It's cheap but seems to get decent reviews...anybody here have handson
w/ it or an alternate suggestion of moderate/low initial cost? Primary
purpose touchup sanding for curved legs, etc., from the BS...

Also, the Grizz benchtop oscillating spindle sander looks to be a decent
deal at $160 -- doesn't seem much else available that is as
capable/well-equipped that isn't much higher?

--

On 2/10/2013 2:57 PM, dpb wrote:
It's cheap but seems to get decent reviews...anybody here have handson
w/ it or an alternate suggestion of moderate/low initial cost? Primary
purpose touchup sanding for curved legs, etc., from the BS...

Also, the Grizz benchtop oscillating spindle sander looks to be a decent
deal at $160 -- doesn't seem much else available that is as
capable/well-equipped that isn't much higher?

--

I have a similar craftsman, 1x40.. I like it, comes in handy for all
sorts of things. Sharpening axes , rounding metal.. I have some coarse
belts for wood, and it works well. Mine also has the ability to do
inside sanding, you loop the belt back to itself so you can do inside
sanding. Pretty neat. I have read the reviews on the HF and don't think
you can go wrong for the sale price + 20% off coupon.

I also have a big belt 6x48. That I use.

If I were going to spend the 160 on the griz, I would check out the
Rigid combo, belt and drum oscilating .. for $199 it still looks like a
nice unit. I was looking for one used before I found my $2 6x48 that
needed rebuilding. It was well worth the effort. But it doesn't have the
oscilating feature... which I think is nice, but it makes fast work of
everything.

--
Jeff

On 2/10/2013 2:36 PM, woodchucker wrote:
On 2/10/2013 2:57 PM, dpb wrote:
It's cheap but seems to get decent reviews...anybody here have handson
w/ it or an alternate suggestion of moderate/low initial cost? Primary
purpose touchup sanding for curved legs, etc., from the BS...

Also, the Grizz benchtop oscillating spindle sander looks to be a decent
deal at $160 -- doesn't seem much else available that is as
capable/well-equipped that isn't much higher?

--

I have a similar craftsman, 1x40.. I like it, comes in handy for all
sorts of things. Sharpening axes , rounding metal.. I have some coarse
belts for wood, and it works well. Mine also has the ability to do
inside sanding, you loop the belt back to itself so you can do inside
sanding. Pretty neat. I have read the reviews on the HF and don't think
you can go wrong for the sale price + 20% off coupon.

I also have a big belt 6x48. That I use.

If I were going to spend the 160 on the griz, I would check out the
Rigid combo, belt and drum oscilating .. for $199 it still looks like a
nice unit. I was looking for one used before I found my $2 6x48 that
needed rebuilding. It was well worth the effort. But it doesn't have the
oscilating feature... which I think is nice, but it makes fast work of
everything.

I've got a 10" by 6x48 combo unit so don't really need the Ridgid--I
like the larger table on the Grizz...

I've used the sanding platen w/ the 12" Craftsman bandsaw and it works
ok up to a point but is somewhat of a pita to have to set up so for the
cheap on the HF I'm pretty sure I'll give it a go--it's just too cheap
to worry about...don't have any coupons at the moment but that's hardly
an issue for the price...

--

On 2/10/2013 2:36 PM, woodchucker wrote:
If I were going to spend the 160 on the griz, I would check out the
Rigid combo, belt and drum oscilating .. for $199 it still looks like a
nice unit.

+1

Don't own it because I have both a Delta BOSS, and a Delta drum/belt
sander, but the first time I saw it I thought that if I had to do it all
over again, there it was.

--
eWoodShop: www.eWoodShop.com
Wood Shop: www.e-WoodShop.net
https://plus.google.com/114902129577517371552/posts
http://www.custommade.com/by/ewoodshop/
KarlCaillouet@ (the obvious)

On Sun, 10 Feb 2013 13:57:29 -0600, dpb wrote:

It's cheap but seems to get decent reviews...anybody here have handson
w/ it or an alternate suggestion of moderate/low initial cost? Primary
purpose touchup sanding for curved legs, etc., from the BS...

I just bought one today. I'll try it out in the next week or so. But I
bought mine to shape rails for model RR turnouts so my report may not be
much good for woodworking.

And, as someone pointed out, with the lack of quality control in HF
stuff, I could get a perfect one and the next buyer get a piece of trash
- or vice versa.

--
When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and
carrying a cross.

dpb wrote:
It's cheap but seems to get decent reviews...anybody here have handson w/
it or an alternate suggestion of moderate/low initial cost? Primary
purpose touchup sanding for curved legs, etc., from the BS...

Also, the Grizz benchtop oscillating spindle sander looks to be a decent
deal at $160 -- doesn't seem much else available that is as
capable/well-equipped that isn't much higher?

