Harbor Freight sander

[Don Armstrong]

Harbor Freight had a 4"X36" sander on sale for 59.99 so I bought one today. I have a spindle sander but needed something to do some things my spindle sander won't do. I am thinking about a 40 grit belt on the belt and 40 grit on the disc. What brand would be good to get and does 40 grit sound about right for bow building. Don

[fish n chicks]

Just about any kind of brand would be fine. But the one thing you gotta have in your shop if you don't already is one of those abrasive cleaning sticks. They look like giant erasers that you run across your disc or belt and bam new surface! They're only like 8-10 bucks for a stick that should last you three years if you're not a cabinet maker. And i'd say go with 60-80. You'll be taking off some material fast with 40 and that may not be what you want.

[JamesV]

If you use a lot of sand paper and belts/discs try Industral Abrasives, great prices..........James

[Eric Krewson]

I use a 36 grit belt on my sander, you can vary the pressure you put on a piece being sanded to slow down the cutting action.

Look up barbkat on the auction site, best price and selection of belts. I get 6x48 belts from her for about $3 each shipped.

[ChristopherO]

Agreed that BarbKat has great prices on the 4"x36" belts and the disks purchased in the past.  I emailed Barb this past spring to inquire about 6"x89" sanding belts but she does not carry stock that big.  Then the last time I emailed BarbKat about other sanding supplies she did not answer back so I went with Supergrit.com.  Their prices are pretty good, as well, but you will need at least a $25.00 order.

[Don Armstrong]

Thanks guys, I will get in touch with barbkat.

fish and chicks, I have one of those. They work great on my spindle sander. You can get 10 times the life of your discs if you use the cleaning stick. Don

[Sam Harper]

I've gotten some good belts on ****.  I use 40 grit for pretty much everything.  Like Eric said, you can vary the pressure.

You don't need one of those rubber things to clean your belts.  An old shoe with a rubber sole will do the same thing and not cost you anything.

When I got my belt sander from Harbor Freight, the rollers were slightly higher than the flat part, which created a dish, which made it impossible to sand anything flat.  I fixed that by using Barge cement to glue on a piece of that hard cork/cardboard like stuff they make clipboards out of.

[T Folts]

I have the same sander, not the most powerful but works well, I had to adjust the pully on mine as it rubbed and slowed it down. I made a edge sander out of mine..