I just got a e-mail ad for Harbor Freight, and there is a MUST BUY item in
there (I'm not a shill.)

They list a bandfile for $20, with a 10% discount coupon to boot, making the
thing sell for $18. This appears to be built on the same frame as their
popular 4 or 5" grinders, but instead of a wheel, it uses a belt about an
inch wide and (maybe) 20" around.

I used to have a Black and Decker version of this, which cost a couple of
hundred bucks. I also have a Milwaukee version, which works very well,
which wasn't cheap, either. If you do much small steel fabrication by
cutting and welding, you will find this little tool extremely valuable.

http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/z.jsp?id=92158

Leo Lichtman wrote:
I just got a e-mail ad for Harbor Freight, and there is a MUST BUY item in
there (I'm not a shill.)

They list a bandfile for $20, with a 10% discount coupon to boot, making the
thing sell for $18. This appears to be built on the same frame as their
popular 4 or 5" grinders, but instead of a wheel, it uses a belt about an
inch wide and (maybe) 20" around.

I used to have a Black and Decker version of this, which cost a couple of
hundred bucks. I also have a Milwaukee version, which works very well,
which wasn't cheap, either. If you do much small steel fabrication by
cutting and welding, you will find this little tool extremely valuable.

I have HF's bandfile attachment which fits onto your 4" grinder. The
belt actually tracks pretty well. The belts themselves aren't much good
but the attachment is a heck of a deal for $8.

--
Gary Brady
Austin, TX
www.powdercoatoven.4t.com

On Tue, 10 Jan 2006 04:37:06 GMT, Gary Brady
wrote:

I have HF's bandfile attachment which fits onto your 4" grinder. The
belt actually tracks pretty well. The belts themselves aren't much good
but the attachment is a heck of a deal for $8.

I've got the same thing, but I find that the belt slips off no matter
how much I try to adjust it. So basically it doesn't get used...

John P.

John P. wrote:

On Tue, 10 Jan 2006 04:37:06 GMT, Gary Brady
wrote:


I have HF's bandfile attachment which fits onto your 4" grinder. The
belt actually tracks pretty well. The belts themselves aren't much good
but the attachment is a heck of a deal for $8.


I've got the same thing, but I find that the belt slips off no matter
how much I try to adjust it. So basically it doesn't get used...

John P.

That gadget is on my "next order" list, but your comment puts me off a bit.

I wonder if adding a bit more crown to the belt pulleys would help?

(I have to go through a "mind experiment" every time I tried to explain
to someone how crowned belt pulleys do their thing.)

Maybe the driven pulley could be altered as simply as holding a file
against it while it's running with no belt installed?

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"Truth exists; only falsehood has to be invented."

On Tue, 10 Jan 2006 17:07:01 -0500, Jeff Wisnia
wrote:

John P. wrote:

I've got the same thing, but I find that the belt slips off no matter
how much I try to adjust it. So basically it doesn't get used...

John P.

That gadget is on my "next order" list, but your comment puts me off a bit.

Ok, sorry. I should have said that I'm using the tool to try to grind
off welds in tight spots and other various difficult tasks using
moderate to heavy pressure. If you are just using it for light
pressure it might be OK. Or if you are sanding something with the
consistency of say, Talc - it might work. grin

I wonder if adding a bit more crown to the belt pulleys would help?

Well, it's a good thought, but the pulley on the end is not a drive
pulley, so you can't change the geometry of that one easily... and at
the other end there is just a little plastic "cork" which screws onto
the grinder shaft. Not something you could really grind an angle onto
to help the situation... at least not with precision.

Maybe the driven pulley could be altered as simply as holding a file
against it while it's running with no belt installed?

Again, I'd hardly call the little plastic cap a pulley. :-)

Basically what I've learned from this experiment is that this $10 HF
part is not a substitute for the $400 Dynabrade Dynafile. ;-)

John P.

"John P." wrote: (clip) Basically what I've learned from this experiment is
that this $10 HF part is not a substitute for the $400 Dynabrade Dynafile.
;-)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
In my orginal post, I mentioned that I have used bot the Black and Decker
and Milwaukee units. I did not mention that I am also using one of the
Harbor Freight grinders with the conversion kit that John P referred to.
Mine works fine, but I should add that I have modified it to take a
different belt. (I got a bushel of belts that almost fit at a flea market.)
All of these units have an adjustment that tilts the belt path, to make the
belt track. John, I assume you have not been able to make yours track, even
with this adjustment. There must be something wrong with it. Mine gets
very hard use, and the only problem is an occasional broken belt.

Leo Lichtman wrote:
snip
Mine works fine, but I should add that I have modified it to take a
different belt. snip

Leo:
I assume that you've modified to accept a more standard length belt that
is readily available in the U.S.? That seems to me to be the
necessary change. Care to expound on how you did it (and save me the
trouble of figuring it out)?


--
Gary Brady
Austin, TX
www.powdercoatoven.4t.com

On Wed, 11 Jan 2006 01:10:51 GMT, "Leo Lichtman"
wrote:

John, I assume you have not been able to make yours track, even
with this adjustment. There must be something wrong with it. Mine gets
very hard use, and the only problem is an occasional broken belt.

Ok, to be more specific, the belt will track and it does work... but
when I really put a lot of pressure on it, the belt will slip off
about 50% of the time. I've adjusted it every way possible, but the
problem is that it's just too flimsy to take the beating I'm putting
on it.

I have only ever used the Dynabrade other than this, and I must say it
was really a night and day difference. I'm a huge fan of HF, but I
think this is one of those tools that I'm going to have to bite the
bullet on and get the expensive version.

Take care,

John P

I have only ever used the Dynabrade other than this, and I must say it
was really a night and day difference. I'm a huge fan of HF, but I
think this is one of those tools that I'm going to have to bite the
bullet on and get the expensive version.

They aren't a dynafile, but it's one cheapo that's been pretty good for
me. I use mine more than a lot of the stuff in my shop. BUT I needed to
make a bushing to get mine to 'bite' well onto the (also elcheapo)
angle grinder I use with mine. IIRC it's a piece of 1.25" or 1.5" pipe
with a slit out of it, can't remember if I had it in the lathe to do
more than face it straight or if I did more... Nice and solid now,
however. IF I was relying on one to make money, I'd have an air-powered
'real one' as they are smaller and handier, along with the large
compressor needed.

"Gary Brady" wrote: (clip) Care to expound on how you did it (and save me
the trouble of figuring it out)?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
As I mentioned, I bought a bushel of belts at a flea market, and they were
just a tad short for the HF tool. It's been quite a while, so I am trying
to remember exactly what I did. To install a belt, you have to compress a
spring to bring the nose roller closer to the drive roller. I ground off
something (wish I could remember) to increase the travel, and got it so the
belts would slip on with a little difficulty.