Converting 5 hole sander to 8 hole ?

[Perry Holbrook]

My old Porter Cable 333 random orbital sander recently died (well almost). I went to pick up a replacement and discovered the new models use 8 hole disc rather than the 5 hole. Upon further investigation it seems all companies have gone to 8 holes. My problem is I've got about 300 5 hole disc that I'm not willing to just throw away.

The clerk didn't know if the 5 hole pad on my old unit would fit on a new sander and couldn't find anything in a parts manual. Has anyone else been through this with a good outcome? My other option is to fix up the old one, motor still runs but it just barely spins. The drive belt is not broken and seems in OK shape but that's as far as I went.

I don't use this sander much any more, but need to get this fixed for those few times when I need it.

Thanks, Perry

[Don Bullock]

Perry, the sheets will fit, but there is no way that all the holes will line up. If you're not hooking up a dust collectuon unit or a vacuum to the sander you should be OK. I used some 5 hole sheets on my 8 hole because I didn't read the pacakge carefully. It worked out OK.

[Mike Goetzke]

Perry - I had an older 5-hole P-C. I bought a replacement pad for it and it had 5-holes but with extended slots to fit 8-hole paper. I also picked up a newer P-C VS sander from a Creeker and it also accepted both 5 & 8 hole paper. Maybe you could go to a supplier and check out the pad (otherwise send the paper to me :D ).

Mike