Upgrading wide belt sander

[Ian Funk]

I have a small shop and currently have some upcoming jobs. I'm doing a full kitchen and some other smaller custom furniture jobs. I'm looking to upgrade my WBS, right now I have a 15" open end bridgewood. I recently bought a RPC from American rotary, its the 40HP model. So I do have three phase but the max HP I want to go is 20. The problem I have now is that I can't run my face frames and larger panels through my sander. I'm open to buying new and have the means to through a loan from a family member. Yet I have seen some used ones at auction go for pretty cheap that don't look bad. Of course they can be money pits if buying used. I love buying from auctions and have my eye on a TIMESAVER 143-1HD60, I think its a 1998. What are your thoughts on this machine? Any advice would be great thanks.

[Darcy Warner]

Timesavers, AEG, Ramco, or Cemco are all good machines, parts are around for most. I try to avoid the older scmi sndya's, all the sandingmaster ones.

[Ken Grant]

There is a lot to figure out when shopping for a widebelt. They are not that easy to move and set up, so I would try to get it right the first time. The easiest question to answer is how wide? And that is easy to answer-wider is better

If you are looking at 20 hp max, then you are likely limited to a single head machine. Some sanders come with a steel contact drum, others have a rubber coated drum, and many single head machines have a combo head where it has a platen that can be raised or lowered. This is usually only lowered on the last pass of the finest grit. It lengthens the scratch and helps remove the "mill marks" left by the contact drum. A steel contact drum is good for leveling and accurately dimensioning parts. It will also last longer then a rubber drum, however it will not leave as nice of a finished surface.

Some of the older machines had air tracking. This apparently uses a lot of air. I would try to find one with the electronic eye for belt tracking. It will likely still use air, but not nearly as much.

I don't know what your budget is, but you might contact Adam West at Surfprep. I have not purchased a sander or anything from them, but Adam took some time to answer questions I had when I was setting up my Timesavers widebelt. He was really helpful and seemed to know his stuff quite well. I would also recommend reading his articles about wide belt sanders and grit sequences here: http://surfprepsanding.com/articles/
Chris Peterson is also very knowledgeable, and I think he sometimes has rebuilt Timesavers for sale.

There are some good threads here on sawmillcreek as well as over on woodweb. I put a link to one below. Good luck with your search!

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?113016-Wide-belt-sander-questions

[Martin Wasner]

If you're considering new, check out Apex. It's a Timesavers sander with different paint. It comes out of the same factory.

I spent almost $10k less than I would have had it been a Timesavers sander.

20hp is a nice size four a 37" machine. 15hp is adequate, I wouldn't go less though. It can be done though

[Dave Cav]

I have a 36" single phase Safety Speed Cut. It has a 10 HP motor, electric eye tracking, and a removable platen. It's a little underpowered for abrasive planing, but for a one man shop it works well, at least for me. Made in the USA, most of the parts are off the shelf items. If you have three phase they have a 15 HP motor available, as well as wider models. It's not a big heavy duty industrial sander like a Timesaver or some of the others, but it works pretty well for me.

[Chris Noponen]

If you can afford to go to a 52" machine versus a 43", I would spend the money. Yes the abrasive belts are going to be a little more in price, however resale value of a 52" is greater than a 43". Not to mention parts are more common on a 52" because of the popularity. BEWARE when buying any machine coming from overseas. You could have a tough time getting support on parts or service. I have serviced a few machines imported from across the pond and they have been a nightmare to get parts for not to mention any supporting documentation. Auctions are a great place to find good deals on used equipment...but as always, buyer beware. There are many hidden wear items that most buyers fail to realize, such as worn bed plates, jacks, ect. The most obvious would be wear in the drums, pinch rolls, conveyor belt, ect. Also if possible, try to verify if there is a manual with the machine. If not, it can make fixing your machine when it goes down frustrating. Hopefully the manual will not only have a section on operation and set up, but also a parts breakdown list, a electrical and pneumatic print as well. If you come across a used machine and have questions about it, feel free to give me a shout. I'd be more than happy to point out more of the things to be looking for when buying a used machine.