Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[John_Mc]

Has anyone used this Harbor Freight Belt/Disc sander? At $70, the price is right, especially if I order while the 25% off coupon is still good. This is for my wife, who does some woodworking, but is not good at "tweaking" or dialing in tools to get them to perform at their best. From reading some of the reviews, I'm concerned that this tool is probably not the one for her, but I thought I'd check here to see what your experiences have been.

 

[IslandTractor]

Has anyone used this Harbor Freight Belt/Disc sander? At $70, the price is right, especially if I order while the 25% off coupon is still good. This is for my wife, who does some woodworking, but is not good at "tweaking" or dialing in tools to get them to perform at their best. From reading some of the reviews, I'm concerned that this tool is probably not the one for her, but I thought I'd check here to see what your experiences have been.

I haven't used that one but do own the 1" belt sander sibling tool. It works fine after some rejiggering of rollers and belt to get things lined up properly. Not a high quality tool but certainly good bang for the buck.

 

[bcp]

Has anyone used this Harbor Freight Belt/Disc sander? At $70, the price is right, especially if I order while the 25% off coupon is still good. This is for my wife, who does some woodworking, but is not good at "tweaking" or dialing in tools to get them to perform at their best. From reading some of the reviews, I'm concerned that this tool is probably not the one for her, but I thought I'd check here to see what your experiences have been.

Isn't that the one where the shield around the disc sticks out farther than the sandpaper, preventing sanding wood longer than the disc diameter?

Bruce

 

[hutchman]

This is the wide 50 Cal box. Real metal and real rubber seal. I about cleaned them out:

 

[lomita]

Has anyone used this Harbor Freight Belt/Disc sander? At $70, the price is right, especially if I order while the 25% off coupon is still good. This is for my wife, who does some woodworking, but is not good at "tweaking" or dialing in tools to get them to perform at their best. From reading some of the reviews, I'm concerned that this tool is probably not the one for her, but I thought I'd check here to see what your experiences have been.

I have had one for years and although it is not a high end tool it works very well. Ive sanded wood and metal with good results. It's just a sander, it is a good value especially with the 25% discount. GO FOR IT.

 

[txndncowboy]

I've never had much luck with any of their electric tools. They must use the worlds softest brushes cause that's what seems to go first. In most cases they even supply a second set so they know.

 

[California]

Has anyone used this Harbor Freight Belt/Disc sander? At $70, the price is right, especially if I order while the 25% off coupon is still good.

Isn't that the one where the shield around the disc sticks out farther than the sandpaper, preventing sanding wood longer than the disc diameter?

I'm the one who posted a review a few pages back in this thread describing that problem. Yes the manufacture was so cheap and sloppy that it couldn't be assembled to become a real sander. Also while the website and the carton declared 41 lbs, there was a shipping label pasted on the box declaring shipping weight of 23 lbs as I recall. It certainly felt light and flimsy.

After a couple hours trying to re-engineer it to assemble into something useful I took it back and bought a Ryobi that did weigh 40+ lbs and ran flawless right out of the box.

Some of the reviews of the HF sander said so weak he had to push the belt to get it started.

Some reviews here indicated the tool sold in the past under that description worked ok. I think HF changed suppliers without changing the model #.


In summary not many of HF's products are 'pretend' tools but this one is. Don't bother. Buy the Ryobi if you need what this one should be capable of.

 

[hutchman]

Has anyone used this Harbor Freight Belt/Disc sander? At $70, the price is right, especially if I order while the 25% off coupon is still good. This is for my wife, who does some woodworking, but is not good at "tweaking" or dialing in tools to get them to perform at their best. From reading some of the reviews, I'm concerned that this tool is probably not the one for her, but I thought I'd check here to see what your experiences have been.

I have that one. Had it for 5 yrs or so. I mainly use it for sharpening/shaping HHS bits for my lathe.

 

[rgr33]

I've had one of those belt/disc sanders for about two years. Not a woodworker, but find it handy quite often. It is a little weak on the power, and it did need some minor tinkering, but it is well worth the $54 I paid.

If money is not a factor, or you plan to use it often, I would recommend an upgrade.

 

[lostcreekranch]

I looked at the belt / disc sander several years ago and ended up buying the 12" disc sander instead. It's an excellent tool. The direct drive 12" disc is heavy so, has lots of inertia once it's up to speed. I use it primarily for wood working but, it can be used for metal work as well.

12" Benchtop Disc Sander

This was about the time Ridgid introduced their oscillating belt / spindle sander. Caught one on a super sale at Home Depot for $99.

Oscillating Edge Belt / Spindle Sander | RIDGID Professional Tools

This is one of my most used tools in my woodworking shop.