Harbor Freight Dual Action Polisher 6" To 3" Backing Plate Counterweight Modification

Подписаться 2,3 тыс.

Просмотров 21 тыс.

50% 1

How To Modify A Harbor Freight Chicago Electric DA Polisher Counterweight To Balance A 3 Inches Backing Plate With Minimal Vibration. This mod works with Harbor Freight, Porter Cable and other brands that use similar counterweights. The final weight of the modified counterbalance was of 1 and 5/8 ounces. I personally use my Harbor Freight DA polisher with a 3 inches backing plate to do headlight restorations and it works wonderfully.
Some of the items I use in this video:
Porter Cable Counterweight: amzn.to/2DPkdpi
Torq 5 Inches Backing Plate: amzn.to/2O24iIU
Powerbuilt 21mm Long Throw Polisher: amzn.to/2IznwQu
Lake Country 3 inches backing plate: amzn.to/2Qqp4yH
Drill Press: amzn.to/2Qp8Fe0
Chicago Electric DA Polisher: amzn.to/2QsGgDX
Black And Decker Table: amzn.to/2QK47yS
Porter Cable DA Polisher: amzn.to/2zNFpIk
7/32" Drill bit: amzn.to/2NXf4QR
1/4"Drill bit: amzn.to/2OvfwFj
Flat Hand File: amzn.to/2zNDTWJ
Protective Gloves: amzn.to/2O2s4EG
The two washers I bought at Ace Hardware and drilled the holes to the specific size needed.
The reason I modified my Harbor Freight dual action polisher is because I mostly use it with a 3 inches backing plate and already had one backing plate fly off the machine. The backing plate came off along with the nut where it bolts in to the machine. The problem was that the vibration was so much that it loosen up the snap ring which holds the nut in place. I was lucky the flying backing plate didn't strike me on the face. Now, before I go on to label my Harbor Freight DA polisher as "A Piece Of Junk" like many people do I have to look at how have I've been using the tool.
Using a 3 inches backing plate puts the machine under a level of vibration it was simply not design for; that is not a fault of the machine but from the user. However there is a way around it and it is by balancing the counterweight with the backing plate as I show in this video.
Disclaimer
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Опубликовано:

6 авг 2024

Ссылка:

Скачать:

Готовим ссылку...

Добавить в:

Мой плейлист

Посмотреть позже

Комментарии : 39

@LK249 6 месяцев назад

Did exactly as you said and it worked perfectly! It dramatically lessened the vibration of the machine. Night and day difference. Thank you for sharing this!

@CarcareenaDetailing 2 года назад

Rarely found people talking about this. Nice!

@rand49er 3 года назад

I have a 6" polisher and want to be able to use it with a 3" backing plate. Thanks for suggesting this approach to making this possible!

@Machewching 2 месяца назад

Very helpful! Thank you

@kickerpunter8414 10 месяцев назад

Thank you very much for this video. I have a Bauer DA. I want to use 5 & 3 inch pads. So, b/c of you, I bought 2 of those porter cable counter weight balancers. One I will use with my 5 inch pads since its lighter than the original & the other I'm drilling out just like you, for my 3". I really appreciate your work & this video. Cool accent too; not a 5 inch pad, a 5 inches pad. That's kind of funny. You're really helping people with this. Thanks again.

@Jeff_Seely 2 года назад

A good trial and error fix that will save your hands! Central pneumatic isnt the most well balanced polisher to begin with. I faced the same problem wound up milling ~ 150mils off of the counterweight's face. That was also trial and error but I got it close. My suggestion to people who do not have the means and patience is to just buy a 3" mini polisher. Some of them are pretty good and add the benefit of less heat, size, noise, and weight. Most of them can be bought for less than $100.

@bbdetailing9123 Год назад

Good job. You're the only other person I've seen think about this. I was going to do similar, but for different reasons and for different machine.

@willie3528 3 года назад

Gracias amigo. Im doing that to one of my polishers and turning it from a 6 to a 3 inch permanently. Adios and Merry Christmas

@HeadsUP253 2 года назад

I know this video is 3yrs old but hey great review!!! You described it perfect 👍 and i say u know what ur doing!

