Belt sander ?

[Randal Stevenson]

I have a Craftsman (pawn shop special around the house projects), my father has a Craftsman, and I called around to a couple of friends.

Generally they all have the same opinions, while some of the belt sanders are a little nicer then others, the big thing they said was availability of belts. Here, for a portable one, 3x21 is the easiest to find. 4x36 for a standing unit and for a thin belt 1x42.

[David Weaver]

Well, I have the Ridgid belt sander and it works fine, bit hard to hold and use on pannels though....

Sorry guys, should have said portable hand held belt sander.
As much as I have eyes on a drum sander, it ain't gonna happen anytime soon, so a hand held version seemed like a good stopgap, at least till Beasty is convinced I need one or I get enough OT in to pad my stash fund, that'd be quite the padding for me...

Almost hate to ask but, Jim, what are people using instead of one of these sanders???

Al....who is NOT on a first name basis with his Festool dealer....

I'm not jim, but I also have a 4x24 PC belt sander that has spent its running lifetime upside down.

Unless you're doing serious panel leveling, a ROS with an aggressive orbit size is easier to use than a belt sander and harder to screw up the workpiece with (and capable of fine work). The moment I got a variable speed 6-inch PC ROS, the chance of the large belt sander being used on anything other than floors just totally evaporated.

The big PC belt sander is a locomotive, which is nice on floors, but not so nice for delicate work.

This part is beside the point, but I find that leveling that is above and beyond the scope of the ROS with big grit is faster and more precisely done with hand planes. The surface left behind is more pleasing, too.

[Al Willits]

""""""
Unless you're doing serious panel leveling, a ROS with an aggressive orbit size is easier to use than a belt sander and harder to screw up the workpiece with (and capable of fine work). The moment I got a variable speed 6-inch PC ROS, the chance of the large belt sander being used on anything other than floors just totally evaporated.
""""""""""

I find that interesting, in auto body work, a straight line sander will make much flatter pieces that a DA, also much easier.

Different strokes I guess.

I do notice nobodies offering to sell them belt sanders they never use anymore...

I also was not looking for a BIG sander, one of the smaller version is what I'm looking at.
That's why I looked at the little PC compact one first.
I also have a 5" RAS that works just fine, up to a point.

Al

[Neil Lamens]

Depends on your building style, I've gone through 2 and on my 3rd PC 3x21......great tool. Depends on the build you're doing. Right now I'm in a period where it isn't prominent.

A Belt Sander has its place in a Wood Shop.

[Jim Summers]

Check out the Rikon for around 250 bucks. I like it because the disc on the side is lower than the belt sander. I've had one for around 2 years now and never a problem yet.

Hi Bill,

What all can you do with it? I am just a home / hobbyist type and have always thought this would be a useful tool, but thought I would check and see what all can be done with it. Also a little space challenged. I currently have the standard hand sanders, random orbital, belt sander.

Thanks

[Steve Jenkins]

I have a 4x24 Makita that I have had for 15 years and use a lot. I use it for sanding the rails and stiles of doors to get the joints dead flush, edgebanding on panels to get them flush, solid stock to remove minor planer marks, and believe it or not I sand veneers with it to remove veneer tape and flush up edgebanding. Just a matter of LOTS of practice. I wouldn't be without it.
I find it is much more effective for flattening a surface than an orbital sander.
I like the heavy weight. No need to push down so it's easier to keep balanced. Just let it do the work.