Good review and logic, Dan. Don't pay for more quality than you need.

 

I may have to take a closer look at one of these. I can think of a couple of times something like this would have come in handy.

 

I've walked by these many times. maybe I'll need to look a little closer. I use a workbench top 42 X 1" belt sander and I've gotten my money worth out of it. 35 years and still going. A Craftsman. But all it is is a motor with a power drive wheel and 2 idler wheels, that you need to lubricate every so often.

 

I feel the exactly the same about harbor freight. If your not going to be useing it on a daily busness or for long periods of time, why bother buying a really expensive tool? I also figure if something goes wrong with a harbor freight tool (for instance my small benchtop drill press that I got for 32 dollars) I'll just buy a new one, and that will still cost less than the expesnsive tool.

 

They are great for sharpening he curved blade like the type used on a mulching power mower.
I had used a Dremel to do that but watched a service tech at a mover shop use one. He did
it in a fraction of the time it took me with a Dremel. I did not know that you could get one at this price.
is the belt a 1/2 X 18

 

Thanks for the review Dan - I agree with you and others. Harbor Freight has cheap tools, but having said that their tools do have a place in my shop. For a tool that I will rarely use for a project - Harbor Freight has some good choices, like this sander and someone reviewed a stapler a couple of weeks ago. Why pay top dollar for something that will be seldom used.

 

While I haven't followed that throw away tool philosophy, I can see the point. I often pass tools on a shelf that get used once every five years, and I have to wonder why I bought the deluxe kit.

Maybe I should change my evil ways. (and save the money)

Lee

 

Thanks for the review. Is the belt easy to change?

 

I've got one to Dan, it works great for me. You just have to watch taking off too much material while using it. But it's a miracle machine for tight corners. If I were to rate it I'd give it 5 stars. mike

 

Good review Dan. I will have to take a close look at one.

 

rikkor
as I recall the belts are easy to change and cheap too,... if you get them from Harbor Freight … around 5 bucks for a bag. for me the bag will probably last for years.
regards

 

i agree. Harbor Freight is good for things that you don't use a ton. that is why when i build my drum sander i'm buying a motor from Harbor Freight. Thanks for the review.

 

Good review, Dan. The price certainly is right.

 

I bought a grinder that looks somewhat like the motor housing on this tool and the back plastic came loose from the yellow/orange plastic. It wouldn't stay there until the 1001 use of Duck Tape came into play.

It is now holding steady. Still a great bargain. I think I paid less than $15.00 in the store.

 

I used one when I worked at Panlmatic in Elk Grove Village, IL on control panel cabinet cut outs. It worked great. It would remove burrs in seconds. I'm sure it would remove wood even faster. I would like one in my small garage shop as well and for 35 dollars its worth the money. Thanks for remining me of its usefulness.

 

I've chimed in a few times concerning Harbor Freight. Hit and miss, is my experience. I've gotten a few tools that I feel very satisfied with and just as many that turned out to be simply cheap. I've picked that one up a couple times. I might have to wait for it to come around on sale next time. Never takes long there. If you're interested, I've had good luck with their upright 2HP Dust Collector, 6" Digital Caliper, and many shop accessories. Some that weren't so great were the trim router, pipe clamp hardware, roller stand, and anything that requires a battery! Thanks for the post.

 

Hello Jeff
Totally agree. Can't recommend some of the Harbor Freight tools I bought. The trim router mail ordered about 6 years ago eventually became un-useable. It had a crazy-loud motor and and flimsey attachments. Plastic base eventually broke beyound repair. Stilll got the motor.

My two-year-old, 19 dollar, 3/8" electric drill, is on my bench and is my primary user for a small bits.

The $89 dollar 12inch disc sander only lasted about two years. The Delta replacement lasted about as long before it quit.

Harbor Freight squeeze clamps are not too good either … other then their cheap price.

 

I buy my light bulbs for my work lights and a few other things there. I have a Makita bandfile sander. I need a good one though to shape glass in hard to get at spots. I can say I've worn out a bunch of their tools. Nothing is more frustrating than being 15 stories up on a highrise building and having one of their tools blow out on ya. For that reason and others I usually buy the very best hand or power tools money can buy. Plus if you show up on a union commercial site with one people will telll you it's "cute" and then you will hear heads up below! LOL
Just the way I was raised I guess, My Dad is rolling in his grave right now… LOL He didn't like it when I took a corporate job doing inbound overseas cargo shipping either!

 

If I made my living with my wood working tools, I'm sure I would have the best I can afford. Not that all of my tools are cheap. My table Dewalt woodworkers table saw cost too much to brag about.
when I was looking for a bandfile, if I remember correctly the next least expensive version was over 200 bucks.
I must say, I do own the Proxxon version of this tool. I'm completely thrilled with that little thing. FIVE stars for everything, except the cost of the sanding belts, but that is another review….

 

I've purchased two of these and returned both. The batch here in Austin seems to have been delivered without a bearing for the rubber bushing at the tip. The first one started smoking with less than a minute of use so I returned it. The second did the same thing so I tried to take it apart to see what was wrong with the design. I ran it for a couple of minutes more before returning it. It just felt like it was going to catch on fire. If there was a way I could have machined a bearing / bushing or something that would lead me to believe it could get any use of it at all I would have kept it, especially considering the next closest in price is $200+++. It has been several months now and I'm considering going back to try again after reading this review. ...or considering the number of hours I've spent driving back and forth, maybe I should just drop the $240 it is looking like for another model.

 

I swear by my HF bandfile and use it in many different woodworking and metal working applications. It's a little noisy like a lot of HF tools but for the # of times I use it and the cheap price you can't go wrong! And unlike some of the uppity reviewers - I don't care who knows about it! Just yesterday was ready to remove 2 blades in my riding mower for sharpening. Then I thought - maybe I can sharpen the blades w/o removing them. Sure enough, sharpened both blades in about 10 minutes. Saved myself about an hour! Buy it and don't look back. You won't be sorry!
John Z

 

Well I've been a big fan of the HF grinders, but this thing is exactly as the original poster said a piece of crap.

The end roller started smoking in 30 seconds, it has no bearing.

But during that 30 seconds I saw how useful this tool can be…now to return it and buy a better one or fix it with a real roller…hmmmmmm