Italian classic - sander gloat

[J.R. Rutter]

This SCMI/Samco Unilev 15 arrived at my shop last week. I'll be using it with a power feeder to sand edges. I'm working on an attachment that will let me work to a final dimension with precision. This type of sander is more popular in Europe than here in the US. I haven't come across many of these, so I thought that I would share some pics.




Rather than a long platen, this has a shorter 36" platen open on one side. The other side has a jointer type offset fence and strip platen, about 1-1/2" wide. The driven drum on the end can be used for inside curves. For tighter inside curves, there is a set of spindles that mount in the drum, along with a table to raise the work. I got lucky in that this machine still had the accessory spindles and wrenches. It even has an inflatable drum type, that I mounted for the pics. The dust hood is made to position wherever it will do the most good. I find it too big and will probably get/make a few magnetic hoods for faster repositioning.




The entire belt assembly cranks up and down to use the entire belt. It is surprisingly rigid (the whole machine is 900 lbs). The strip platen is similar to a widebelt platen: It adjusts in/out and has a felt pad, steel flap platen (like a handheld belt sander), and graphite cloth wear surface. I may need to go to a harder pad for the light dimensioning work that I want to do with it. The table on this side is covered in plastic laminate and tilts up 45 degrees for bevels.



The control panel rotates to whatever side you are working on. It has a 2 speed motor switch, and controls for the pneumatics that tension the belt and activate the oscillation. The oscillation is limited on the bottom by an air jet. The pressure of the jet and oscillation piston controls the height and speed of motion. I'm not sure yet if this has any significant advantages over a mechanical linkage other than being less fussy with belt changes. The drive motor is 4.8HP, so there will be plenty of power . . .

[Jim Becker]

That's a beefy lookin' thang! Congratulations. Nice acquisition.

[Jeffrey Makiel]

I'm not sure what I'm even looking at...but it sure looks cool!

-Jeff

[Bruce Page]

Thanks for the pics, first time I've seen one of those.
It looks like a very nice machine.
Judging by the background, you have a bevy of nice machines!

[John Schreiber]

It's interesting to see a tool that I haven't seen before.

Would it be accurate to say that in addition to being a belt sander, it's an edge jointer? I mean, can the fences be offset from each other?

Then with the addition of a fence on the opposing side, it would effectively be an edge planer.

[J.R. Rutter]

It's interesting to see a tool that I haven't seen before.

Would it be accurate to say that in addition to being a belt sander, it's an edge jointer? I mean, can the fences be offset from each other?

Then with the addition of a fence on the opposing side, it would effectively be an edge planer.

Yes, the infeed fence can be offset. It runs in a machined way along the same angle as the back side of the fence piece. You can use it like an edge jointer, but it would take a coarse grit to actually straighten like a jointer. For sanding long edges, it gives more control than trying to slide it along an open platen.

I will indeed be setting it up with an outboard fence and feeder to do my final dimensioning on drawer faces, fillers, and misc parts. A sideways abrasive planer. Similar to a shaper setup where you clamp a fence to the table and run parts against it to cut a groove and do final dimensioning at the same time.

[Steve Jenkins]

very very nice J.R.
Being able to dimension and sand edges in one pass will definately speed up the processs alot. I'll have to stop by next-time I'm in the area and check out all the shop improvements.

[J.R. Rutter]

Absolutely Steve! Hope to see you up here again. Things have progressed nicely since your last visit.

[J.R. Rutter]

My old local host for photos sold their domain name, so my original pics are gone. Here they are again.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Thanks for reposting - I missed that first time around.

Curious: What is the belt speed for the edge sanding operation, and what is the feeder's feed rate? WOndering what the effective ground speed is for the wood crossing the sanding point.

[Kent A Bathurst]

JR - just went thru you website. Very nice - the graphics, the description of what you do - the whole thing.

One questions - going thru the Shop section - I didn't see anything for the M&T joints - what process do you use for those?

[Gabe Morrison]

Hey JR,

i just joined sawmillcreek so I could reach out to you. I recently bought this exact Scmi unilev 15 sander and I need to give it a good clean up and might have to replace a part or two. Hopefully one day will be pretty like yours. Do you have a manual for the unilev? Also- any idea where I could get some spindles for it? You still use the sander? How’s it been over the years?

[J.R. Rutter]

Hey JR,

i just joined sawmillcreek so I could reach out to you. I recently bought this exact Scmi unilev 15 sander and I need to give it a good clean up and might have to replace a part or two. Hopefully one day will be pretty like yours. Do you have a manual for the unilev? Also- any idea where I could get some spindles for it? You still use the sander? How’s it been over the years?

I would not bother with spindles because they don't oscillate and are metric sized so sleeves are difficult/impossible to get. I sold my set of spindles a few years ago. The sander gets used every day, and still works well, though I did have to bypass the overload breaker and main on/off part of the pneumatic circuit (just did a valve on the incoming air line).

[Bill White]

$12.00 U.S.

Dang! Will that thing cook a meal too? What a beast.
Bill

[Martin Wasner]

Hey JR,

i just joined sawmillcreek so I could reach out to you. I recently bought this exact Scmi unilev 15 sander and I need to give it a good clean up and might have to replace a part or two. Hopefully one day will be pretty like yours. Do you have a manual for the unilev? Also- any idea where I could get some spindles for it? You still use the sander? How’s it been over the years?

Parts pronto should have everything you'll need