OCtoolguy Posted June 10, 2019 Report Share Posted June 10, 2019 I went to H/F and purchased the Bauer 5" ROS sander that is on sale right now for $24.95. I am very happy to say, it is all that I had hoped and more. It is lightweight, quiet, smooth and has 6 speeds. It uses the Velcro type paper, 8 holes for dust so the paper that I had from my cheapy H/F sander works with it. The biggest thing is the variable speed. I was using it on #4 and it was just perfect at that speed. I did notice that if you tried to use it at the lowest 2 speeds, it would bog and stop with very little pressure on the plate. But, all-in-all, I'm really happy. Especially with the price. It also has a dust collector on it and it works great. I do recommend removing it and lubing the o-ring that holds it on. It's a bear taking it off the first time. I plan to also buy the 1/4 sheet finishing sander that they have on sale but maybe next month. I've exceeded my tool budget for this month already. BadBob, Falcon, new2woodwrk and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted June 10, 2019 Report Share Posted June 10, 2019 2 hours ago, octoolguy said: I went to H/F and purchased the Bauer 5" ROS sander that is on sale right now for $24.95. I am very happy to say, it is all that I had hoped and more. It is lightweight, quiet, smooth and has 6 speeds. It uses the Velcro type paper, 8 holes for dust so the paper that I had from my cheapy H/F sander works with it. The biggest thing is the variable speed. I was using it on #4 and it was just perfect at that speed. I did notice that if you tried to use it at the lowest 2 speeds, it would bog and stop with very little pressure on the plate. But, all-in-all, I'm really happy. Especially with the price. It also has a dust collector on it and it works great. I do recommend removing it and lubing the o-ring that holds it on. It's a bear taking it off the first time. I plan to also buy the 1/4 sheet finishing sander that they have on sale but maybe next month. I've exceeded my tool budget for this month already. Is that a typo? 24.95? I ask because I just looked on the website and it shows 34.99.. The design reminds me of my Bosh sander.. I bought it on sale plus 11 rebate deal at Menards 3 years ago.. been an awesome sander for the $30 I paid for it.. OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCtoolguy Posted June 10, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2019 33 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said: Is that a typo? 24.95? I ask because I just looked on the website and it shows 34.99.. The design reminds me of my Bosh sander.. I bought it on sale plus 11 rebate deal at Menards 3 years ago.. been an awesome sander for the $30 I paid for it.. Not a typo. They are on sale. $10 off. kmmcrafts 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjweb Posted June 10, 2019 Report Share Posted June 10, 2019 will have to check that out, i almost pulled the triger on their cordless drill, but my wife bought me a dewalt for fathers day, that works too, RJ kmmcrafts and OCtoolguy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockytime Posted June 11, 2019 Report Share Posted June 11, 2019 I was in HF yesterday to buy a strap clamp. I gave a casual look at the Bauer but did not realize it was six speed. I'm only 10 minutes away. I would require the gentler speeds. I just checked my cell phone and they are $29.99 until 6/30/19. Gonna check it out again. Thanks Ray! OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCtoolguy Posted June 11, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2019 23 minutes ago, Rockytime said: I was in HF yesterday to buy a strap clamp. I gave a casual look at the Bauer but did not realize it was six speed. I'm only 10 minutes away. I would require the gentler speeds. I just checked my cell phone and they are $29.99 until 6/30/19. Gonna check it out again. Thanks Ray! I get the almost daily email specials from them and the latest one had the sander at $24.99. I tried to use a 25% off coupon but they wouldn't let me use it. Darn! I will be going back for the finish sander though. I had a Makita years ago and liked it but it got sold when we liquidated. tomsteve 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockytime Posted June 11, 2019 Report Share Posted June 11, 2019 I miss-read your post. At $29.99 sale price I wonder if they will let me use a 20% off coupon. I suppose not but still a good price. Think I'll get iy. Good to hear the dust port works. OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCtoolguy Posted June 11, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2019 5 hours ago, Rockytime said: I miss-read your post. At $29.99 sale price I wonder if they will let me use a 20% off coupon. I suppose not but still a good price. Think I'll get iy. Good to hear the dust port works. You can also remove the dust catcher and plug in a vac hose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolf Posted June 11, 2019 Report Share Posted June 11, 2019 A good RO sander is a must for the shop. I connect mine to the vac