SHOP FOX W1708 1 HP 12-Inch Disc Sander Review

I received my Shop Fox 12 inch disc sander within 3 days of placing the order with Amazon. The sander arrived without any damage although the box showed some evidence of rough handling but the Styrofoam molded inner packing protected as it was designed. The unit is heavy for its size 73lbs and I'm sure it was work for all the hands that handled this unit before it arrived at my door. I researched 12 inch disc sanders before choosing the Shop Fox. I read dozens of reviews on comparable sanders ie: Delta- Grizzly- Harbor Freight and one or two other off brands. I have to wonder if they don't all come out of the same Chinese factory. The issues I read had to do mostly with tables not being true and the wheel/plate not being true. The differences I've noticed are the motor size with Harbor Freight having a 1-1/2 hp and indicating a 22amp draw for start up (not certain what the running amps draw was or whether it indicated in their manual). I have a 20 amp breaker so I passed that up not being sure if that would be an issue. The Grizzly and Shop Fox are 1 hp 10amp motors. The Delta is 1/2 hp motor(not sure of the amp draw) and smaller table size 17-1/4 x 6-1/4vs 17-1/4 x 8-1/4 for Grizzly and Shop Fox. Cast aluminum tables on Grizzly and Harbor Freight and cast iron on Delta and Shop Fox. I believe they all have a cast aluminum disc. So that is it pretty much. I read a couple of reviews on all of the makes and this issue applies to the Shop Fox unit I received as well. In my initial "check it out" the disc on my unit is not perfectly flat. If I take a piece of wood and put it a hair away from making contact with the disc and then rotate the disc by hand it will at some point make contact suggesting a high spot in the rotation. I read a couple of reviews as I mentioned indicating this finding and one guy stated he measure it at .025 (if I remember correct) of being out of true. I'm not certain how this will effect what I am trying to accomplish which is to get a good glue joint for a scarf joint on guitar necks. I don't thinkfor non critical normal edge or angle sanding this will matter. I plan at some point to evaluate this further. I have a machinist gauge and I will have to peel off the applied disc it came with to get an accurate measurement. I entertained the possibility the high spot might be the sanding disc and not the aluminum disc itself but based on my research I am more suspicious its the disc. My suggestion in closing is think about what your going to do with the machine --if you get a unit with a not perfect disc you can return it, live with it, or take the disc to a machine shop and see if they can true it up for a reasonable cost. Overall the sander should last a long time and is good value ---allot of machine for the money.

Click Here to see more reviews about: SHOP FOX W1708 1 HP 12 Inch Disc Sander

Product Description:
This production style 12" Disc Sander is ideal for shaping and smoothing edges, squaring end-cuts and trueing simple and compound miters. The precision ground cast-iron table adjusts for bevel sanding up to 45° and the 1 HP totally enclosed fan-cooled direct drive motor spins at 1,700 RPM, which is ideal for wood sanding applications. Uses 12" pressure sensitive adhesive sanding discs.

Buy cheap SHOP FOX W1708 1 HP 12 Inch Disc Sander now