I have a sheet sander but would like a belt sander for more demanding
jobs. Since the sales are on it seems a good time to buy. Amazon below
stocks Bosch and Black and Decker. I'd like a durable one that will
last - I like good tools. Ideas for what to get? What width belt and
what wattage should I go for? I doubt that I'll be sanding whole
floors, but I will be sanding stuff like 2"x4" wood to make furniture.
Any bargains you've seen about? I'm in W.London.
Andy

On 2 Jan 2006 10:00:49 -0800
"Eusebius" wrote:

I have a sheet sander but would like a belt sander for more demanding
jobs. Since the sales are on it seems a good time to buy. Amazon below
stocks Bosch and Black and Decker. I'd like a durable one that will
last - I like good tools. Ideas for what to get? What width belt and
what wattage should I go for? I doubt that I'll be sanding whole
floors, but I will be sanding stuff like 2"x4" wood to make furniture.
Any bargains you've seen about? I'm in W.London.
Andy


I have a Bosch. It's very very good. Prefer the professional series
if you can afford it. Black and Decker are the same firm as DeWalt,
B&D is the brand they use for DIY tools and DeWalt for professional -
you pays your money...

R.

Should I buy a belt sander with a speed control? Or do they all have
one?

Eusebius wrote:

I have a sheet sander but would like a belt sander for more demanding
jobs. Since the sales are on it seems a good time to buy. Amazon below

Sounds like your choice is between random orbit and belt then...

http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/powertools/sander.htm

stocks Bosch and Black and Decker. I'd like a durable one that will
last - I like good tools. Ideas for what to get?

To an extent you pays your money and takes your choice. The more serious
ones cost a good bit more but with have continously rated motors (i.e.
you don't have to stop work every 20 mins to give it a rest) and will
probably pass far less vibration to your hands. You should get a better
finish and better dust collection into the bargain.

It is not worth buying a really cheap belt sander, since they are often
made on a plastic chassis. Hence you will find that after a few months
in storage it has often warped enough to no longer be able to centre the
belt correctly.

A rasonable random orbit sander would start with something like the
green Bosch PEX400.

? What width belt and
what wattage should I go for?

Most are about 4" unless you go for one of the special purpose narrow
"power file" types.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 2 Jan 2006 10:00:49 -0800, "Eusebius"
wrote:

I have a sheet sander but would like a belt sander for more demanding
jobs. Since the sales are on it seems a good time to buy. Amazon below
stocks Bosch and Black and Decker. I'd like a durable one that will
last - I like good tools. Ideas for what to get? What width belt and
what wattage should I go for? I doubt that I'll be sanding whole
floors, but I will be sanding stuff like 2"x4" wood to make furniture.
Any bargains you've seen about? I'm in W.London.
Andy


I researched this one long and hard just over a year ago, looking at
reviews and trying out different products.

For belt sanders, Makita is the best choice (different sizes
available) unless you want to go for a Festool.

For random orbital sanders, best choice is Metabo, especially SXE450,
which has two circle settings and variable speed.

I'm wondering slightly why you would use a belt sander in furniture
construction using 50x100mm timber.... Generally the application is
for larger surface areas and for material removal.

Broadly, you can go for a heavier duty 100mm model or a smaller 75mm
model - the latter being a little easier to wield.


--

..andy

On 2 Jan 2006 10:30:22 -0800, "Eusebius"
wrote:

Should I buy a belt sander with a speed control? Or do they all have
one?


I don't know if they all do, but yes, I think so.


--

..andy

On 2 Jan 2006 10:00:49 -0800, "Eusebius"
wrote:

I have a sheet sander but would like a belt sander for more demanding
jobs. Since the sales are on it seems a good time to buy. Amazon below
stocks Bosch and Black and Decker. I'd like a durable one that will
last - I like good tools. Ideas for what to get? What width belt and
what wattage should I go for? I doubt that I'll be sanding whole
floors, but I will be sanding stuff like 2"x4" wood to make furniture.
Any bargains you've seen about? I'm in W.London.
Andy

Hi,

Argos sometimes have some good deals, I bought a Challenge one before
xmas for £12.50 that I'm pretty happy with.

For sanding some 4" wide wood I'd expect a 4" sander will make things
a lot easier or even a 6" bench mounting belt sander if sanding a lot
of wood.

cheers,
Pete.