Benchtop sander recommendation

[Steven66]

I have some recoil pads to fit and a (I think it's a Wheeler) jig. I want to buy a benchtop sander (disc & belt) for grinding the pads (and other sanding jobs). Haven't had any luck yet finding a used one. I figure I'm stuck with something made in China regardless, but I want to get the most quality for my money. Any suggestions? Thanks!

[gnoahhh]

To my way of thinking you would be happier with a 12 disc sander. Delta makes a dandy one.

[Preacher Jim]

You want a minimum of 6" belt and the disk should be as big as you can find on one.

[country gent]

Things to look for in a sander. belt and disc.
1) belt ad disc sizes availability in your area. Finding odd sizes can be a issue, though with a good trammel discs can be cut down. Several I know put this to use, since discs get used up faster on outside edge they have 2 1 12" or 14" and a 8" when the big discs edge is done they cut it down for the smaller sander. Belts are the same an odd size belt can be a pain to find.
2) plenty of horse power to drive the disc/belts. A sander that bogs down or stalls is a pain to use
3) ease of cleaning it up, a sander that catches dust of drops it where its in the open makes clean up easier. a chip rush and pan sweep up. Ine that dumps under base needs to be moved to clean under it.
4) on belt sanders look at the drums for the belt. Make sure they are crowned and not flat. a flat drum is almost impossible to get the belt to track on a crowned drum makes this much easier.
5) Weight a heavier machine wont slide and move around as much.

[KCSO]

I built a 12" disk sander from scrap for pads and it works way better than a belt sander. I use Brownell's jigs and scribe the pad and coat with chalk and grind to the chalk line. A lot easier to do on a disk sander alone. For a belt and disk combo I have a 6x48 9" disk that has lasted for 25 years, a Grizzly if I remember right.

[Doc Fillem]

I have a Craftsman belt/disc combo that has served me well. It looks like this one https://www.gamut.com/p/combination-belt-disc-sander-42-in-belt-lg-corded-power-source-MjA5MjY4?gclid=Cj0KCQiA-onjBRDSARIsAEZXcKbTiDiO67RM_hVEFL8QK7izZSjRmmfso21 6sGLbPHpbDBDbQZIeIVMaAlMKEALw_wcB

[Steven66]

Thanks. I'm curious why the large disc sander works better than the belt? Also, as long as the sanding surface (disc/platen) meets up with all the areas on the pad, does it really matter whether its a large disc and/or belt? Or does a given size allow you to work with more precision?

I also need to get a table saw for remodeling the house. Can you find easily sanding disc conversions to use on table saws?

[Bazoo]

You can get disc plates for use on a table saw. I believe woodworkers supply sells them. I looked it up for ya, had the catalog handy; part number 95-430 price is 30.00 from a 2014 catalog. www.woodworker.com / 1-800-321-9841 . If you call they'll send you a catalog. Lee Valley is more of a precision woodworking supplier but they have some hard to find things sometimes. www.leevalley.com

As for finding sandpaper, Redhill corporation 1-800-822-4003 / supergrit.com is the best I've found. Both in price and quality. Their great folks to deal with. You can buy 1 belt or 100, whatever you need. They stock everything from sheet paper to discs to all sizes of belts.

For the sander itself, we used delta 9" disc/6x48 belt sanders at work. Last pretty good for a homeowner grade considering we used them industrially. If I was in the market for non-industrial I'd look at ridgid. Jet stuff is pretty good for low/medium duty industrial grade but their combo sander will set you back 700ish.

[Pete44mag]

I have used a Delta 12" disc and 6"x48" belt in my cabinet shop for the past 20 years. Still going strong. Craftsman makes a disc that fits a table saw the last I looked. Maybe a problem with them going in and out of business recently.

[Boolit_Head]

Avoid the Horrible Freight stuff. From what I have seen they are under powered.

[Greg S]

Check Craigslist and look for a belt sander that can be set up to sand vertically.

[Bazoo]

Vertical belt sanders are great for lots of stuff. I prefer them really over the disc sanders for most things. One problem you'll encounter with them over disc is you'll wear the graphite backing off in just that spot if you use them for the same thickness material all the time. A disc sander doesn't have anything between the backing plate and the sanding disc though so it holds up forever. You can buy replacement graphite backing for belt sanders, I've changed a few. Was easy enough.

[samari46]

I tried one of the disc sanders that take the place of the saw blade. The vibration was so bad that whatever I was going to work on was put aside and the saw shut down. Think what I'm going to do is make an arbor for the steel disc and mount it in the lathe. Then take a skim cut across the edge to true up the disc. Frank

[country gent]

My one wood lathe is now set up with 2 attachments one is a 12" disk and table to fit in place of the rest. A little awkward working from the side but not to bad. The second is a shaft that mounts 4 buffing wheels onto the spindle and the center is used to support other end. ! sisel wheel and 3 cotton flannels for compounds. This works out well since wheels are all mounted and I just move over to the one and compound needed.

[ulav8r]

The advantage of a large disk over a small disk is longer life before having to change sanding disks. The advantage of a disk over a belt is usually the size of the table making it easier to use pad holding jigs. The belt sander will give longer usefull life because of greater working area. Also, the cutting speed is consistent anywhere on a belt, but a disk cuts faster on the outer edge and not at all in the center.

[Bazoo]

Vertical belt sanders aren't as likely to burn wood as a disc either, especially as the sand paper gets worn.

[crappie-hunter]

My Grizzly 6x48 belt and 9" disc is a good sander ,but is underpowered unless you wire it for 220 volt. Wired 220 and you will not stall it. Keep it wired 110v and you will not be happy. It is a dual voltage motor and simple to wire to 220v ,it comes wired 110V.

[Shopdog]

The longer the belt..... the cooler they run. The larger the diameter on the "spindles", the easier it is on the belt..... both,the abrasive and the belt's joint. On typical 6X48 verts,you have a cpl things available.... one is,you can run two different grits at the same time,slice the belt. And the other is "slack belt" or non platen,backside. Extremely useful for blending and linishing(sp).

We'll never be without a vert or two but,if you ever get a chance..... try a nice 6X80 edge sander. It's got to be the #1,you never knew how useful they are 'till you get one. And NOT,those baby Rigids..... needs to be bigger,much more robust because you are going to be leaning pretty hard on it....so,cast iron rules. I rarely use discs on stationary equipment....

[Shopdog]

Oh yeah,you can run longer belts on say,a 6X48. 2X72 and the necessary idler wheel. You will need to fabricate an adjustable arm to support the extra wheel. It's for certain things,that don't warrant a dedicated machine for.

[porthos]

before retirement; i had installed around 3000 recoil pads. used the cheaper grizzly 6x48 then got the better 6x48. use the belt not the disc. a 4x36 will probably work for your needs; just slower

[wv109323]

I have the cheap Chinese with a 6" disc. I installed 6-8 recoil pads and they turned out good. With my jig an 8 or 12" disc is desirable. The 6" ones I am talking about are $69 to $99 . As far as longevity I have bought 2. The first I gave to my father about 30 years ago. He is a woodworker and has seen untold use. I used it just a few weeks ago on a small project and it was still going strong.
I would reccomend the 8-12" disc.