Several years ago I bought a 2 x 36 little cheap belt sander from HF. I was totally surprised! It has been a workhorse once you toss the belts that come with it and buy some good ones. I sharpen my drill bits on one belt and save a dedicated belt for my tungstens. You would be surprised how many things are very handy to grind on it. I thought it would crap out in a few years so I bought a backup. The backup is still in its box. I use it everyday and it is still going strong. By the way their 4x36 belt and disc sander is every bit as good, that I bought thirty years ago. I have been grinding wood, aluminum, steel, stainless steel, etc. and it just keeps going. I have got a few real dogs from HF but I have to say that many of their tools have been real winners. I started buying from them when they began (in the eighties with all their stuff Taiwanese). You have to do your research and inspect what they offer but there are some real gems, along with some pure garbage. Bought a transformer plasma cutter 45 amp from them in 2005. It, again, got me a torch when the name brands started at $3000 for a small fraction of that (seems I paid $600 then) whereas the budget would never have allowed one. Still going strong. This was long before the Cut50's came on the market. By the same token I have bought expensive name brands that fell apart in a few months and were not backed by the companies with parts or services. It is Buyer Beware. Price is no guarantee of anything.
Yeah I have had good luck with most of their stuff. Anything I have had fail was due to a switch, and not the actual tool. I am definitely glad they exist because the alternatives are either far worse for the same money or better for a lot more money. And I have one 2 minutes from my workshop so it’s real handy lol.
No problem, glad you enjoyed it 😀. I have two more videos coming out in the next two days dealing with some gear reviews. I don't do many reviews, but I know so many people look at buying the same stuff I end up buying it makes sense to share. Then all next week will be a bunch of weld test videos that will be real interesting. Dont miss those 😀.
I bought a very similar looking unit from Lidl (where I bought the excellent flux core welder) in England. Cost £35. Out of the box it looked really good. Perfect balance, the wheel was true and the belt tracked perfectly. I required the wheel more than the sander so removed the belt to reduce the noise, it was very easy to put back when required, it then made hardly any noise at all. I sharpened all my drills, centre punches and chisels. Great. I replaced the belt and, sadly, it wasn't very good. It was rated at 240watt (approx 0.3 hp) which proved to be insufficient power for sanding. It slowed down using very little pressure when sanding wood so metal would have been impossible. Reluctantly I returned it for a full refund. Lidl give a three year warranty and are pretty good at honouring it.
When I bump tested it I thought for sure it was going to launch itself off the table once it hit full speed lol. I might pull the disc off and try to figure out how it can wobble that much at every speed but max speed. The nut on the end was tight, and everything was preinstalled. Amazing lol.
I purchased a similar version without the belt sander, and the vibrations were minimal, but both wheels were horribly out of alignment. I consider myself a pretty fair mechanic, and I have balanced previous grinders successfully, the Bauer was impossible because the flanges that sandwich the wheels are stamped, which is part of the issue, but more problematic is the shaft, is machined so the inner flanges only go on so far. The problem is two fold. 1st the difference between the shafts total diameter is not much larger than the machined smaller diameter that the wheel slips on too. There is minimal backing, so the flange can’t brace the flange as well as it should. 2nd the flanges are sloppy i.e. slightly too big, and they wobble on the shaft. Where the inner flange interfaces with the shaft surface contact is not a snug fit (cocks ever so slightly), so it’s impossible to minimize the wheels wobble from side to side as you demonstrated. I exchanged the grinder thinking it was just an isolated case, but it wasn’t, the second one had the exact same problem, and I was not happy with Bauer’s fit and finish with their bench grinders. I took it back, and decide to try the more expensive Hercules model. When I got it home, and inspected/tested it, Wow!!! What a huge improvement, it ran like Butter Smooth, and the whole, build quality was obviously much beefier and the flanges were Machined and the tolerance between the flange and shaft was perfect, and because the flange was a solid thicker piece, there is No Wobble, and it is True 90° to the shaft which eliminates wheel wobble. If you’re in the market for a grinder (regardless of brand), I highly recommend that you inspect the flanges, and avoid stamped steel, and look for solid machined flanges. They’re worth not having to deal with wheel wobble, especially if you need to do any precision grinding. I know it’s hard to spend more money, on a bench grinder, but I think you will find that it is justified in this case.
