DA Sanders..Do I have bad luck?

These damn things keep breaking on me. The first was a walmart brand so I figured it was **** and now a porter cable one.. Same thing happend to both. The screw in piece that attaches to the sanding pad keeps comming off the internal bolt.. Of course you can't screw it back on cause the bolt is loose inside. Am I missing something? why does this keep happening to me?

 

if you want a good DA you are going to have to spend some money, the cheap ones just aren't going to last. you need to search online under profesional auto body supplies and spend the money if you want one to last. they aren't cheap.

 

I have a cheap autozone one I have taken two cars down to bare metal with no problem.

 

i've never had any luck with the cheap ones myself, i have a bucket of them out in my garage. seems everything is made in china nowadays. heres a nice hutchinson one that eastwood sells, i've heard they last forever. might be able to find it a little bit cheaper then what they sell it for. I like this one because it uses composite in the construction which makes it lighter without making it weaker. http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/...14665&itemType=PRODUCT&RS=1&keyword=da,sander

 

if it is the pad jut go to a Automotive paint store and buy a good pad should solve the problem.

 

I'm a bodyman and have sanders. At the shop I use an Ingersoll-Rand and a Matco. At home I use a Kobalt from Lowes. I think the Kobalt can hold it's own against the others. I would try a new pad though before I bought another sander.

 

Look on ebay for a used Hutchins. I see them on there all the time for around $60.00-$75.00. It will be the last one you have to buy.

I have a couple of them one my dad bought new in the 70's and it can still sand circles around the new cheapos.

Plus they are a lot quiter and use a lot less air.

 

Here is a link about the history of Hutchins, good story.

http://www.hutchinsmfg.com/content/alstory.html

and their homepage

http://www.hutchinsmfg.com/

 

+1 on the Hutchins. Excellent tools.

 

Yes, I love my Hutchins 4500. It's a superb piece.

There's no way I'd say anything bad about my Porter Cable electric D/As. They're great for roughing out or any other applications when a longer stroke is called for, especially when using a compressor isn't feasible or practical. I've used mine for hundreds of hours, and nothing ever came loose. These things are workhorses. The only issue I've ever had is tiny steel particles causing the brushes to wear and arc. (In all fairness to the manufacturer, their D/As are designed for woodworking.)

Dave
http://www.roadsters.com/

 

mine came with a thin wrench you slide between the pad and body of the sander to tighten the pad

 

yea i was looking at the new hutchins because of the composite bodies, the more weight you can take out of the DA the less tiring it will be to use. some manufacturers tried this with plsatic which didn't hold, but the new composites are as strong as metal and not nearly as heavy. plus they absorb vibration which tires you out and causes your hand to hurt over time.

 

well I fixed it for now, but it was not the pad coming off.. It was the attachment for the pad. The pad is screwed to this attachement and the attachment goes through a bearing (wich I think is supposed to be press fit) with a big headed allen screw going through the back side of the bearing.. I put it all back together with loc***e and seems to stay together for now. I'm no body man, so I keep grabbing one when I need one. Next time I'll pony up and buy one of those hutchins.

 

I'm surprised no one has mentioned National Detroit's DAQ, I've had both of mine for almost 30 years now [wow, how old am I?]. Only thing I've ever replaced is a cover on each one [about 6 bucks] and a bearing on one of them [about 10 bucks]. All the older guys I know have the same one. I'm sure the newer style palm sanders they carry also, I would expect the quality on those to be just as good.

 

I've had my Ingersoll Rand for almost 20 years no problems. I use it every day in the shop. A Hutchins or Chicago pneumatic will also probably last forever if regularly oiled.

 

Nat'l Detroit and Dynabrade. The Dynabrade is an industrial duty version, just under $300. It's the Packard of orbital sanders. The reality is that a DA sander is by nature not very complicated. What you're going through is no doubt repairable. Fix it and move on. Stop at a professional paint supplier or tool outlet and have it fixed. Short of a siezed air motor there's not much to go wrong. And no, that doesn't contradict what I say about the Dynabrade. It's a smooth short stroke sander that can even be used for final clearcoat finishing. Worth the $$$. Not intended for rough work.

 

I've used a few Dynabrade D/As and found nothing to dislike about them. I've always heard great things about them.

...the difference being that the Hutchins will greatly improve your quality of life, and the Chicago could transmit enough vibration to affect your lifespan.

Dave
http://www.roadsters.com/

 

Dynabrade and hutchins both are great finishing sanders, but as far as a dual action sanders I have to go with a snap on ps100. I have used one for over 6 years daily. its the smoothest & fastest, D/A out there for stripping paint or grinding applicatiion.

 

I fix these D/A's on a regular basis so this might help.

Are you using the pad fairly flat on the work or do you tilt it up and just use the edge?

I've found that the pad holder tends to fall out more often for the guys who work the edge of the pad more than the guys who keep it mostly flat and use almost the whole pad.

I think the side load this creates makes the pad holder work itself loose over time.

As fo quality, Hutchins and Dynabrade are hard to beat. The Hutchins board sanders are about the best there is.

Dynabrade uses a cartridge style air motor. If the motor packs it in, just unscrew the dead motor from the body and drop in a fresh one. Pretty slick but not cheap.

Shawn