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Thread: Power Sanding - what is your favorite drill?

  1. #1
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    Jul 2016
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    Power Sanding - what is your favorite drill?

    I'm using an inexpensive Black and Decker drill to power sand with. It has a keyless chuck but it requires two hands to use. I would prefer a keyless chuck like the one that is on my cordless drill that requires only one had to tighten and loosen. I'm curious as to what you guys use to power sand with and your feedback on it.

  2. #2
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    May 2014
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    Winchester, IN
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    Cheap Harbor Freight drill. I think I got it on sale for under $10 and it has served me well. I'm guessing over 200 bowls sanded to date.

  3. #3
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    Jan 2008
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    Chicago Heights, Il.
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    I sand a lot. My hearing is already bad and the noise of a drill can be a contributing factor. I also have experienced soreness in my thumb joint when the drill is rotating against it. I have two Milwaukee close quarter drills. I bought them because all the gears are metal and now the bearings are in a metal frame. Most cheap drills have plastic gears and the rear bearing is housed in plastic. If you don’t abuse them they will work. I do some good size bowls so sanding can take awhile.
    Member Illiana Woodturners

  4. #4
    Interesting timing. My Neiko close quarter drill bought in 2010 just died and after researching the creek for recommendations, the Neiko and the Harbor Freight - https://m.harborfreight.com/38-in-va...not%20provided were the two most recommended so yesterday I bought the HF with a 20% coupon at $24. The keyless version is a bit
    more money, but I prefer the keyed model.

    I don’t power sand a lot - usually only open bowls and most of those are ogee. The Neiko gave me many years of service, but I thought I would try the HF. One can find the Neiko for $35-40.

    I did take apart my Neiko to see if it could be revived and it does have metal gears. I don’t know about the newer models.

    While there are those that recommended the higher end tools ($100+), there wasn’t much consistency of them outlasting the cheaper alternatives and certainly not 3-4 times as long. As to Bob’s concerns, they may be quieter, but I have no experience with the high end drills.
    Last edited by John Keeton; 12-19-2017 at 1:49 PM.

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  5. #5
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    Oct 2008
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    Kapolei Hawaii
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    I use my brushless Dewalt cordless. I'm thinking the dust I create won't harm it...... The new LiIon batteries charge faster than you can use them so having the drill unavailable is no longer a problem.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2017
    Location
    Northern Illinois
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    I’m a beginner but the Harbor Freight right angle VS was recommended by the instructor of a turning class I took. It works great. I wasn’t able to get it quite as cheap as others at the time but it still was about $35. I have not been sorry I bought it so far.

  7. #7
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    Jan 2010
    Location
    Midland, MI
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    168
    Another vote for the Harbor Freight right angle drill.

    I bought one about 6 years ago and it's still going strong after sanding well over 100 bowls. I bought another one to have a back up. One has a keyed chuck, the other a keyless chuck. I greatly prefer the keyless chuck. I haven't had any trouble with the sanding mandrel slipping in the keyless chuck. There isn't, or at least shouldn't be, much torque involved when sanding to require a super tight grip in the chuck.

  8. #8
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    Feb 2008
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    E TN, near Knoxville
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    12,298

    Ros

    Quote Originally Posted by David Smith View Post
    I'm using an inexpensive Black and Decker drill to power sand with. It has a keyless chuck but it requires two hands to use. I would prefer a keyless chuck like the one that is on my cordless drill that requires only one had to tighten and loosen. I'm curious as to what you guys use to power sand with and your feedback on it.
    David,

    I have and used to get a lot of use from the Milwaukee close quarters drill - easy to hold and control. Will last forever if you keep the dust cleaned out of the inside.