and there is no dust getting in the air. I don't have the HF one but you can't beat the price. How is the vibration? OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill WIlson Posted June 11, 2019 Report Share Posted June 11, 2019 Harbor Freight seems to be stepping up their game a bit, when it comes to tool quality. I'll be interested to hear how you like this after you've put a few more miles on it. OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted June 11, 2019 Report Share Posted June 11, 2019 13 hours ago, octoolguy said: Not a typo. They are on sale. $10 off. So the regular price is 34.99 ? This must be area specific.. Below is a screen shot from my computer the page where this is.. I also have a app that searches out the best coupon codes etc called Honey... It tells me I have the best price.. Not saying the app is always right.. but man it sure has saved me a big chunk of money.. OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCtoolguy Posted June 11, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2019 4 hours ago, Rolf said: A good RO sander is a must for the shop. I connect mine to the vac and there is no dust getting in the air. I don't have the HF one but you can't beat the price. How is the vibration? No vibration and I used it for two solid hours with no numbness or tingling in my arthritic hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCtoolguy Posted June 11, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2019 3 hours ago, Bill WIlson said: Harbor Freight seems to be stepping up their game a bit, when it comes to tool quality. I'll be interested to hear how you like this after you've put a few more miles on it. I will report back. But, to compare, I had a very good Dewalt sander at one time that cost me about $90 at the time. 10-12 years ago when I still had an income. This sander is just as nice and I love the price. Since most everything is made offshore, it's just about impossible to "buy American" so I just shop for the best product/price now. I'd love to find something this good at this price made in the U.S.A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCtoolguy Posted June 11, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2019 3 hours ago, kmmcrafts said: So the regular price is 34.99 ? This must be area specific.. Below is a screen shot from my computer the page where this is.. I also have a app that searches out the best coupon codes etc called Honey... It tells me I have the best price.. Not saying the app is always right.. but man it sure has saved me a big chunk of money.. Kevin, not sure about area specific. All I know is, this is the 3rd time I've seen it on sale at the price I paid in the last 2 months. Are you signed up to get their email blasts? I get one almost every day. I keep a list of the stuff I want/need and when enough stuff on my list is on sale I make a run to H/F. I needed a better sander so this was timed just right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill WIlson Posted June 11, 2019 Report Share Posted June 11, 2019 31 minutes ago, octoolguy said: I will report back. But, to compare, I had a very good Dewalt sander at one time that cost me about $90 at the time. 10-12 years ago when I still had an income. This sander is just as nice and I love the price. Since most everything is made offshore, it's just about impossible to "buy American" so I just shop for the best product/price now. I'd love to find something this good at this price made in the U.S.A. For me, the proof is really in how it holds up over time. Will it still have low vibration after a year or 2 of regular use? How long will the Velcro pad, belt and switch last? All unknowns at this point, so we're counting on you to report back. OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCtoolguy Posted June 11, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2019 1 hour ago, Bill WIlson said: For me, the proof is really in how it holds up over time. Will it still have low vibration after a year or 2 of regular use? How long will the Velcro pad, belt and switch last? All unknowns at this point, so we're counting on you to report back. You know Bill, I'll try to do that but even if it fails somewhere in the future, the mere fact that it was only $25 and did what I needed it to do for a reasonable amount of time is good enough for me. But, with that said, I get the feeling from using it that it will endure. It is so much better than the $19 ROS that I bought from H/F 8 years ago. It was heavy, single speed and very aggressive. This one comes very close to what I had with my Dewalt. I don't mind being the guinea pig on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted June 11, 2019 Report Share Posted June 11, 2019 My first ROS I bought from HF about 20 years ago... That thing lasted a very long time for a $15 sander.. was a nice sander too.. It was a single speed ( I think?) and low vibration etc.. It gave up on me about 5 years ago and I naturally went to HF to get another one.. The replacement one was larger ( taller ) clunky to hold.. heavy and