That hercules seemed way better made. I spun that one by hand in the store and the wheels were 100% true. No doubt that's the way to go for a grinder. It's actually not much more money then the one I bought now, they dropped the normal price by like 20$ I believe. The ability to run belts is the only reason I bought the one I did, I can grind a ton of tungstens and switch back to a normal belt without contaminating a whole wheel. Part of me wishes I would have bought the hercules, but I know I couldn't restrain myself from running tungstens on the wheels I used for steel lol. Also,I will be responding to your message in the morning, I am still trying to recover my phone and having issues😀.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg I understand, the belt is tempting, but my logic was based on already having a belt sander in some dark corner. The Hercules came with two different grit wheels, and I really only need one, and chose to keep the finer grit for precision grinding etc, and I put a very good quality 10” wire wheel by Forney, so now I have a great fine grit and really nice wire wheel on my Hercules shop grinder, and I have a HF diamond wheel for both my dremmel, and neat 1/4” shank for my drill. They work great, and if I need a quick course grind i.e. I really dipped my tungsten bad, then I use the bench grinder to remove the gross contamination, and then finish the grind with the diamond wheels, so there is no contamination on the tungsten. As a note when I removed the course grit wheel, you get a good look at the solid machined flanges, and you can see that the tolerance between the shaft and the flange are very precise. My experience with the Bauers was horrible where wheel wobble was concerned, and if you ever have to tighten or change a wheel, you will probably never get it not wobble. As a suggestion, if you buy the Hercules model 70557, you can dedicate one wheel to tungsten.
The grinding wheel wobble I used to machine new precision washers and so on. But the solution to fixing the wobble is simple. Push on the wheel and yes it moves and stays there. At least it worked on my two grinders perfectly.
I do the same thing. Even heavy duty grinders sometimes let the wheels wobble. Sometimes it’s a matter of replacing the plastic or metal adapter inside the wheel hole with something more precise. But the washers are crap in cheap machines.
Thanks for the honest review. I’m thinking of buying this model for light metal work and sharpening. The wobble is worrisome though. What make dressing tool do you use on the stone? I’m thinking a diamond point tool? Thanks.
For sharpening stuff it works good. I have been using it for sharpening tungstens and chisels. The biggest draw back is belt availability, I have heard harbor freight will start selling belts soon. For dressing the wheel I have a diamond tipped wheel dresser. It’s meant for a bigger grinder but works good. No doubt there are a ton of better options out there with more power, but the cost of them is so much (like Jets) it’s hard to justify for small jobs.
@@makingmistakeswithgregthanks so much for the reply. I’ve seen the belt on HF website today. It about $8 for two but they only sell one grit. I’ve seen other grit on Amazon so I guess after HF came out with this grinder it must have become popular enough to start making belts. Thanks again sir!!
Was Looking at the same one. Wanted a used Baldor, but dealing with idiots on marketplace, I've given up. I'll just get this. For a home gamer, should be fine for my needs. Just worried about the durability of the grinder rest. Hope to see how yours does.
The rests seem better than I would have expected. They certainly aren't industrial but they arent that bad. Definitely give it a good look over in the store. Considering the price I think it's better than expected. I am glad to know I am not the only one dealing with idiots on marketplace. Around here it's getting insane trying to buy anything used. I have made very reasonable offers on stuff that has been listed for 6+ months and people say "its worth more". Even worse is when they clearly beat the equipment bad, did no maintenance, and then try to sell it used for 75% or more of new. I have wanted to pickup a 300amp engine drive and guys are trying to get 6K for a engine drive with 1500 hours, and no warranty, when I can buy it brand new for 7600. Its crazy out there lol.
Never thought of that, I probably have 20 different diamond wheels and cups from doing masonry restoration. I will have to give that a shot. Flap discs aren't cutting it lol.
I have been grinding my tungstens on a grinding wheel. it seems to work okay. I have been wondering if I should go to the effort to polish my tungstens with a "finer" wheel or belt. Greg, do you think it makes much of a difference how "polished" the tungsten is?
So I can notice a difference with a super fine point and a clean somewhat polished edge. I got commissioned to do some artwork on paper thin stainless, and I need all the help I can get. On normal tig welding it won't make much of a difference honestly. I will be welding at 5-15 amps on literally paper so eliminating any variable is a must. The starts tend to be cleaner too. The main things you want to avoid is running scratches across the tungsten instead of parallel with the tungsten like you should.
