HF Bandfile on sale.. anyone own one?

[woodchucker]

The only thing I don’t like is HF grinders. I’ll take the hit and buy Makita every time. I’ve saved so much on the other HF’s I can afford it. But there is not the crazy jump in $$ like as with Bosch.

Funny, my band file is also 5.3 amp. The new one looks way less cheesy. Like I said if they were side by side I’d go with the new one.

I had a Makita, a friend borrowed it and broke the casting. He obviously hit the lock button while it was spinning, could be the button hit something, or ... anyway handed it back to me all black and gunky, and then I discovered the head all busted. He said he liked it so much he bought one for himself... A WTF moment... I bought a ton of HF units after that. No, they are not great, the old ones were better. But for $10 you can get almost 10 Makitas.

 

[Provincial]

I quickly realized that the cheapest HF grinders were not worth buying. The next level up seems to hold up a lot better, and I use them for the "occasional" use applications. I like to have a 4-1/2" grinder set up with each type of abrasive I use, like cut-off wheels, wire cup brush, and Scotch Bright stripping pad, in addition to the normal wheels, so I use good quality grinders for the most-used options.

 

[Jake M]

I wasn't gonna, but I played with my new toy a little today. It's interesting.... Not what I expected.

I wrecked the factory installed belt in about five seconds. That's on me though, I set it down a little hard. The belts are crap, but this has some inertia behind it when it's up and running.... But i've got an extra, and I bought a pack at HF while I was there to get me until I can be bothered to order proper belts.

So, any of these tools from anywhere are right handed. Never saw a left handed one, but this tool is VERY right handed, and I'm a lefty. Cool bonus- The thing has a platten on BOTH sides. So I can do "flat" on the "wrong" side of the tool. I'm sure I'll find out, but I wonder how good they made the nose wheel?

Even with it's relatively large mass (compared to air versions), it still does NOT appreciate grinding on the nose in the wrong direction.

It is not so easy to hold as I had expected. Although not as bad as I feared either. Most of my 4.5 inch grinders I can "one hand" if I want to, this one I definitely "can" do that, but it's not a solid (thereby not safe) grip. A side handle from one of my angle grinders helps a TON with that, but I really would like it on the back, which there's no provision for. That might happen sooner than later.

It wants work in a vice. My hands are too busy holdng it. I kinda figured that. My bigger air version at work is kind of that way, that gets more use on bigger things that kind of "hold" themselves.. So no surprises there. C-Bag's little box tube vice adapter thingy there looks kind of entertaining too. Opposite solution to the same problem maybe. Pretty sure I could find a cutoff or ten that already have a suitable angle cut in it, and just need a hole . Then I could use that to deburr the bracket that's gonna move the handle hole to the back (top?) position.

It's a very small minority among reasonably small number of the Harbor Freight tools I've bought over many years. I'm almost disapointed. I'll bet my playing added up to an honest four to five minutes of sanding things that didn't really need sanding... I didn't get one bit of burnt electrical stank out of this one. They almost always do that. QC must have been at lunch...

Overall.... I'm keeping it. I think it's got a place here.

 

[woodchucker]

I wasn't gonna, but I played with my new toy a little today. It's interesting.... Not what I expected.

I wrecked the factory installed belt in about five seconds. That's on me though, I set it down a little hard. The belts are crap, but this has some inertia behind it when it's up and running.... But i've got an extra, and I bought a pack at HF while I was there to get me until I can be bothered to order proper belts.

So, any of these tools from anywhere are right handed. Never saw a left handed one, but this tool is VERY right handed, and I'm a lefty. Cool bonus- The thing has a platten on BOTH sides. So I can do "flat" on the "wrong" side of the tool. I'm sure I'll find out, but I wonder how good they made the nose wheel?

Even with it's relatively large mass (compared to air versions), it still does NOT appreciate grinding on the nose in the wrong direction.

