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Found out my new DA sander has a weird quirk the hard way
I picked up that new pneumatic DA from Harbor Freight last week and went to town on a 2012 Civic fender. The thing started chattering bad after 10 minutes, turns out their backing pad is way softer than it looks, so I had to swap it for a 3M pad. Has anyone else run into the backing plate being the weak link on these?
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abbyf798d ago
That 3M pad swap is a solid fix, but I think you still have the wrong idea about the chattering. It's not really the softness of the backing pad that causes the issue, it's more that the stock pad is way too flimsy and not balanced right from the factory. A softer pad actually helps with conforming to curves on a fender, but if it's cheap and uneven, it'll wobble and chatter at higher RPMs. The Dura-Block pad Mike used is a good choice, but even a stiffer pad won't fix a balance problem if the tool itself is vibrating. Did you check the balance of the whole sander after you swapped the pad, or did it just run smoother right away?
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kim_davis8d ago
My buddy Mike had the exact same issue with that HF sander. He was sanding down a Chevy truck tailgate and it started vibrating like crazy after just a few minutes. He thought the whole tool was junk until someone told him to swap out that soft backing pad for a stiffer one from Dura-Block. Once he did that, the chatter stopped and it worked perfect for the rest of the job. He still uses that sander now but says the first thing he does with any new one is toss the stock pad in the trash.
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and honestly i still think that stock pad is just there to make the tool look complete in the box. @abbyf79 you're probably right about the balance thing but i'm not about to bust out a dial indicator on a harbor freight sander, you know? i just swapped the pad and it ran smooth enough that i figured it was good enough for a fender thats gonna get painted anyway. but yeah that stock pad is basically a paperweight with a velcro backing, i'm surprised they even bothered putting it on there instead of just selling the tool bare.
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