At first glance, you all must be saying to yourselves, “What are you thinking, Paul – these are not even in the same category.”
Well, I own both of them, and after having them both on the bench for jewelry box projects and some touch-up work on guitar bodies, I found out that they both have strengths, weaknesses, and overall, I think it deserved a head-to-head contest. Agreed, the HF is thirty bucks, and the cheapest I found the Proxxon was One hundred and forty,WHEW (I got mine for WAY less than half that at a Woodcraft closing). But you would be surprised at how these two stack up.
Here’s my experience in usage:
Harbor Freight 92158 Bandfile
Pros:
Hogs off a lot of wood quickly for a bandfile. Just a bull if you want it to be.
Larger belt wears out slower. 1/2” X 18 1/4”.
Belts ARE easy to find, despite what people complain about. I easily found about 20, and they do not break easily once you learn to adjust the belt guide, which is a TWO adjustment thingy, one knob, one bolt.
All heavy-duty steel gear train, with heavy-duty needle bearings. AND, you can actually reverse the head 180’ so the switch is on the other side by simply removing four bolts and rotating the head 180’.
Belt removal system looks hokey, as it is a plastic “switch” that you rotate to take tension off the belt. Seems like a possible con till you see the other belt removal system.
180’ head swivel which allows for right angle approach.
Low cost…VERY low cost.
Cons:
Doggone thing is heavy! Your hand will either get tired or you will have popeye arms.
Has this crazy rubber cushion under the belt, glued to the steel platen. It wears off slowly, and you get little bits of rubber all over your project until it wears out or you simply scrape it off.
Lousy, and I mean really non-existant dust collection. And with the amount of wood this thing will hog off, you can imagine how much dust and debris goes up into the air. Mask up!
NO adjustable speed. A straight on, 2300 FPM of sand belt goes over your wood. Light touch is needed here.
Chinese made.
No case of any type. Find a home for the sander and the belts so you don’t lose them.
Proxxon 38536 BSL 115/E Bandfile
Pros:
If you put a lower grit on the unit, and push it, you can hog off a fair amount of wood. There seems to be a circuit in the switch that makes up in amperage for slowing down. But although a Pro, it has a drawback in the cheap gear train. Higher grits are where this shines.
Lightweight, you will not get tired using this unit.
Comes with a nice case, neat and small, for storage, that holds unit and belts.
VARIABLE speed.
Dust collection port, although only 1 inch, I think. None of my systems will fit it.
Smaller head, allows you to get into tighter spaces, but NOT as long.
Belts are readily available through people like Klingspor.
Made in some place like Switzerland, or some good machinery country.
Steel platen on one side for straight sanding. (Kind of a realtive thing since the platen does not extend the entire distance of the belt.) Other side provides a free moving belt in mid-air for rounded surfaces.
Cons:
Expensive, expensive, expensive
Plastic gear train. (What were they thinking?) And it sound like plastic from the moment you turn it on.
Although variable speed is nice, it restricts you from 960 FPM to 2280 FPM on a 3/8” wide belt, not much wood removal here! But that may be what you want…
Belt changing system is the old, push-the-nose-down system that we see on cheaper belt sanders. Hate it, since I can never get the thing to pop back out after the first couple months of use.
Nose is not long enough.
So here we have two completely different, yet same tools.
I have found that overall, if I had to pick one, surprisingly I would go with the Harbor Freight. After getting rid of the stupid rubber off the platen, and taking time to read the instructions on how to adjust belts, I find that this unit is way more than advertised. I had opportunity to take off the head, and found sturdy steel gears, BIG ones, well made, and I filled it with marine grease and this thing sings.
I also note that there is more than one complaint on various woodworking boards about the plastic gear train on the very expensive Proxxon stripping out. I got mine for less than fifty bucks, or I probably would have not popped for it.
The place for the Proxxon is delicate, light removal situations, like slightly rounding corners, cleaning up little burrs and such. The Harbor Freight is more of a bull, great for smoothing out those drawer chambers in those bandsaw jewelry boxes, knocking off raw edges from bandsaw operations, etc. The Proxxon is the unit you would use for cleaning up small items. The Harbor Freight unit is more of a horse.
I find that I use my Harbor Freight about three to one on the Proxxon. I find the Proxxon a little light, not meaty enough, and if I smoke the plastic gears, it’s gone, since I will never see another one for that price. If I somehow smoke the Harbor Freight, a twenty percent coupon will get me another for WAY under thirty dollars.
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