Wish I would have known you wanted one, I would have donated one to ur channel. I got a Titan, el cheapo, works fine, but I don't use it for anything lol. But at least you have a belt side on that one
The belt has proven to work really good at grinding plates for a cut and etch. It’s also great and sanding tungstens down. So far I have been pretty pleased with it. As far as donations, you can spend some time honing skills 😀. The channel runs on the effort people spend getting better at their skills 😀
@@makingmistakeswithgreg I do every day, sir. Been at it for 16 yrs lol. I work at a decent sized trailer manufacturing company. Built anything from combine head trailers , to drop decks for simis. Either way tho, you should consider yourself paid, in that sense lol. Have a good night man
Great question. Once it’s spinning it actually has a fair bit of power. I would imagine it would sharpen a lawn mower blade decent. The only downside is it’s a bit harder to get certain belts for it due to the less common size. I pretty routinely grind down 3/8th steel test plates and that doesn’t bring it to a stop. The next step up is significantly more expensive to get something like a jet or equivalent. Whatever you do stay far away from belt sanders for wood, like the central machinery that’s sub 200$ at harbor freight. That sucker has zero power lol.
I'm sure if you pull the cover off of that wheel you'll find a 1/4" bent shaft with a wheel on it. You could probably straighten that pretty easily. I'm sure the guy that bent it wasn't trying too hard... That or get a diamond dresser from the river ppl and reshape the wheel.
Yep I bet you're right, sunday night I will be opening it up and see what I find lol. The fact it trues up and barely shakes at full speed must mean its ok 😂
The startup power of this thing is horrible you can hold your thumb against the belt and the thing won't start it'll just makes a humming noise it's that underpowered when starting up sometimes I have to give mine a little help when starting up or it just sits there and makes a funny noise $60 would be a good price for this thing
Several years ago I bought a 2 x 36 little cheap belt sander from HF. I was totally surprised! It has been a workhorse once you toss the belts that come with it and buy some good ones. I sharpen my drill bits on one belt and save a dedicated belt for my tungstens. You would be surprised how many things are very handy to grind on it. I thought it would crap out in a few years so I bought a backup. The backup is still in its box. I use it everyday and it is still going strong. By the way their 4x36 belt and disc sander is every bit as good, that I bought thirty years ago. I have been grinding wood, aluminum, steel, stainless steel, etc. and it just keeps going. I have got a few real dogs from HF but I have to say that many of their tools have been real winners. I started buying from them when they began (in the eighties with all their stuff Taiwanese). You have to do your research and inspect what they offer but there are some real gems, along with some pure garbage. Bought a transformer plasma cutter 45 amp from them in 2005. It, again, got me a torch when the name brands started at $3000 for a small fraction of that (seems I paid $600 then) whereas the budget would never have allowed one. Still going strong. This was long before the Cut50's came on the market. By the same token I have bought expensive name brands that fell apart in a few months and were not backed by the companies with parts or services. It is Buyer Beware. Price is no guarantee of anything.
Yeah I have had good luck with most of their stuff. Anything I have had fail was due to a switch, and not the actual tool. I am definitely glad they exist because the alternatives are either far worse for the same money or better for a lot more money. And I have one 2 minutes from my workshop so it’s real handy lol.
Nice review with some funny commentary bits.. Thanks for sharing Greg!
No problem, glad you enjoyed it 😀. I have two more videos coming out in the next two days dealing with some gear reviews. I don't do many reviews, but I know so many people look at buying the same stuff I end up buying it makes sense to share. Then all next week will be a bunch of weld test videos that will be real interesting. Dont miss those 😀.
I bought a very similar looking unit from Lidl (where I bought the excellent flux core welder) in England. Cost £35. Out of the box it looked really good. Perfect balance, the wheel was true and the belt tracked perfectly. I required the wheel more than the sander so removed the belt to reduce the noise, it was very easy to put back when required, it then made hardly any noise at all. I sharpened all my drills, centre punches and chisels. Great.
I replaced the belt and, sadly, it wasn't very good. It was rated at 240watt (approx 0.3 hp) which proved to be insufficient power for sanding. It slowed down using very little pressure when sanding wood so metal would have been impossible. Reluctantly I returned it for a full refund. Lidl give a three year warranty and are pretty good at honouring it.
I too was thoughroouly impressed with the balance of that thing especially watching the grinding wheel
When I bump tested it I thought for sure it was going to launch itself off the table once it hit full speed lol. I might pull the disc off and try to figure out how it can wobble that much at every speed but max speed. The nut on the end was tight, and everything was preinstalled. Amazing lol.
