My harbor freight oscillating drum sander review

Mike McCann sent me a coupon and I was able to get the sander for $84 total with tax. (They wouldn't let me use 2 coupons though.

I used it to sand all the contours of the 2 rocking chairs I made. The wood was all pt 2x4's so it wasn't too hard but was very pitchy. Every part got sander and re shaped so I put it through a pretty good test.

The sander worked great. Believe it or not it has plenty of power if you really need to bear down on it. It spins at about 2000 rpm which is fast enough.

It could use a bigger dust collection port but the dust collection does work. I used it without my collector on for a few minutes and the dust piled up real quick so the dust port helps a lot (off course)

The stroke is only 5/8 of an inch but that didn't seem to bother me though I'm sure an inch would be better.

The 80 grit sanding sleeve really lasts. works even with all that pitch on it. If I clean it it still has a lot of work left on it.

I do not like the way the extra sanding sleeves are stored. They need to be on the side, not the back

Over all it is a great tool. I have one of there 5" orbit sanders that I use on all kinds of things in and out of my shop so it gets a lot of use and is still going strong after wearing out boxes and boxes of 25 cnt sheets( 5 years now) and I expect to see the same longevity out of the drum sander.

I would buy it even if I didn't have the coupon. Its worth at least $150. Any more than that and I'd get the ridged with the belt attachment.

really good tool.

I have a Ryobi OSS that retailed for $89 new but has since been discontinued. It looks just like the one you pictured from HF. I have to say that it's probably the best power tool acquisition I've ever made in terms of value. Like your HF model, it works great and I use it on most every project I build.

I also have the Ryobi. They look similar but the Ryobi has a much larger table.

Also looks like the Triton brand that gets good reviews.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA280_.jpg

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Originally Posted by Dave Lehnert

Also looks like the Triton brand that gets good reviews.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA280_.jpg

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I think the triton is a dead ringer except for the color. They didn't even try to hide that. At least the ryobi had a slightly different base.

I have an older Ryobi sander at home that hasn't been used a lot. It would be broken down if it had been. We had one at work,and the very THIN little drive belt broke pretty soon. Ryobi was sending a free new belt at that time which was a bother to have to install. I never got around to sending for one for my sander.I'm waiting for it to die.

I think Ryobi machines have no guts to them,and will not buy another Ryobi product.

I read on the internet that the Bearings swear out petty quick. Is this true or has it not been long enough to know? I want one but am cautious of these things. Roger.

Thanks for the review, it looks good. I have been using a Craftsman OSS for about 8 years now that I bought NOS on eBay and it must have a few hundred hours on it by now. I bought it because it has a bigger table, but a lot of my jobs don't need a big table anyway. Eventually I know I'll have to replace it, but I hope it'll keep going for a while yet.
Zach

I have one of those sanders branded for a big box store. I agree it's a good tool. However I used it hard on the job I bought it for and the 2 drive belts wore out. I was able to get numbers off the belts, buy new ones on ebay and in 15 minutes put it back together.

Well, you read it on the internet so it has to be true.

You have to assume things like bearings wear out (and you will swear out) on HF stuff. Still, it will likely work for a long enough time, especially for a hobbies, to make it work the money.

Oh, and this thread is 8 years old.

I had one of those (I think mine was a Ryobi) for a number of years. It worked fine and I never had any problems with it, and ended up giving it to my neighbor when I got my Grizzly G1071 floor model OSS.

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Originally Posted by Dave Cav

I had one of those (I think mine was a Ryobi) for a number of years. It worked fine and I never had any problems with it, and ended up giving it to my neighbor when I got my Grizzly G1071 floor model OSS.

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The G1071 is a MUCH better sander. It is the descendant of the famous Max spindle sander, which is generally considered to be one of the best small spindle sanders out there. I have a similar unit (either a Max OVS or Jet's first clone of one, I am not sure as my sander has no labels at all) and it is a very nice sander. I actually have some Grizzly G1071 parts in mine, and they fit perfectly, so it's essentially the same unit.

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Originally Posted by Phillip Gregory

The G1071 is a MUCH better sander. It is the descendant of the famous Max spindle sander, which is generally considered to be one of the best small spindle sanders out there. I have a similar unit (either a Max OVS or Jet's first clone of one, I am not sure as my sander has no labels at all) and it is a very nice sander. I actually have some Grizzly G1071 parts in mine, and they fit perfectly, so it's essentially the same unit.

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Oh, yeah. I got it about three or four years from an elderly cabinetmaker who was closing up his shop. It's from the '90s and was in perfect shape; all I did was put a new plug on it and rewire it for 220 and put it to work. It came with ALL the rubber arbors and shafts. I also bought about 20 sets of carbide shaper cutters from him. It was probably my best used tool score ever. The best thing about it is, unlike the old Arn OSS, you can still get arbors and shafts for it relatively cheaply, in addition to any other parts you might need.

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Originally Posted by Matt Day

Oh, and this thread is 8 years old.

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I was going to comment on the resurrection as well; however, Roger might be thinking nine years is a reasonable time to check back about the bearings.