REVIEW "Harbor Freight Belt Sander"
Dec 25, 2011 18:29:32 GMT
Post by Lonely Wolf Forge on Dec 25, 2011 18:29:32 GMT
I'm going to do a review of my newly recieved Harbor Freight 1X30 Belt Sander, made famous by fellow forumite Tom K.
www.harborfreight.com/1-inch-x-3 ... -2485.html
Shipping was fast, took maybe a week, and it came well packaged...lots and lots of Styrofoam
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS- Its pretty small and portable, which is awesome, this thing is not really much bigger than a typical bench sized wheel grinder, weighs about 8-10 pounds id say. Its exactly the perfect size for what i was looking for. It came already assembled, all i had to do was attach the detachable metal plate/guard thing, that is also adjustable up to 45* for angle. The way it adjusts and attaches is kinda cheaply done honestly, it has a little...spring screw thing that you use to kinda ratchet it tight, whilst trying to work it i snapped off the plastic handle, but to my surprise...it actually made it better, now i just twist it with a pair of pliers and dont have to mess with the poorly designed setup. So that was a Plus for me :lol:
The sander comes with one belt, fairly low grit, best used for reshaping geometry, be careful though because this thing removed metal FAST. Its best to not press hard and let the sander do all the work. In 30 minutes i sharpened up 3 knives and my tinker viking, with a few passes all my knives went from cant rip through paper to, slices right through paper sharp. I had a harder time doing the tinker sword, but i blame bad technique, not the machine, after playing with it for an hour, i can see how with some progressive finer grit belts, and a stropping belt you can achieve the legendary Tom K sharpness, i only put one idiot mark on the blade that wont be buffed out, but had i taken the time to really practice up i think i can put an edge on a sword without affecting the polish at all, or very minimal, this sander is pretty bad ass. Im gonna go to home depot later today and pick up some finer belts and try to pop some hair with my viking sword. This thing did in 5 minutes what it took me 10+ hours to do with sandpaper and files. For 40$ this cant be beat, i wasted more $ than that on sandpaper and sharpening doodads.
PRO'S
Wicked fast sharpening and geometry reworking
Portable and easy to use, can be set up literally anywhere theres an outlet.
Easy to swap out belts, turn one screw, pop the side off swap the belt, and screw it back on and your set
40 dollars!
Fast shipping
CON'S
Tightening handle is a cheap shoddy and not so well thought out construction, broke within 5 minutes(was a pro for me since now i can use pliars)
Can't change the speed of the belt, it would be nice to have a slower setting
Belt wears out kinda fast (could have been my bad technique)
FINAL THOUGHTS
If you own swords knives or tools that need sharpened, buy this, actually buy 2 of them in case the price goes up or they discontinue them....im getting another.
Thanks for reading, and Merry Christmas guys!
www.harborfreight.com/1-inch-x-3 ... -2485.html
Shipping was fast, took maybe a week, and it came well packaged...lots and lots of Styrofoam
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS- Its pretty small and portable, which is awesome, this thing is not really much bigger than a typical bench sized wheel grinder, weighs about 8-10 pounds id say. Its exactly the perfect size for what i was looking for. It came already assembled, all i had to do was attach the detachable metal plate/guard thing, that is also adjustable up to 45* for angle. The way it adjusts and attaches is kinda cheaply done honestly, it has a little...spring screw thing that you use to kinda ratchet it tight, whilst trying to work it i snapped off the plastic handle, but to my surprise...it actually made it better, now i just twist it with a pair of pliers and dont have to mess with the poorly designed setup. So that was a Plus for me :lol:
The sander comes with one belt, fairly low grit, best used for reshaping geometry, be careful though because this thing removed metal FAST. Its best to not press hard and let the sander do all the work. In 30 minutes i sharpened up 3 knives and my tinker viking, with a few passes all my knives went from cant rip through paper to, slices right through paper sharp. I had a harder time doing the tinker sword, but i blame bad technique, not the machine, after playing with it for an hour, i can see how with some progressive finer grit belts, and a stropping belt you can achieve the legendary Tom K sharpness, i only put one idiot mark on the blade that wont be buffed out, but had i taken the time to really practice up i think i can put an edge on a sword without affecting the polish at all, or very minimal, this sander is pretty bad ass. Im gonna go to home depot later today and pick up some finer belts and try to pop some hair with my viking sword. This thing did in 5 minutes what it took me 10+ hours to do with sandpaper and files. For 40$ this cant be beat, i wasted more $ than that on sandpaper and sharpening doodads.
PRO'S
Wicked fast sharpening and geometry reworking
Portable and easy to use, can be set up literally anywhere theres an outlet.
Easy to swap out belts, turn one screw, pop the side off swap the belt, and screw it back on and your set
40 dollars!
Fast shipping
CON'S
Tightening handle is a cheap shoddy and not so well thought out construction, broke within 5 minutes(was a pro for me since now i can use pliars)
Can't change the speed of the belt, it would be nice to have a slower setting
Belt wears out kinda fast (could have been my bad technique)
FINAL THOUGHTS
If you own swords knives or tools that need sharpened, buy this, actually buy 2 of them in case the price goes up or they discontinue them....im getting another.
Thanks for reading, and Merry Christmas guys!