Is this sander any good???

[Harold Burrell]

Anybody own this? Is it any good?

http://www.harborfreight.com/4-inch-x-36-inch-belt-6-inch-disc-sander-93981.html

I have a coupon for $49.99 and I will be in a town today that has a HF...

Thanks.

[Will Overton]

I have one that is 20 years old. In that time I probably have only used it a handful of times. It is way under powered, but the tracking adjustment works well and the belts track fine.

Believe it or not, I actually dusted it off last night to trim a couple of very small drawers for the interior of the drop front desk I'm building. It started right up and got the job done, sanding poplar. The belts were as old as the machine, and in the ten minutes I ran the machine I went through 5 belts. That was not the machine's fault. ;)

At the same time I bought mine, a friend of mine got one. He used it twice an it quit. He threw it out rather than mail it back.

If you look on the right side of the bottom shelf, you might notice it's grey, not green. From the HF image, that appears to be the only difference.

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd75/Bill_de/dovetail-uncovered.jpg?t=1280845629

[Harold Burrell]

I have one that is 20 years old. In that time I probably have only used it a handful of times. It is way under powered, but the tracking adjustment works well and the belts track fine.

Believe it or not, I actually dusted it off last night to trim a couple of very small drawers for the interior of the drop front desk I'm building. It started right up and got the job done, sanding poplar. The belts were as old as the machine, and in the ten minutes I ran the machine I went through 5 belts. That was not the machine's fault. ;)

At the same time I bought mine, a friend of mine got one. He used it twice an it quit. He threw it out rather than mail it back.

If you look on the right side of the bottom shelf, you might notice it's grey, not green. From the HF image, that appears to be the only difference.

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd75/Bill_de/dovetail-uncovered.jpg?t=1280845629

Thanks for the reply.

BTW...your shop is too clean. ;)

[scott spencer]

My first bench sander was a very similar version from Homier, for $49. It was a little sloppy, but it did the job and is still in service at a friend's shop. It's probably 8 or 9 years old by now. I wouldn't pay $80 for it.

[Marty Paulus]

I have used a similar one. Jet I believe was the brand name on it. Even that one was underpowered in my opinion. However once I learned that it is not for hogging off stock and backed off my feed rate and pressure and let the tool do the work (imagine that!) it worked fine. At 1/2 hp and decent belts/discs it may be worth the $50.

However I would think that http://www.harborfreight.com/12-inch-direct-drive-bench-top-disc-sander-43468.html would be more useful if you could knock a few $$ off the cost.

[Callan Campbell]

I have a similar one from Ryobi, same HP as the Harbor Freight model you listed. If you're careful with your expectations, don't try to hog material off like others have also talked about, for me; they work great for lots of smaller jobs instead of using my larger 6 x 48" belt Grizzly or like minded tool. In others words, with a 3/4motor, you're not talking lots of power, but decent for the size machine and belt that it comes with. Plus 1 on belt quality, a better or best belt will wake up lots of these machines versus using cheaper belts, as long as the tracking devices work on whatever machine you get. I paid a bit more for my Ryobi than the stock price HF is advertising for their model, but with your coupon, I don't see how you can lose for getting it at a even lower price.
Worst case, you put it up for sale shortly after getting it, AND make some money maybe on the resale if needed or if possible. :cool:

[John Mark Lane]

I picked up one of these recently and was impressed with the overal quality for the price:

http://www.rikontools.com/productpage_50-110.htm

I've seen a lot of crappy cheap sanders, and this one is a cut above but still inexpensive. Just FYI.

[Gene Thayer]

I have a Delta branded sander just about like the one you're talking about, and I'd hazard a guess that it's made in the same factory in China as most of the tools like it, but branded Delta, Hitachi, Rikon, etc.(selling for $90 - $120) The Delta I have is a good little tool for its intended purpose, namely light-duty hobbyist work. For the price of the HF, you can't really go wrong.

[Terry Welty]

I have a similar one from Craftsman that I've had for a long time. Bought a Ridgid Oscillating Sander. Works incredibly well... Night and Day difference with a ton more utility than the one you're looking at... But it's $200... but you won't be sorry!!

[Mike Harrison]

I also have had thishttp://www.harborfreight.com/12-inch-direct-drive-bench-top-disc-sander-43468.html for a couple years now and its worth every penny. I got mine with a coupon for $89 as I remember.