I purchased a similar version without the belt sander, and the vibrations were minimal, but both wheels were horribly out of alignment. I consider myself a pretty fair mechanic, and I have balanced previous grinders successfully, the Bauer was impossible because the flanges that sandwich the wheels are stamped, which is part of the issue, but more problematic is the shaft, is machined so the inner flanges only go on so far. The problem is two fold.
1st the difference between the shafts total diameter is not much larger than the machined smaller diameter that the wheel slips on too. There is minimal backing, so the flange can’t brace the flange as well as it should.
2nd the flanges are sloppy i.e. slightly too big, and they wobble on the shaft.
Where the inner flange interfaces with the shaft surface contact is not a snug fit (cocks ever so slightly), so it’s impossible to minimize the wheels wobble from side to side as you demonstrated. I exchanged the grinder thinking it was just an isolated case, but it wasn’t, the second one had the exact same problem, and I was not happy with Bauer’s fit and finish with their bench grinders.
I took it back, and decide to try the more expensive Hercules model. When I got it home, and inspected/tested it, Wow!!! What a huge improvement, it ran like Butter Smooth, and the whole, build quality was obviously much beefier and the flanges were Machined and the tolerance between the flange and shaft was perfect, and because the flange was a solid thicker piece, there is No Wobble, and it is True 90° to the shaft which eliminates wheel wobble.
If you’re in the market for a grinder (regardless of brand), I highly recommend that you inspect the flanges, and avoid stamped steel, and look for solid machined flanges. They’re worth not having to deal with wheel wobble, especially if you need to do any precision grinding.
I know it’s hard to spend more money, on a bench grinder, but I think you will find that it is justified in this case.
That hercules seemed way better made. I spun that one by hand in the store and the wheels were 100% true. No doubt that's the way to go for a grinder. It's actually not much more money then the one I bought now, they dropped the normal price by like 20$ I believe. The ability to run belts is the only reason I bought the one I did, I can grind a ton of tungstens and switch back to a normal belt without contaminating a whole wheel. Part of me wishes I would have bought the hercules, but I know I couldn't restrain myself from running tungstens on the wheels I used for steel lol. Also,I will be responding to your message in the morning, I am still trying to recover my phone and having issues😀.
@@makingmistakeswithgreg I understand, the belt is tempting, but my logic was based on already having a belt sander in some dark corner.
The Hercules came with two different grit wheels, and I really only need one, and chose to keep the finer grit for precision grinding etc, and I put a very good quality 10” wire wheel by Forney, so now I have a great fine grit and really nice wire wheel on my Hercules shop grinder, and I have a HF diamond wheel for both my dremmel, and neat 1/4” shank for my drill. They work great, and if I need a quick course grind i.e. I really dipped my tungsten bad, then I use the bench grinder to remove the gross contamination, and then finish the grind with the diamond wheels, so there is no contamination on the tungsten.
As a note when I removed the course grit wheel, you get a good look at the solid machined flanges, and you can see that the tolerance between the shaft and the flange are very precise. My experience with the Bauers was horrible where wheel wobble was concerned, and if you ever have to tighten or change a wheel, you will probably never get it not wobble.
As a suggestion, if you buy the Hercules model 70557, you can dedicate one wheel to tungsten.
The grinding wheel wobble I used to machine new precision washers and so on. But the solution to fixing the wobble is simple. Push on the wheel and yes it moves and stays there. At least it worked on my two grinders perfectly.
I do the same thing. Even heavy duty grinders sometimes let the wheels wobble. Sometimes it’s a matter of replacing the plastic or metal adapter inside the wheel hole with something more precise. But the washers are crap in cheap machines.
Thanks for the honest review. I’m thinking of buying this model for light metal work and sharpening. The wobble is worrisome though. What make dressing tool do you use on the stone? I’m thinking a diamond point tool? Thanks.
For sharpening stuff it works good. I have been using it for sharpening tungstens and chisels. The biggest draw back is belt availability, I have heard harbor freight will start selling belts soon. For dressing the wheel I have a diamond tipped wheel dresser. It’s meant for a bigger grinder but works good. No doubt there are a ton of better options out there with more power, but the cost of them is so much (like Jets) it’s hard to justify for small jobs.
