It's a sad day

[Waldo]

G'day All,

Well I have to report some sad news. My Metabo sheet sander, model no. SR 221 which was my late Grandads, has breathed its last and sanded its last bit of timber, it is no more.

I checked the Metabo website and it is too old that I can't get parts for it. I pulled it apart and suspect that one of the bushes is dead, I can't be certain, as I know as much about nuclear physics as I do about wiring and electricity. Not long ago I was saying it'll have many years in it yet as it's a Metabo.

I even used some 6mm air hose to replace the polyurathyne (sorry I can't spell) posts that had broken off.

Now I have to wait until I can replace it and all my projects go on hold until I can sand them down. I also now have the problem of convincing my wife that I have to replace it soon with another Metabo (I believe you get what you pay for and tools and machinery came in that category).

Wish me luck.

[Iain]

Get a festool Rotex and lie to SWMBO

[Sir Stinkalot]

Chris! ....

The Metabo Duo is a nice little unit ....

As for you old unit call a few repair places and see if they can help with second hand prices.

I once dropped a crappy Skill circular saw off the bench and bent the guard .... I took it to a very friendly local repair place and they put a secondhand guard on for around $15 .... they told me that the saw wasn't worth any more to be repaired which is true.

I have just taken in my Bosch hammer drill as it was cutting out ..... they whacked in a second hand switch, cleaned the internals, check gears etc for $29.00.

It may not be too late.

[graemet]

Get yourself a Duo, you'll never go back to an orbital. I have had a 1/2 sheet Towa waterproof sander for 30 years and considered it the bees knees, but one weekend with my Metabo Duo and the Towa hasn't been out of the cupboard since!
Cheers,
Graeme

[Waldo]

G'day Sir Stirkalot / graemet,

I'm hoping I can find a repair guy who'll come to the party and say, "Yes Sir, I can fix that for you" I'd also expect him to say, "But it's not worth it".

If not I'll look into the Duo you are both recommending. My wife is already looking up sanders on ebay, there is a Makita BO3700 up for brabs but at half the power of my Metabo which is giving me a time explaining the value of 330w over 180w.

Thanks for your help.

[Waldo]

G'day,

As an update to my poor Metabo sander, I took it down to a local Metabo stockist and asked the bloke at the counter can he fix this, even though the Metabo website says no parts are available? Sure he said, they still have parts for this.

So I should have it back in a week then it'll be back to work for the little green guy.

[Sir Stinkalot]

Chris! ..... I have just given the Duo a work out .... the first serious one since its purchase at last years woodworking show .... even if the sheet sander does get fixed start saving the $$$'s well worth it.

[Waldo]

G'day Sir Stinkalot,

After my Metabo went into hospital, I went down to Bunnies and had a look at the Metabo Duo. It looked like a nice bit of machinery, the one I saw was $255 so if I get it, yes I'll have to start saving.

The trouble is my wish list grows daily.

[Forest Gump]

Chris

From memory Bunnies don't have the Duo, the machine you were looking at was the 150mm XLS425 or something like that. I have the 125mm version of this machine. Great machine because it orbits at 5 mm.

By the way, I have the 1/3 sheet orbital Metabo, it's about 10 years old and a Gem as on Trade tool supplier said. Apparently they went downhill for a while in the 1/3 sheet machines but have just started to recover now. Maybe they were putting all there efforts into the ROS machines.

Daniel

[Waldo]

G'day,

Well the repair shop just rang about my Metabo sander and the synopsis from Metabo: "That'll be $250 to repair thanks Sir" I can go out and buy a replacement Metabo for $189, so that's what I'll be going to do.

But the downside is always the wife: "Well you are not going out right now to buy one, you can just wait"

I can spend $1,000 upgrading software for my business, a guy can have a nice 9x7m shed with his tools etc. but buy a tool that's another story.