Hoping for some blue skies thinking or equipment options here. Very tight for floor space, and so can't realistically manage another floor machine - but could use edge and profile/template sanding capability. Might otherwise have thought of an oscillating belt edge sander. A friend has a wide belt sander locally which is available for use when needed - so that requirement is covered.
I have a pillar drill (about to be upgraded), Hammer F3 tilting shaper and router table and am seeking to come up with some options. Router based options look a bit flimsy...
There's some nice looking drum sanders from 40mm dia upwards to fit the shaper, and which can be fitted with a guide bearing for profiling to templates. e.g. http://www.toolstoday.com/p-5962-sanding-drum.aspx Straight edge sanding may also (?) be an option with the shaper fences set up to use a large diameter sanding drum in jointer mode. Cranking the spindle up and down would expose fresh abrasive. Min rpm and the risk of burning is concern.
There's lots of drum sander options available to mount in a pillar drill when a smaller diameter is required. e.g. http://www.axminster.co.uk/fixing-gl...s/drum-sanders Failing that a portable bench type oscillting sander may be an option.
All of this line of thought presumes that a non oscillating spindle running abrasive strip off a roll can do a decent job and deliver a reasonable life between changes of abrasive - i've no experience with the oscillating/purpose made abrasive sleeve type.
Are there perhaps other ways to tackle this requirement?
Thanks ian