The Woodturning Forum - Woodturner's Resource

Bruce Kamp Active Member Offline WR Rocks! Posts: 230	Power sanding Dec 6^th, 2017 at 1:29pm Which is the best close quarters drill to use for power sanding? I do not want an inertia sander at the moment although I plan on trying one later. The HF models seem to wear out fast, even if I blow them out regularly. Part of the problem is that you cannot actually blow out the gears. Thanks
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George Hurlburt WR Champion Offline WR Rocks! Posts: 140 El Dorado, KS Kansas USA Gender: Robust, Vicmarc 175 and Nova DVR	Re: Power sanding Reply #1 - Dec 6^th, 2017 at 2:56pm Showing my angle drill and inertia sanders. I prefer the inertia, that trigger goes off in the drill when I least expect it.
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Ed Weber WR Administrator WR Patron Offline Posts: 8,939 Wilton California USA Gender: JET 1642 Grizzly G0584	Re: Power sanding Reply #2 - Dec 6^th, 2017 at 3:19pm Bruce, you might want to look at this thread we had a few months back. Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!! You need to or
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Mike Mills

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Re: Power sanding
Reply #3 - Dec 6^th, 2017 at 4:02pm

I believe mine is the same as George shows. I agree with the trigger/paddle; it needs to be much smaller as it is easy to set off when you don't want to. I pulled up the parts diagram but I am unable to tell if I can shorten the paddle and still have it engage the switch.
The air flow through it is pretty strong so I taped gauze over the intakes with a very light oil to catch dust before it enters. Seems to work pretty good at keeping the dust out.

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"I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity." - Edgar Allan Poe

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Bruce Kamp

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Re: Power sanding
Reply #4 - Dec 6^th, 2017 at 10:47pm

Thanks Ed. I did check the thread.
I have worn out two HF drills so far. Where they wear out is in the head where tHe gears are. Maybe I am not putting the compressed air in the right place. The gear area seems to be pretty enclosed. I can blow out the motor ok, the handle.
Interesting that some of you are following the idea of buy cheap and many times vs one expensive one.
I should probably get an inertia sander and see if that helps my HF last longer.

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Tony Rozendaal

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Delta 10x16 Mini Lathe

Re: Power sanding
Reply #5 - Dec 6^th, 2017 at 10:57pm

I have had two HF drills and this one:

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has lasted much longer than did this one:

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(although mine of this style did not have a keyless chuck)

The failure mode on the second one listed in this post, was that it began to give me a little 110v leakage. The first one listed in this post is beginning to sound a little worn, but is still running strong.

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Turnin' and learnin'

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Mike Nathal

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Re: Power sanding
Reply #6 - Dec 7^th, 2017 at 10:01am

I don't like the close quarter drills that have a 90 degree head. I think they cannot reach everywhere inside a bowls, especially deep bowls. I had two off-brand (red) ones with a 45 degree angle and they both stopped working after about a year. I decided to use my old, basic craftsman drill (standard, not close quarter) until it broke, and then decide on a new one to buy. Trouble is,after 3 years it's still working! The standard drills work better than the 90 degree close quarter drills for my useage.

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Ed Weber

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Re: Power sanding
Reply #7 - Dec 7^th, 2017 at 11:46am

Bruce Kamp wrote on Dec 6^th, 2017 at 10:47pm:

I have worn out two HF drills so far. Where they wear out is in the head where tHe gears are

I know, I've disassembled and lubricated them a time or two before eventual detonation.
IMO
The main issue as I see it are the close quarter "drills" are just that, "drills" NOT sanders. Drills are not designed/engineered to be used as sanders.
There is no need/expense to enclose and seal the gear housing, bearings and switches in most drilling operations. This means that the more expensive "drills" are just as susceptible to sanding contamination and wear as the less expensive units.
While there is no debate over initial quality of the Milwaukee unit over the HF, each one has a limited life span which is drastically reduced by using as a sander instead of it's intended purpose.
Small close quarters (electric) sanders are difficult to find.
Until there is a dedicated 2"-3" sander for woodturners, I consider my HF unit like nitrile gloves, sandpaper, rags or any other disposable shop item.

