The Definitive Porter Cable Polisher Spindle Wrench Thread

[Mike Phillips]

The Definitive Porter Cable Polisher Spindle Wrench Thread



The wrench that comes with a Porter Cable Sander/Polisher fitted onto the free spinning spindle







From the side view, you need to locate the position of the counterweight and insert the PC wrench into the housing from the opposite side because there is more clearance for the wrench to fit.







The below picture is the same picture as seen above only I've drawn circles around the sides of the counterweight, (red circles), and I've circled the spindle, which is where you need to place the wrench.







This is the side view from the opposite side and the red circle is around the counterweight. DON'T try to insert wrench here as there's usually not enough clearance between the counterweight and the back of the backing plate.






Here I'm inserting the PC wrench into the side opposite of the counterweight






Here you can see the PC wrench being inserted from the correct side.






And now with the backing plate removed, you can see what I'm talking about.








Don't do this - there's not enough room between the counterweight and the backing plate. If you do it this way and tighten down the backing plate it will be difficult to pull the wrench out as you will have sandwiched it between the counterweight and the backing plate.









When attaching a backing plate DON'T LOSE THE COMPRESSION WASHER - The compression washer prevents metal-to-metal contact.






Find your own way to make sure the compression washer does not fall off when you turn the backing plate over to thread onto the spindle, I use my thumb to hold it in place.






Then look through the side of the housing to locate the correct place, opposite of the counterweight to insert the wrench on to the spindle and then tighten the backing plate down snug. Don't over tighten - don't leave too loose. The key word is SNUG.





Read to start removing swirls....







On Autogeek.com


Porter Cable 7424XP Flat Wrench

Lake Country Compression Washers 5-Pack

Backing Plates

[Mike Phillips]

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Similar tools = similar wrenches

There are a lot of copies of the original wood sander sold as a paint polisher - the Porter Cable 7424/74336/7424XP - They all have a similar design including the free floating or free spinning spindle and they all come with a similar wrench to hold onto the spindle so you can remove and attach a backing plate.





BRAND NEW WRENCH OUT OF THE BOX OF A BRAND NEW 6" GRIOT'S GARAGE Random Orbital Polisher (now discontinued but there are MILLIONS of these suckers out there)

As you can see, it fits the Free Floating Spindle Assembly perfectly and this wrench has a little hole in the end of the handle were you could hang it up on a peg on a peg board in your garage. (I should have taken a picture of the entire wrench).






Same exact wrench on the Free Floating Spindle Assembly of a Meguiar's G110v2 - It fits snug and perfect.






Drum roll..... The brand new factory wrench, just out of the box does NOT fit on the Free Floating Spindle Assembly on the Porter Cable 7424XP. It could if I muscled it on, but it definitely does not SLIP on to the hex head exterior of the spindle.






I have placed the brand new wrench out of the box onto the housing on the Griot's Garage ROP and now have a wrench that "someone" has abused a little, and the span of the opening on the wrench has been stretched by abuse and not only does it fit on the Free Floating Spindle Assembly of the PC 7424XP but it's a little loose.






Same picture as above but a close-up view and you can see the free space between the wrench and the Free Floating Spindle Assembly.





Just for fun, here's a 15mm wrench on the PC and it's loose - you need 14mm






Tested out a 9/16 and it fit onto all three Free Floating Spindle Assemblies... Didn't check a 14mm as I have one more project to do before I can leave for the day.











I realized a standard or metric wrench is too thick to attach a backing plate to a tool, the above pictures with the metric and U.S. wrenches was for perspective only.

I personally have a 9/16" inch flat wrench probably from the 1960's or older that I use to tighten down the bolt that holds down a Chevy Distributor because it's bent and ti also can be used for DA Polishers because it's very flat.