Disc/Belt or Combined sander

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mbartlett99

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Its time to take some of the drudgery out and get hold of a stationary sanding machine; I was wondering what folks found most useful in practice.

1. 300mm disc sander; jet, record or SIP seem reassonable options

2. Combined disc/belt sander. There are the small 150mm units but I'm quite tempted by the Jet unit http://www.axminster.co.uk/jet-jsg-96-c ... der-510390

Too many options really. What do people actually find most useful, its not for a specific use as such.

Too complicate matters I'm also toying with a drum sander but thats a different question altogether.
 
I use a belt sander a LOT!
i bought a 4" belt and 6" disc but wish I had got a 6" wide belt.
The disc sander, not so much useage.
 
I had a belt & disc sander, and found I rarely used the disc as it was so small, and I wished the belt was vertical.

So when it was time to upgrade, I got the triton belt & spindle sander. It's a massive improvement in my book
 
Like the other guys, I've had a combined 4" belt and 6" disc sander for years, the disc was too small for anything useful and I never really used it. The belt arrangement was adjustable between the horizontal and vertical so it's left permanently vertical and gets a lot of use.
 
I have a 6'' disc / 4'' belt sander which was kindly donated to me by the late, great chippygeoff.

I rarely have a day when I don't use both the disc and the belt, several times a day.

I suppose it all depends on the kind of stuff you make?
 
You will always need more than one sander. You need to prioritise the greatest need.
I have a 14" disc sander that I made 20+ yrs ago using a petrol pump motor. Great for mitres, fine tuning to length, toys etc.
I use a Makita 4" hand held belt sander for cleaning up frames and a palm sander for decorating jobs.
A Jet 16/32 drum sander was bought a few years ago and has had little use, but is great for light passes for that smooth as slik finish after the planer/thicknesser. Be warned though as abrasives can be EXPENSIVE.

Colin
 
As ever it depends. Depends on what you want to sand. I first bought a small belt and disc sander. The only use I have for it is roughing out stuff. I guess the disc sander might be useful for sanding end grain...but when I tried it I spent forever getting it square. Perhaps it was too cheap.

I tried a very large disc sander..a Fox IRC. It went back as the disc was so out of square.

But I digress. Drum sanders are brilliant. Great for thicknessing down tricky grained wood. For running small cabinet doors through etc. But if you never make them ten that's not much use. As I was moving house I sold it and regret the decision.

I also have an Axminster linisher. Now that's a really handy bit of kit. But again, more suited to larger items.

Horses for courses.
 
Have any of you managed to get decent dust extraction on one of the combined belt/disc sanders? mine sends it all over the place 8-(
 
I use the Record 6” belt/10” disc combo unit http://www.yandles.co.uk/record-power-b ... 240v/p8204

A good sold machine, used most every time I’m in the workshop. The only change I made was to add Velcro to the disc to make sanding disc replacement easier. It’s a bit noisier than I anticipated, down to the brush motor I guess.

The disc is used a lot for squaring end grain stock, pen turning blanks etc, and shaping external profiles.

If I had the room, I would have liked the 12” disc and a separate 6” belt, but I haven’t, and as with lots of things in life compromise is required. This is a decent machine and can handle anything that fits on the belt without slowing it down, so plenty of power. The belt bed can be lifted to give a vertical belt if required.

I have my dc1100 dust extractor plumbed in to this sander 63mm port, and whilst it’s not perfect, it is 90%+ efficient.

Phil
 
I have had my Warco BDS 690 Belt & Disc Sander for over 18 months now and although the price is now £264 I would not hesitate in buying it. It is still advertised as having a 550 watt motor but as in my original post it arrived with a 1hp Induction Motor

It is used regularly and for quite long periods. I did mention in the original post warco-bds-690-belt-disc-sander-t96251.html about 2 thin brackets, I never did replace them and they have not been an issue. The only other small issue is while changing the belt a short screw that holds the plastic dust extractor has to be removed.

Through choice I disposed of the supplied stand and replaced it with a cupboard and modified the dust outlets to fit my extractor, added a Velcro pad to the disc.
 
Claymore":1v3pvkni said:
Have any of you managed to get decent dust extraction on one of the combined belt/disc sanders? mine sends it all over the place 8-(

An old Vax domestic hoover shoved up the dust port (ooer missus) seems to catch most of the dust from mine.
 
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