Brewmaster

Can anyone tell me if there is a difference between the PC 7424 Polisher and the PC 7336 Sander. (Let's assume for the moment that I already know one comes with a polishing head and one comes with sandpaper)

As far as I can see they're identical except for the head unit. There's even a 7336SP which I can only assume stands for Sander/Polisher and comes with both heads.

Reason I'm asking is that I can find a 7336 significantly cheaper than the 7424. It's local and available immmediately. Even after I get the polishing attachment from Autopia it still looks like a better than break-even.

Any thoughts?

Brewmaster

Never mind - Found this in an unrelated link under the black market .. I'd give myself rep points if i could ...

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Porter-Cable 7335, 7336, 7424
The Skinny on the Sander / Car Polisher Systems
This article covers the following Porter-Cable tools:
The 7335 5" & 7336 6" Random Orbit Sanders (along with the sander kits we sell, 97355 & 97366 respectively), and the 7424 6" Random Orbit Car Polisher.
These tools are essentially identical in that they all use the same body. The difference lies in how these tools are outfitted. Therefore, if you own any one of the above models you have the capability to convert it into either a 5" or 6" sander/polisher. But before you can proceed you must understand that depending on the pad diameter one of two counterweights is used.
The counterweight is a half-moon shaped piece of metal attached to the rotating shaft of the tool. This smooths out the random orbit action by providing a counter balance to the elliptical orbit of the rotating backing pad. If you change the pad size you must also change the counterweight or suffer unnecessary vibration and possible damage to the tool.
There are two different counter-weights which are clearly marked to indicate use with either the 5" or 6" backing pad. Therefore if you decide to outfit the 7335 5" Sander with a 6" backing pad for sanding or polishing you must switch to the counterweight used with 6" backing pads. The same goes for the 7336 6" Sander. If you decide to outfit it for 5" sanding or polishing you must switch to the counterweight used with 5" backing pads.
The only exception is when using the 54745 6" Foam Polishing Pad. Due to its light weight and the small-diameter backing pad used (included with pad), it should be used with the 5" pad counterweight. Porter-Cable outfits the 7424 6" Car Polisher with the 5" pad counterweight.

SK2003TypeS

FWIW, I bought my 7424 at coastaltool.com for $119. Comes with a 6" backing plate and 6" counter weight. That's a pretty sweet deal.

JGsTL-S

yeah brewmaster, looks like you found the coastal tool site. thats where I also got mine.

get it!!

Brewmaster

Sorry guys ... PC 7336SP at Lowe's this morning for $79.99 ... Usually $99 but they've got a 20% off tools sale. Nice bonus, the SP comes with both Sanding disk and Polishing disk and it's $40 less than on the site .. plus no shipping.

SK2003TypeS

Kool, whatever works for you.
Keep in mind, the number of pads you'll get will add up too.