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Bruce Kamp Active Member Offline WR Rocks! Posts: 230	Re: Power sanding Reply #8 - Dec 7^th, 2017 at 12:25pm The extended warranty on the HF costs about $10. With the 20% off coupon plus the $10 I have a sander that is warranted for two years for $40. Given what Ed says, that seems like a decent deal.
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robo_hippy

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Re: Power sanding
Reply #9 - Dec 7^th, 2017 at 1:05pm

What wears out on the drills are the bearings, most of the time, some times the actual plastic case fails, and the trigger goes some times too. Just about all of this is related to us using them as grinders and not drills. The habit of blowing them out may help a little, but I haven't done it in some years now. The air circulating through by the motor fan does a fair job. To get longer life out of them, run at slow speeds, half speed max, and most of the time I am less than that. The abrasives actually cut faster at the slower speeds, which as near as I can tell is a 'traction' thing. Too fast and the cutting edges of the abrasives spin out and don't get a chance to dig in and cut. Very light pressure is also a life extender. You don't need any more pressure than the weight of the drill. Some day I will look into getting a heavy duty flex shaft system with a 1 hp motor that should be able to run discs up to 5 or 6 inches...... The Fordham (spell???) set up is just barely enough for 3 inch discs, and probably not enough for production work. Now a Milwaukee Hole Hog would be nice if it wasn't so heavy...

robo hippy

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Chris Gunsolley

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Powermatic 3520B

Arbortech Contour Random Sander?
Reply #10 - Dec 7^th, 2017 at 1:31pm

I've been curious about the Arbortech Contour Random Sander for a while. It is a random orbit sander with discs that are 2" in diameter, and it attaches to (and extends 2.5" out from) an angle grinder.:

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Amazon sells them here:

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And, Treeline sells them here:

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It appears to me that the main weakness is that the sanding discs attach with an adhesive pad (instead of hook-and-loop), and some customers have complained about the adhesive being too weak. There are probably ways around that... If this thing took hook-and-loop discs, I would have been all over it a long time ago. My other concern it whether 2.5" is enough of an extension to get to the bottom of a deep bowl. Maybe it is...

As for the bearings wearing out, at Home Depot, you can get a 2-year warranty on many power tools including angle grinders and drills for about $12 that doesn't start until the manufacturer's warranty ends. I was able to do that with my Milwaukee angle grinder and my cordless Ryobi 90-degree drill. If the bearings go out, they'll give you a new one. Problem solved.

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« Last Edit: Dec 7^th, 2017 at 2:04pm by Chris Gunsolley »

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Glenn Jacobs WR Addict Offline JC L&S Posts: 2,077 North DFW, Texas Texas USA Gender: Powermatic 3520C	Re: Power sanding Reply #11 - Dec 7^th, 2017 at 2:04pm I bought my angled drill from Vince several years ago. Looks ugly now but still spins. Glenn J.
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Mike Nathal Active Member Offline WR Rocks! Posts: 232 Strongsville Ohio USA	Re: Power sanding Reply #12 - Dec 8^th, 2017 at 8:56am Regarding the Arbortech Contour Random Sander, there is a provision for using your own non-PSA sandpaper
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robo_hippy

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Re: Power sanding
Reply #13 - Dec 8^th, 2017 at 1:12pm

PSA abrasive discs quality can vary. One problem with all of the adhesives is that they loosen up when they get warm (too fast and/or too hard), or if there is any dust at all any where near them. If you just use the disc till it is dull and then switch to a new one, then not much of a problem, and some can go dull very quickly. If you switch out discs before they go dull, you pretty much need a different interface pad for each grit. That is probably the main reason the hook and loop is more popular.

robo hippy

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