"Abe" wrote in message
. net...
Dear all,

I'm contemplating purchasing a General #15-250 sander. I have checked
with Uncle Google, but haven't found many accounts of extended real-
world experience with this beast. Can anybody comment on
quality/reliability, ease of adjustment and use, ease of replacing
paper, effectiveness of dust collection, etc. of the machine?

Also, anybody know where "General International" tools are actually
made? I didn't see it on General's site, nor on the google cites I
checked.

Any comments about the likelihood of satisfaction with this purchase
welcomed. Pointers to where it can be found at the lowest price also
gratefully welcomed.

Cheers,
Abe

I've got one. There is a learning curve to properly installing the sanding
strips and figuring out the correct grit to use. I managed to destroy
several belts within the first couple of uses due to my stupidity more than
anything. I didn't have the belts tight enough and they shred very easily.

It's under powered so it's necessary to take very shallow passes. I believe
the thinnest stock you can sand is 3/16" inch which in my experience is
fine.

Any knots or areas of soft grain may gum up sections of the sand paper
leaving burn marks in the wood or even digging a trough in the wood (mostly
seen with the knotty alder I was making cabinet doors out of). This is
where the advantage of a wide belt sander (e.g., Timesaver) has an advantage

The front drum is fixed an not adjustable as far as I can tell so if it's
out of parallel with the table you're screwed. The rear drum can be
adjusted for parallel or depth of cut which comes in handy as you go to
finer papers.

But my biggest complaint about the machine is that it's not the 37" model!
This machine is really on good to about 23" and that's pushing the limit.
Any larger surface and the stress on the sand paper increases where the
paper is the narrowest, where it attaches to the spring clamps. One learns
to put wide sections together in two pieces, sanding each then assembling
them.

Dust collection is good but then I have a 3 hp Oneida with a 6" feeder
supplying the two 4" pick-ups. MDF causes some problems but then most
people won't be sanding MDF (I needed some 3/8" MDF and only had 1/2").

Once you figure out how to properly set up and use this machine I think you
will like it.
I just wish I would have sprung for the wider model because inevitably I
always seem to need the extra width.

Gary