@ToolsAndI 2 года назад

I appreciate that!

@TeachDIY 4 года назад

Good job, from your info, it looks like the weights for this machine are: For 6" plate 62g, 5" plate 50g and 3" plate 45g or thereabouts.

@still-DJ 2 года назад

Fantastic idea and job. Very smart thinking. The next time you have the counterbalance off, can you post a diagram showing the centerline of each hole. Location makes a huge difference. Thank you.

@ricardoalexandre9308 3 года назад

At list give it a try

@furias-ug9yf 8 месяцев назад

thanks i had no clue...

@abiamiamab9677 3 года назад

It's a game changer,

@JohnGorny Год назад

Hey Cool video didnt think about the counter balance weight so this is helpful. I have the bauer 6" DA and feel the combination of having a short throw and fair amount of vibration makes paint corrections more tiring than they need to be. Was planning on buying a LHR15 for primary DA and then converting the 6" bauer to a 3" model permanently. Did you have a similar line of thinking for why you converted yours to 3"? Is the bauer 6" DA a better machine to use for 3" pads?

@ToolsAndI Год назад

John, thanks for your comment. I converted the harbor freight machine because I have a long throw polisher I use for larger pads and the harbor freight with the 3” backing plate mainly for headlight restoration projects. A long throw would certainly be much more difficult to convert since they are not meant to be used with those smaller backing plates.

@ricardoalexandre9308 3 года назад

I think you can use de 3 in the 8mm DA.... but you can not use de 3 disc in the 15 ou 21mm .....

@BigBear-- 3 года назад

Question: Did you try the 3” backing pad on the 20mm long throw polisher? That Bauer polisher has an adjustable counterweight, so I’m wondering if you tried it? And if the weight had enough adjustment in it that you could balance it without any other modifications to the weight itself. Please let me know. Thanks!

@BPTVch 3 года назад

The 20mm polisher does not accept a 3" pad. I don't have a Bauer polisher, mine is a Chicago Electric. Even though they are the same thing having an adjustable counterweight may be something HF added when they re-branded to Bauer. I still haven't seen that feature.

@richardfox3924 3 года назад

How would you drill hole plate if don't have drill press and without getting hurt? Thank you

@BPTVch 3 года назад

I recommend holding the counterweight down to a table using clamps and using a regular drill.

@ricardoalexandre9308 3 года назад

Why you did not show the unbalance machine one before you do the holes? I would like to see what was that on with the original weight .... do you think it was to unasceptable to use it without make those holes even in a short period of the time?

@ToolsAndI 3 года назад

Read the description of the video. It may help you understand how bad and dangerous it is to use the 3" backing plate without modifying the counter weight.

@samsman007 4 года назад

How about using the 3inch plate on the 21mm throw DA machine?

@ToolsAndI 4 года назад

I think that's going to create an ever bigger problem of imbalance. 21mm polishers usually have a heavier counter weight. I would look online and try find a 3in backing plate already designed for 21mm machines. However I don't think they exist. You can also reach out to the manufacturer of your machine for suggestions.

@cubul32 4 года назад

What's the original 6 inch counterbalance weight? I want to compare with the weight of the backing plate.

@ToolsAndI 4 года назад

I believe you can see right on the video; almost sure I showed the weights. I don't remember the weight from top of my head right now.

@garypreece7299 5 лет назад

Hi there what did you reduce the weight down to in the end

@ToolsAndI 5 лет назад

1 and 5/8 ounces weighted using a kitchen scale.

@garypreece7299 5 лет назад

Thanks moongrass TV

@garypreece7299 5 лет назад

My 3" backing plate weighs approx 30grams and the counterweight weighs approx 50grams so I think I'm going to shave 15grams off the counterweight so it's still got a degree of an offset if you get me.... would you say as I'm no engineer,...thanks

@ToolsAndI 5 лет назад

Hey I'm no engineer neither. My recommendation is to test the machine with its original parts and take a good mental note of the vibration levels. Then when you switch to the smaller backing plate start modifying the counterweight taking small steps at a time and testing. You want to get to the same level of vibration like when you took mental note with the original parts. Good luck and thanks for checking out my channel!