Another Shop Fox Buffer Concern/Question

[Dobroguy]

I'm thinking of adding a Shop Fox Buffer to my tool arenols (the cheapest one with the 3 position belt option). I have a brand new 1/4 HP motor, which as I understand may be a little short in power?). My main concern is if I want to use a larger than 8" recommended buffing wheels (10" 0r 12") can I put some larger "flanges" made from say 3/16" plywood between the stock flanges and the buffing wheel. I'm looking at LMI and they want $60.00 for a pair of larger flanges. Since I'm in Canada that equates to about $100.00 considering currency exchange, shipping and customs handling fees. That's a little much since I may need two sets of larger flanges, and that is more than the cost of the Fox Buffer just for a couple of "washers". Any suggestions or information is greatly appreciated.

[Stray Feathers]

I bought four 12" buffing wheels (two for each side) from Caswell Canada, their number BC12, Canton flannel. They say they are for acrylic but that's what they recommended and they work fine. I used the flanges that came with the Shop Fox buffer. I have a 1/3 hp motor on mine which is plenty. It works pretty well but I wish the shaft was longer. And I bought Menzerna polishing compound bricks from Wood Essence in Saskatoon. You may find them (or others?) elsewhere too. Bruce W.

[Dobroguy]

Thanks Bruce, that helps a lot.
Dennis

[Dobroguy]

So, I took delivery yesterday of my Shop Fox Buffer Assembly. Initially, out of the box it looked pretty good and I expected the assembly to be useable right out of the box. However, upon closer inspection I found several problems that IMHO are quality control issues (read absence of QC) that needed to be fixed.

1) The pulley set screw was missing. The pulley just rotated loosely on the shaft.
2) The shaft was way off center - the shaft circlip on one side was touching the body. It stuck out farther on one side than the other.
3) The pulley set screw hole was not fully tapped through so a set screw couldn't be turned down far enough to lock the pulley onto the shaft.
4)) One of the machine screws holding the body together was jammed in so tight I had to drill off the head to remove it. I needed to disassemble the unit to fix the other problems. Now I need to buy a replacement machine screw.

I had to adjust both main bearings to centre the shaft by carefully tapping each of them into correct position. Next I found a set screw from a spare pulley I had on hand. The pulley ideally needed to be removed from the shaft in order to fully tap the hole. That would have required removing one bearing so the pulley could be slid off the shaft, which I did not want to do. Instead I installed a small metal spacer on the shaft flat under the set screw hole. That allowed the set screw to make proper contact with the shaft locking the pulley in place.

I may be the only person who experienced these problems and I sincerely hope that is the case. It was not a fun experience.

[Stray Feathers]

That's discouraging! I have to say the one I bought has been fine. But I had a somewhat similar experience with Shop Fox woodworking vises. I bought one from Amazon (no one else in Canada sells them) and when I tried to assemble it I found that the two guide rods were not parallel. I actually tracked down and called a Shop Fox rep in Washington and he was sympathetic but just said I should send it back to Amazon. I did this, and Amazon replaced it without question. The second one was also crooked. So in the end I returned it too, and bought one from Lee Valley which is made in the Czech Republic, a little more expensive, but it has been great. The photos show the two faulty blue vises, and also one of the faulty ones with the Czech version. It looks to me like the blue ones are copies of the green one.Bruce W.