Surface conditioner tool

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,313]

Any of you guys own this? I think it would be handy to have for stripping sheet metal parts on the tractors, and Courtney’s dad is building a Jeep so he could get some use out of it as well. Debating whether to pick one up tonight or order the Eastwood CountourSCT that’s on sale right now for $10 more, but would have to wait until the middle of the week to receive it. 

[ebinmaine 67,049]

I'm all for buying new tools but I looked at that one a year or three ago and decided against it.

 

Everybody has different needs so take this with a grain of salt and decide what's best for you. In my particular case as much as I thought it was a super neat idea I couldn't justify the expense because a 4" angle grinder would do everything I wanted to do at a fraction of the cost.

 

 

I'll be looking forward to seeing what the other responses are.

Edited January 5 by ebinmaine
Correct autocorrect

[elcamino/wheelhorse 9,279]

My brother tried one of those when he was redoing the frame on his 55 Cheby pick up build . Said the discs didn't last long and hard to get into some places. I use a flap disc on my 4 inch grinder and get good results. I also use a flapper wheel on a straight Milwaukee grinder that I picked up years ago for $10.00 at a flea market. It gets in to all the small places. 

[1mor Project 78]

I got one for Christmas and for me it's great! I use a lot of used steel when I fabricate. This thing cleans flat surfaces lickety split. Much faster than a cup brush on a grinder. It doesn't get into corners at all. I am interested in how it will strip paint or powder coat on my car trailer when I get to that. Scaley rust is gone, but not so much in the pits. I have only used the coarsest drum so far which is $29.99 to replace. 

[ri702bill 8,220]

I bought the 1"disc version of this - is says to use a 10,000 RPM air die grinder instead of a 1800-2000 RPM drill. Soo... I did - WAY too agressive on painted aluminum wheels - slow speed of a cordless drill works fine...

[ranger 1,741]

Have a look on the ‘bay’. You can get an attachment which uses the same sanding drums, but fits to an angle grinder. 

[JoeM 7,871]

I looked at one too. 

 

On body work I like a DA or just a 1/4 sheet sander with good course 36 grit paper. Got to be careful not to heat up the metal. 

 

Fab work angle grinder with a course grit flap disc. I have several all out fitted with different wheels

 

Heavy WH items like foot plates and some older hoods, I might use "the wheel of death" knotted wire wheel. 

 

[CCW 1,291]

I'm always leery of a tool made by an unknown brand.  Particularly something that might look a bit gimmicky.  Guess I'm also not a huge HF fan.  

[squonk 40,926]

I have one. It works well but it has it's place. If you are restoring a tractor with original paint and it's thin a DA is the way to go. But if you are say doing a hood that some jamoke has painted JD green implement paint over a bunch of layers of red thru the years then this tool shines. I like how you can strip the paint and then use the fine grit to really "Finish the metal " to prep it for primer

[8ntruck 6,955]

5 hours ago, ri702bill said:

I bought the 1"disc version of this - is says to use a 10,000 RPM air die grinder instead of a 1800-2000 RPM drill. Soo... I did - WAY too agressive on painted aluminum wheels - slow speed of a cordless drill works fine...

The die techs at work used those 1" flap wheels to remove gauling from die details, and to contour and polish die details when modifications were needed.  The die details were typically D2, A3, and S7 steel hardened to the neighborhood of 60 to 70 Rockwell C scale -  that is harder than a file.

 

On softer stuff they are really aggressive.

[ri702bill 8,220]

8 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

S7 steel

S7 Tool Steel - aka "Bearcat" I have used that, by Customer request, in cutting diesets, The S7 piece was a thin insert, captured by a pocket in the dieset and a top retainer. Ideally, the insert would be "square" in shape - that gave 8 fresh cutting surfaces before the insert got tossed and replaced....... I can still hear the folks in the Machine Shop gripe having to grind the insert(s) shape profile.......

[ohiofarmer 3,265]

   I have been watching those for a bit. the inside track Club at HFT has listed them at 120 dollars and I think once at 100 dollars. so keep a close eye. Also HFT usually has a 30% off coupon for one item only around the tenth of january

[RJ Hamner 1,007]

Ive had one for a couple of years now.  Probably used it twice. Works pretty good on large fairly straight metal.

If I was restoring 60's or 70's Fords or Chevys I'd probably use it a lot

But I play with Wheel Horse's so...........

 

[ranger 1,741]

A few pics of the attachment for an angle grinder, and an air driven one I have: MBX 3500, that I think uses something like 18+ CFM to drive it? Listed as “Burnishing Tool Attachment “, on the bay, price around £25.00p, in the UK.

Edited January 6 by ranger

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,313]

I picked one of these up over the weekend, haven’t gotten a chance to use it yet but soon as I do I will let everyone know my thoughts on it. 

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,313]

Wanted to give you all an update on this tool, I picked one up back in January but just recently got the chance to try it out much. As soon as we got it home Courtney’s dad latched on to it and put it through its paces on a Jeep tub he’s redoing. But I finally was able to pry it out of his hands and used it to strip the old paint and rust off of the fuel tank for the Allis WC. My personal opinion if a person does any amount of sheet metal work this is a must have tool. I used to strip paint and rust with a grinder and wire wheel and while those still have their place this did it so much faster and with less vibration. The drum selection for HF leaves a little to be desired, but the drums from Eastwood for their ContourSCT fit right on this tool. I bought the scale stripping drum from Eastwood and it made quick and easy work of removing the rust and scale from inside the rear rim on the WC