It is not so easy to hold as I had expected. Although not as bad as I feared either. Most of my 4.5 inch grinders I can "one hand" if I want to, this one I definitely "can" do that, but it's not a solid (thereby not safe) grip. A side handle from one of my angle grinders helps a TON with that, but I really would like it on the back, which there's no provision for. That might happen sooner than later.

It wants work in a vice. My hands are too busy holdng it. I kinda figured that. My bigger air version at work is kind of that way, that gets more use on bigger things that kind of "hold" themselves.. So no surprises there. C-Bag's little box tube vice adapter thingy there looks kind of entertaining too. Opposite solution to the same problem maybe. Pretty sure I could find a cutoff or ten that already have a suitable angle cut in it, and just need a hole . Then I could use that to deburr the bracket that's gonna move the handle hole to the back (top?) position.

It's a very small minority among reasonably small number of the Harbor Freight tools I've bought over many years. I'm almost disapointed. I'll bet my playing added up to an honest four to five minutes of sanding things that didn't really need sanding... I didn't get one bit of burnt electrical stank out of this one. They almost always do that. QC must have been at lunch...

Overall.... I'm keeping it. I think it's got a place here.

Jake, I'm a lefty as well. I am going to remove the sanding head, then remove the 4 bolts that attach the motor housing to the head and turn it 180.. that will make it a lefty, I think.

 

[C-Bag]

I had a Makita, a friend borrowed it and broke the casting. He obviously hit the lock button while it was spinning, could be the button hit something, or ... anyway handed it back to me all black and gunky, and then I discovered the head all busted. He said he liked it so much he bought one for himself... A WTF moment... I bought a ton of HF units after that. No, they are not great, the old ones were better. But for $10 you can get almost 10 Makitas.

Sorry, but that guy isn’t a friend. Talk about insult to injury, goes out and buys a new Makita and doesn’t give to you for the one he broke? Wow. I caught the guy I was working with doing that to my grinder and I stopped him right there and took it out of his hands and said you need to get your own grinder. My grinder was used for everything when we were fabricating and it never let me down as long as it was used properly.

 

[IHinIN]

Sorry, but that guy isn’t a friend. Talk about insult to injury, goes out and buys a new Makita and doesn’t give to you for the one he broke? Wow. I caught the guy I was working with doing that to my grinder and I stopped him right there and took it out of his hands and said you need to get your own grinder. My grinder was used for everything when we were fabricating and it never let me down as long as it was used properly.

I know guys like that. I loaned a friend my Rockwell oscillating tool once. The next time I went to use it, when I opened the box, it was covered in red brick dust and my brand new unused diamond blade was trashed.

I let a kid at work borrow my 1/8” x 6” parallels a few times and every time they came back with chunks missing where he had drilled through the parts into the parallels. The day his new set of parallels showed up, I swapped them for my mangled set.

 

[mmcmdl]

I'll lend out tools , not chainsaws . The second time someone wants to borrow a tool , I tell him/her to buy one as I did when younger .

 

[mmcmdl]

Just pulled a NIB HF mini air grinder #47869 from a drawer . I have my Dotco air tools that never get used already . Yard sale item .

 

[WobblyHand]

I'll lend out tools , not chainsaws . The second time someone wants to borrow a tool , I tell him/her to buy one as I did when younger .

I don't lend out tools anymore. People don't seem to treat them as if they owned them. Been burned twice, not doing it again. Only exception would be to someone I know will take care of them very well. Not many folks on that list.

Remember lending a shop vac once, it came back covered in paint. It still works but really irritates me to this day. If I had done that by accident to someones stuff, I would have tried to fix it or replace it.

 

[C-Bag]

I’m lucky I have a neighbor that lets me borrow his unused 1/2” reciprocal drill. He’s got a collection of tools he bought(all Craftsman) and most have never been used. I have been super careful to return it in the shape I got it and as it never had any bits so I put the bits I bought for the jobs in the case when returned. That shocked him. He said that was the only way he could tell it was used. I still can’t justify buying one and he’s been more than ok with me using it even though it’s been used twice now. I’ve made sure I’ve taken care of him like when I found my flat file I gave him my HF wood machinist chest as I no longer needed it.