single speed as well but WAY too aggressive and not real user friendly IMO.. I still have it.. only used it about 2 weeks and it broke some of my fretwork pieces because it was so aggressive etc.. I ended up getting a Bosh VS sander.. I really like the Bosh but I gotta say.. the brushes in the motor burned out last year and I did repair it myself.. but I felt they wore out prematurely.. The original HF sander had a bearing lock up on it. I knew something was wrong but I kept using it.. The bearing locked up and smoked the motor otherwise I'd have repaired that too.. My Bosh was a better sander than the original HF sander simply because the VS was handy but short of that.. and the price difference well.. I feel the best bang for the money was the original HF sander I had.. I may go grab one of these and test it out.. doesn't hurt to have a backup sander.. besides that CRAP Bulky Aggressive HF thing I had to dig out and se for a week while I waited for my brushes to come in the mail for the Bosh, LOL.. Another plus on the Bosh and the HF model that you bought Ray.. I like the plastic dust collection cans on these.. The ones with the fabric bag.. those bags always get torn and leak dust out terrible.. Not sure about how well the dust can works on this HF one but my Bosh has a can you an empty and has a filter system incorporated which I use my shop vac to clean them out.. One issue with that is.. they are tough to get on and off the sander AND split it apart to empty.. In the cold weather I cracked the plastic canister. I should buy a new one but I used a bit of super glue and then sealed it with electrical tape.. seems to work as it should.. been this way for a year now.. LOL OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockytime Posted June 11, 2019 Report Share Posted June 11, 2019 The variable speed made me bite the bullet and get one. I have a coupon on my cell phone for $29.99 so I used it. I have the $19 sander but used it once and never again. I have not done any sanding with the Bauer yet but did run it through the speed range. I think I will be well pleased. I just now checked my phone and there I see a $24.99 coupon I should have used. Oh well I've wasted five bucks before. I'm glad you made your post stating the variable speed. OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCtoolguy Posted June 12, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2019 2 hours ago, Rockytime said: The variable speed made me bite the bullet and get one. I have a coupon on my cell phone for $29.99 so I used it. I have the $19 sander but used it once and never again. I have not done any sanding with the Bauer yet but did run it through the speed range. I think I will be well pleased. I just now checked my phone and there I see a $24.99 coupon I should have used. Oh well I've wasted five bucks before. I'm glad you made your post stating the variable speed. If you are happy, then my mission was a success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolf Posted June 14, 2019 Report Share Posted June 14, 2019 I just looked up the current price on the sander my wife bought me a while back. I could buy 13 of the HF sanders for that price. But I love it. OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCtoolguy Posted July 2, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2019 Here's your chance to get one of these sanders while on sale. kmmcrafts and jbrowning 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolf Posted July 3, 2019 Report Share Posted July 3, 2019 Is the hole pattern in the sandpaper standard? How easy is it to connect a vacuum to it. OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sycamore67 Posted July 3, 2019 Report Share Posted July 3, 2019 I am with Rolf about my sander. Yes, my green colored sander cost a bunch more but the ergonomics, low vibration and dust collection are great. I have tried many Sanders but the grip and vibration are not to my liking and I can not use them as they hurt my hands. But glad others found a cheap sander that works for them. OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCtoolguy Posted July 3, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2019 5 hours ago, Rolf said: Is the hole pattern in the sandpaper standard? How easy is it to connect a vacuum to it. Well, I buy the paper from H/F also, so I don't know if it is the same as any other brand. It looks to be but without buying paper to find out, I can't say. And, once the dust catcher is removed, it looks like it would be an easy hook up. I didn't try it because I don't want a hose getting in the way. I like it just the way it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted July 3, 2019 Report Share Posted July 3, 2019 Seems like it still shoots out a fair amount of dust... I shows to compare to Bosh that I have.. Not knocking it for the price.. and I printed off the coupon... If I get anywhere close to HF I'll grab one up and share my thoughts.. Rockytime and OCtoolguy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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