Metal Finishing

My go to surface clean up before powder coat is a 40 grit flap disc. Usually just a little cleanup of the 14 ga HR pickled and oiled steel is all it takes. Sometimes I have some large areas and I would like to remove 99% of any marks before powder coat.
Do any of you use this tool for surface cleanup and what wheel do you use?

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I have the Harbor Freight version of that and its awesome. It removes powder coat better than anything I’ve used and also does a great job giving metal a brushed look.

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I have the Eastwood SCT Contour. I use the 40 grit abrasive drum to get surface cleaned up then an 80 or 120 grit interleaved drum to finish prep.

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SWomack
What kind of drum do you use what grit?

Gtj
What material is that? Aluminum oxide drum? Thanks for the info
Also…how long does the drum last you about how many square feet can you final finish per drum?

You can look at the drums on the Eastwood.com site search under SCT Contour. There is several You Tube videos as well on these units.
The abrasive drum is like a hard plastic material. If you happen to catch a sharp edge it will chew it up somewhat. I have striped paint, powder coat and hot rolled with it successfully. It has been said you can strip 1/2 of a car of old paint with one drum, but that might be a stretch, the way I use mine anyway. They offer a narrow version as well, which requires a couple adapters on the tools shaft. The same material can be found for angle grinder discs. I like them as well for more hard to reach places.
The interleaved drums in a 120 grit leave a nice finish for painting. I have conditioned some aluminum to a pretty shine with a 320 grit drum.

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I use the 40 grit. They’re 20% off this weekend at HF.

My new favorite tool!

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I got one it awesome. Pull the side off the gearbox and make sure there’s grease in there…

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Did you find any in yours?

The gears were dry and there was a spattering around the inside edge of the housing. I added just enough that the gears would come into contact with it occasionally. I put the check the grease in my review and they didn’t publish it. It’s an awesome machine.

I have seen this before on cheap tools. I thought the Bauer line was better quality but maybe not.

This, the 14ga shears, and the thumb switch angle grinders ate pretty good. The bearing in the grinder is the size that’s in my Dewalts which is much larger than the similarly priced Craftsman. Some of their stuff is priced the same as name brands. The 90 day warranty is a buzz kill but I never buy the extended warranty from them.