@@makingmistakeswithgregthanks so much for the reply. I’ve seen the belt on HF website today. It about $8 for two but they only sell one grit. I’ve seen other grit on Amazon so I guess after HF came out with this grinder it must have become popular enough to start making belts. Thanks again sir!!
Was Looking at the same one. Wanted a used Baldor, but dealing with idiots on marketplace, I've given up. I'll just get this. For a home gamer, should be fine for my needs. Just worried about the durability of the grinder rest. Hope to see how yours does.
The rests seem better than I would have expected. They certainly aren't industrial but they arent that bad. Definitely give it a good look over in the store. Considering the price I think it's better than expected. I am glad to know I am not the only one dealing with idiots on marketplace. Around here it's getting insane trying to buy anything used. I have made very reasonable offers on stuff that has been listed for 6+ months and people say "its worth more". Even worse is when they clearly beat the equipment bad, did no maintenance, and then try to sell it used for 75% or more of new. I have wanted to pickup a 300amp engine drive and guys are trying to get 6K for a engine drive with 1500 hours, and no warranty, when I can buy it brand new for 7600. Its crazy out there lol.
Speaking of grinders/tungstens/etc.......get a 4" diamond wheel from harbor fright, & adapt it to your angle grinder- Works slick for tungstens!
Never thought of that, I probably have 20 different diamond wheels and cups from doing masonry restoration. I will have to give that a shot. Flap discs aren't cutting it lol.
I have been grinding my tungstens on a grinding wheel. it seems to work okay. I have been wondering if I should go to the effort to polish my tungstens with a "finer" wheel or belt. Greg, do you think it makes much of a difference how "polished" the tungsten is?
So I can notice a difference with a super fine point and a clean somewhat polished edge. I got commissioned to do some artwork on paper thin stainless, and I need all the help I can get. On normal tig welding it won't make much of a difference honestly. I will be welding at 5-15 amps on literally paper so eliminating any variable is a must. The starts tend to be cleaner too. The main things you want to avoid is running scratches across the tungsten instead of parallel with the tungsten like you should.
" I don't dip it that much " .....woof
Wish I would have known you wanted one, I would have donated one to ur channel. I got a Titan, el cheapo, works fine, but I don't use it for anything lol. But at least you have a belt side on that one
The belt has proven to work really good at grinding plates for a cut and etch. It’s also great and sanding tungstens down. So far I have been pretty pleased with it. As far as donations, you can spend some time honing skills 😀. The channel runs on the effort people spend getting better at their skills 😀
@@makingmistakeswithgreg I do every day, sir. Been at it for 16 yrs lol. I work at a decent sized trailer manufacturing company. Built anything from combine head trailers , to drop decks for simis. Either way tho, you should consider yourself paid, in that sense lol. Have a good night man
I got the Bauer belt sander… It’s not bad for the price.
A pancake at IHOP lol 😂
How well will they sharpen commercial lawn mower blades ?
Great question. Once it’s spinning it actually has a fair bit of power. I would imagine it would sharpen a lawn mower blade decent. The only downside is it’s a bit harder to get certain belts for it due to the less common size. I pretty routinely grind down 3/8th steel test plates and that doesn’t bring it to a stop. The next step up is significantly more expensive to get something like a jet or equivalent. Whatever you do stay far away from belt sanders for wood, like the central machinery that’s sub 200$ at harbor freight. That sucker has zero power lol.
get the 4" belts and slit them down the middle - that's what I do as they are plentiful and you get two belts!
If that works youre my new hero lol
@@makingmistakeswithgreg the best way to do it is make a little jig with a roller and blade. You get very accurate cuts
@@mattsan70thank you!
Sounds like a great idea but I couldn't find any 4x28 belts anywhere.
I'm sure if you pull the cover off of that wheel you'll find a 1/4" bent shaft with a wheel on it. You could probably straighten that pretty easily. I'm sure the guy that bent it wasn't trying too hard... That or get a diamond dresser from the river ppl and reshape the wheel.
Yep I bet you're right, sunday night I will be opening it up and see what I find lol. The fact it trues up and barely shakes at full speed must mean its ok 😂
The startup power of this thing is horrible you can hold your thumb against the belt and the thing won't start it'll just makes a humming noise it's that underpowered when starting up sometimes I have to give mine a little help when starting up or it just sits there and makes a funny noise $60 would be a good price for this thing
Now cost $ 170.
The 20% off coupon is the only thing to hold out for on it. So far it’s still working well, I think it’s worth the money. Not 170$ but 140-150 sure.