far as value goes. Have it, like it. If you can get the HF for $48, and the price difference means either getting one or not, I don't think you can go too far wrong for $48.

[jhart]

I have that HF model. Bought it about 8 months ago. Only used it a couple of times and worked fine for what I wanted to use it for. I would say overall the fit and finish are not super, but it works fine. I paid about $78, so at $48, I think it would be a good buy VS spending double for a "name brand". I guess it would depend on how much I planned to use it.

[Knottscott]

They're selling breasts at HF now?

The downtown location here always has!

[LCHIEN]

I'm not saying that the HF has problems, BUT I will say you can go wrong with this type of product, it's not a slam dunk.

I had a craftsman 4"x36" belt/ 6" disk sander once.
It worked OK for some time but then developed a nasty habit - the belt would wander when it warmed up a bit. So depending upon whether you adjusted the tracking for just on, or for running for about 30 seconds or more, it would run the belt off to the right or to th e left, so I ended up with ragged edged belts and was constantly fiddling with the tracking. Worse, it would tear up the belts even when trying to use the disk sander portion because of course the belt ran all the time. I never did figure out what was worn in the tracking mechanism but I knew I had to adjust it one way as soon as i turned it on and then do gradual adjustments the other way from about 15 seconds to 30-40 seconds. You couldn't use it during this time since it required continuous adjustment; if you tried to do a quickie it would tear up the edges of the belts as it ran off the rollers. Turn it off, then back on a bit later and you repeat the whole process.

So it became the most annoying piece of crap in my shop until I replaced it with the Ryobi model.

Other things that can go wrong with this tool: the adjustment of the table - it must be able to be adjusted to 90 degrees of the disk and also if it has a miter slot it has to be able to make the sot parallel to the disk. If the mounting, usually one screw knob, is not solid or not adjustable, it becomes difficult to put perpendicular and square faces on your projects.


Just trying to say, as simple as it sounds, a bad design can screw up something as simple as a belt/disk sander product.

[dvan]

I have this sander. I got it last year for $49. I used it to finish out my stations for my canoe. It does not get heavy use because I don't do any woodworking but small stuff and canoes but it seems to work fine. It is heavy and seems like it is durable and it is adjustable. I cut my stations as close to the fairing lines as I could with a jigsaw and use it to sand right to the marking lines (14 stations and two jigs) and it did the job just fine. I thought for $49 you can’t go wrong but I don’t use it constantly and because my stations are big I did not use the miter fence. I only used the disc for stations and I have used the belt a few times.

[massanutten]

I have the same model, had it for over a year - same price. Had no problems with it, works good - light to medium work. The finish will not win any beauty prises. Had it running for a long time w/o overheating. No belt wandering and easy to change disks and belts. The miter gage leaves a lot to be desired though. I have my miter locked at 90 degrees. While it can be adjusted, if I need a special angle, I cut a scrap on the table saw and use both together. Can't go wrong with this one.

[sscherin]

I have one.. it works OK.. a little under powered and the disk table mount can flex a little.

[RAV2]

First project completed - shotgun butt pad

A buddy wanted to mount a shock absorbing butt pad to a shotgun he picked up.

Perfect first job for this unit.

When I got it a month ago, I went thru it and did all of the checks/fixes recommended. Mostly just tightened the main drive belt and aligned things, as well as opened up the vacuum slot.

He thought we needed some serious floor mounted tools and when I pulled this off of the shelf, he was pleasantly surprised.

Shaping the rubber and plastic with the stock belt/disk worked great - just watched not to apply too much pressure.

What a nice unit for about $56 with sale and coupon.

NOTE ONE UPGRADE :: I bought some glide tape - high MW tape for assisting in sliding drawers, about 1" wide. I placed this under the belt surface as I noticed the belt just ran on the painted metal surface and there was already wear during my break in tests. I also think this will improve the life of cheap belts as the weak point is often the joint and I wanted to avoid anything catching on the edge of the surface. I think it helped improve the unit.

Check one out next time it goes on sale.

[lrr]

Just got a Hitachi 8' x 4/36 bench sander from Lowes, its on sale for $99.00. I feel that for a few dollars more, its well worth the price. Bigger disk and a real named company not some Harbor Freight tit or miss crap.

Along with both Hitachi's and Lowes reputation.. This was new in the box and it was perfect.

P.S. No Flyers and lowe's is everwhere.

Bruce

I realize the original post is old, but worth it to point out that when you buy at Lowes using your Lowes card, you get a 5% discount. I almost never buy from Home Depot any longer, but have bought Kreg and Bessey products at Lowes this past year, found them to have pretty reasonable prices, which is helped out a little with the 5% discount.

[sscherin]

never mind.. re posted on the same thread..