    However, I haven't had it out of the drawer for several years now. After hearing about it from Rudy Lopez I switched to a Grex random orbital sander. It takes the same sanding disks but is far superior to a rotating drill for several reasons - one it is much smaller and lighter weight and even easier to control. Two, makes a better scratch pattern than a rotating pad. Three, it works very well at a slow speed, much gentler, much less dust. Between the Grex and the hand scrapers I can sand with much finer paper. The platter I'm finishing now needed nothing coarser than 220 paper. I have mandrel and pads for 1" disks too plus long extensions that will reach to the bottom of a deep turning.

    The down side: it needs an air compressor. I don't know the minimum (I have a pretty healthy compressor) but I do know it will operate at the slower speed I like with fairly low pressure. I ran it at about 40 psi the other day as a test. I plumbed air through my shop and have an outlet next to the lathe so it's handy.

    grex_ROS.jpg

    Also, it is not exactly cheap.

    I also use an inexpensive random orbital palm sander I bought from Ken Rizza. I use it for larger surfaces. It does use more air than the Grex.

    JKJ

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    McMinnville, Tennessee
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    1,040
    I use the same HF drill John Keeton posted a link to and have used it a lot over the past 5 or 6 years. Still works like new.
    Sid Matheny
    McMinnville, TN

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    lufkin tx
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    A 3/8" corded drill with a 6" disc does most of my outside bowl and vase sanding on the lathe.. Inside the same drill with a 10" extension and 3" pad are helped by several HF air grinders with 2" pads. The corded drills give higher RPM's which I like. Still using a 15 year old Hitachi by the way.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
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    Lummi Island, WA
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    I’ve been using the cheaper HF close quarter drill posted by John Keaton for several years. Used to use the more expensive (by $10) HF close quarter drill because it had a keyless chuck. Problem is, $10 doesn’t buy a better drill. I’d pay for the extended warranty and just turn them in when they died for a new one.
    The cheaper version has well outlasted it. I tend to sand at slow speed - both the lathe and the drill. everything, including the discs last a lot longer and it doesn’t seem to add to the time required to sand even larger bowls. The keyless chuck isn’t really important to me, I haven’t changed the backing pad/adapter since I put it on.
    Getting a good cut and sheer scraping any problem spots before sanding reduces the time spent going through the grits...
    Last edited by Jeffrey J Smith; 12-19-2017 at 6:48 PM.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Asheboro,NC
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    133
    I have used the HF right angle drill motor for quite a while with no issues. At the time of purchase I bought a two year extended warranty, but the drill has out-lasted the warranty and still going strong.

    Jay Mullins

  13. I got 2 new HF right angle drills back in September. My previous one started making a good bit of noise after 3 years of heavy usage, and I took it apart, used high temp grease to lubricate the gears, and put it back together....the grease helped it, but I gave it to a beginner just getting into turning. I was actually quite surprised at the hardened metal gears, and other components that were pretty substantial for such an affordable [cheap ] tool. At any rate, I also got the two year extended warranty on the two new ones, and got a 25% off coupon to use, so I did pretty well. My old one was blue, the new ones are burgundy in color, and are the keyless chuck types [magnesium models]
    Remember, in a moments time, everything can change!

    Vision - not just seeing what is, but seeing what can be!




  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    Spokane, WA
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    236
    Thanks for the input. It seems that the HF close quarter drill is very popular and I'll take a look at it the next time I'm in town. My Black and Decker is still going strong but its big and sometimes inconvenient to hold.

    JKJ, thanks for the info the pneumatic sander. The specs state it needs 8cfm, my compressor is rated at 2.4cfm which is probably fine for slow speed sanding. But my compressor is quite small and would probably have to cycle quite frequently. I do though like the idea of an orbital sander. Just a note, the Kobalt Quiet Tech 4.3 gallon compressor is very quiet. I have a small 12 x 16 shop and most times I can't hear it running. I would highly recommend it for someone looking for a small compressor.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Erie, PA
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    564
    For $8 more I'd go with the one with the Magnesium gear housing and rear drill plate. Plus a keyless chuck. I have had the precursor to the current one for over 8 years and it is still running like brand new.

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