Which belt sander?

[Dario]

Not sure if this was asked before but I am thinking of adding this...IN MY WISH LIST .

Which belt sander do you think gives the best bang for the buck? It will be used primarily to sand pen blanks (for picture purposes) and possibly touching up my tools.

Again, I am looking for best value possible.

Thank you.

 

[Doghouse]

This is an extremely simple tool. If you can access a motor, turn 2 drums and build your own. If you don't want to do that, They are basicly all the same. Considering what you are listing as uses, you may want to look at one of the bench sanders instead. Lowes has a few of them cheep and they come with a table you could angle to use as a grinder.

 

[ctEaglesc]

I respect Doghouses opinions but I must admit I don't think they are all the same.
I have a Ryobi 4" belt and 6" disc sander.
What impressed me about the unit to begin with was the fact that it had a cast iron base.
I figured that was good, it should prove to be a solid unit.
The belt portion is decent I suppse but the disc is an aluminum platen( no rusting I suppose) but it vibrates to the point I would not consider it a "precision" tool for "sanding the ends" of blanks rather than milling.
Other than that I use it all the time, it is the fastest way to scuff tubes,has a dust port for the D.C.,Belts and discs are common sizes.
I would check out a number of makes and see which run the smoothest, they can't all be as bad as the one I have.

 

[Ron Mc]

I have the same Ryobi that Eagle has yet I don't have a lot of vibration. At first I wasn't sure that I needed the belt sander but now I couldn't make some of my segmented pens without it.

 

[Mudder]

Most belt/disc sanders have an aluminum platen for the disc. I have the Ryobi and I an happy with it. I also have a 1x42 belt sander from Delta and it has an 8" disc that seems to vibrate less than the Ryobi, I got it real cheap (for you John) at Lowe's last year. And finally, the one I like to most is my Rigid oscillating spindle and belt sander, it works great for blanks with the bels attachment and it uses regular belt sander type belts.

I have come to realize that I now have more tools than room. [V]

 

[woodscavenger]

Go with a dedicated disc sander if you can. You can get a cheap one at HF for a reasonable price or you can make one for your lathe if you don't mind the setup/take down. It can be as simple as a piece of MDF screwed to your faceplate with adhesive sandpaper on it.

 

[wayneis]

Dario you really do need to go out and check out a few because there is a big difference in them. I have a Delta belt and disk that works good but I'm looking at going to just one of the 12" disk sanders because they have a much better table. Most of the belt-disk units only have one set of holddowns on one side of the table which lets the table flex if you put to much presser on it. With a lot of the 12" disk sanders that I have been looking at they all have a hold on each side of the table making it very secure. I use the disk for squaring all of my blanks, I have not used a barrel trimmer in a long time. I would think about it a bit and deside if you really need the belt or just mostly the disk, even HF has a pretty good 12" disk only bench sander.

Wayne

 

[Czarcastic]

I have the same Ryobi benchtop sander as mentioned above. Going on three years now.

Eagle, if you are getting vibration, check the tension on your belt.

I use mine all the time, not just for pens but for all my "flat" work as well. I buy the 6" PSA disks in assorted grits from HF(typically keep a 120grit mounted), and the 4x36 80-grit belts from Klingspoor (I have had no luck with the HF belts... the seams are uneven and cause "bumping").

The machine is loud, like most Ryobis, but works well and is easy to adjust for square. The dust port is 2-1/2", so you will probably need an adapter for your DC, but it is efficient.

For $100, I'd consider it a bargain.

 

[Doghouse]

I have the 1X42 Delta disk/ belt sander, and a belt sander.

I consider a belt sander the hand held tool used to "strip paint". A lot of people put these in vices for sanding. That is what I thought was ment by Dario's post. As usual I did not explain myself fully, sorry.

 

[alamocdc]

Dario, I bought the high end (if there is such a thing) HF 4x36" w/6" disk sander on sale three years ago. It has a dust port and everytime I check the table with a drafting triagle it is square. Having said that, I still don't trust it for blank squaring. Maybe I'm just paranoid. I use it all the time for rough sanding, though.

 

[clem]

Delta SA180 1 inch belt sander has 5inch disc also about 130
Ridgid osolating sander has belt and drum about 240 clem

 

[Rudy Vey]

Get the Jet 9" disc, 6"x48" belt sander. Very good machine for the money, get the version with the stand. I think this one is much better than the Delta machine.