On Mon, 02 May 2005 11:19:35 -0500, Philip Hallstrom
wrote:


I'm a little unsure about why you'd choose a 12" disc vs a 8" vertical
belt sander. Seems like you could accomplish the same thing with either
tool, no? Perhaps sharpening various tools is easier on the belt?

And wouldn't the disc have the advantage that as you moved closer to the
center you're slowing down the RPM's if that's what you need for the
task at hand?

This all arises from looking at the ridgid belt/spindle combo and
wondering why I'd want a *short* horizontal belt sander since it seems
like if I was trying to round over the end of a say 2" wide board, the fact
that it was horizontal would make things difficult as it would
constantly be trying to "pull" the wood sideways.


So... with all that in mind, when would you pick a vertical belt sander
instead of a disc or vice versa? And when would you want a horizontal
sander (that isn't "norm-size")?

I've got one of those combination beasts with the 4" belt and 6" disc.
What I've found is that I use the belt sander most often (usually it
gets used for flattening glued-up components, for example- when I make
a short table leg out of two pieces of 4/4 stock, and they shift
slightly when clamping, the belt sander works great for hogging the
excess off.) But the disc sander works very well for doing things
like rounding the corners off of stock. The disc sander has a little
table in front of it (this can be set for use with the belt sander as
well, but it isn't very useful in that capacity) that helps keep the
sanded area perpendicular to the base. It also does not seem to get
clogged nearly as quickly.

As to which one is "better"- who knows? Get one of each, or one of
the combo ones that are all over, and try them out!



Thanks!

-philip

Aut inveniam viam aut faciam