--

I'm thinking good for flat surfaces. For curved irregular surfaces
probably something more like this.

http://www.harborfreight.com/4-inch-...all-96948.html

"dpb" wrote:

It's cheap but seems to get decent reviews...anybody here have
handson w/ it or an alternate suggestion of moderate/low initial
cost? Primary purpose touchup sanding for curved legs, etc., from
the BS...
-------------------------------------------------
My landlord had a 1" x 40" bench top belt sander.

Primary purpose was to knock off burrs after sawing, rough
sharpening of work chisels, putty knives, scrapers, scissors, etc.

Worked well for that purpose.

It's a cheap and dirty sharpening device.

No experience with HF unit, but at $40, it becomes a throw away.

Lew

dpb wrote in :

It's cheap but seems to get decent reviews...anybody here have handson
w/ it or an alternate suggestion of moderate/low initial cost? Primary
purpose touchup sanding for curved legs, etc., from the BS...

Also, the Grizz benchtop oscillating spindle sander looks to be a decent
deal at $160 -- doesn't seem much else available that is as
capable/well-equipped that isn't much higher?


I bought one with the intent of using it for sharpening. The included
table was useless, and the machine seems to run much too fast for the task.

Building a slower or variable speed one is on my "someday" todo list.

Puckdropper
--
Make it to fit, don't make it fit.

Also, the Grizz benchtop oscillating spindle sander looks to be a
decent deal at $160 -- doesn't seem much else available that is as
capable/well-equipped that isn't much higher?


Missed the original post, but instead of the Grizz I'd go with the Ridgid
at $199:

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...roductDisplay?
productId=100061671&storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&cm_sp=BazVoice-
_-RLP-_-100061671-_-x#.URkkkBlIMuZ

I've got one and am quite pleased with it.

--
When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and
carrying a cross.

On 2/11/2013 11:07 AM, Larry Blanchard wrote:

Also, the Grizz benchtop oscillating spindle sander looks to be a
decent deal at $160 -- doesn't seem much else available that is as
capable/well-equipped that isn't much higher?


Missed the original post, but instead of the Grizz I'd go with the Ridgid
at $199:

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...roductDisplay?
productId=100061671&storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&cm_sp=BazVoice-
_-RLP-_-100061671-_-x#.URkkkBlIMuZ

I've got one and am quite pleased with it.

Looked again -- I see I misinterpreted it some on earlier pass-by--I'd
assumed the spindle function was only using the two ends of the belt.
It's back on the radar--does the second roller come entirely off I presume?

I'm watching a used PM 014 auction that's at least presently too good to
pass up if it doesn't go sky-high in last moments so will hold off on
this until the dust settles there (so to speak ).

I did go ahead and pull the lanyard on the HF 1x30 -- even if it takes
some rework if it works at all it's not much of a loss if it does only
the one job at hand at the moment before it dies...

--

On Mon, 11 Feb 2013 14:54:57 -0600, dpb wrote:

Looked again -- I see I misinterpreted it some on earlier pass-by--I'd
assumed the spindle function was only using the two ends of the belt.
It's back on the radar--does the second roller come entirely off I
presume?


Yes, it does.

I did go ahead and pull the lanyard on the HF 1x30 -- even if it takes
some rework if it works at all it's not much of a loss

I just put mine together this afternoon. Unlike some reports, the platen
on mine was square to the belt path and there were no burrs or other
impediments to assembly.

--
When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and
carrying a cross.

In article , dpb wrote:
It's cheap but seems to get decent reviews...anybody here have handson
w/ it or an alternate suggestion of moderate/low initial cost? Primary
purpose touchup sanding for curved legs, etc., from the BS...

Also, the Grizz benchtop oscillating spindle sander looks to be a decent
deal at $160 -- doesn't seem much else available that is as
capable/well-equipped that isn't much higher?

--

I've had ther 1X30 belt/5 inch disc sander model 69033 for well over 10
years now of weekend warrior use and it still works fine. I recall it
was nearly identical to the same sized unit made by Delta at the time
when I bought it, but cost about 1/2 as much. I do see in the current
HF reviews some complaints about "handles" breaking. I'm not sure what
handles they are referring to, maybe the levers for setting the table
angles, or knob for adjusting belt tracking? Never any trouble with mine,
but there likely have been some production changes over the years.

--
Better to be stuck up in a tree than tied to one.

Larry Wasserman - Baltimore Maryland - lwasserm(a)sdf. lonestar.org

On 2/10/2013 1:57 PM, dpb wrote:
It's cheap but seems to get decent reviews...anybody here have handson
w/ it or an alternate suggestion of moderate/low initial cost? Primary
purpose touchup sanding for curved legs, etc., from the BS...
....

OK, it got here yestiddy and I put off what should have been doing to
play...

Out of the box this unit was fine w/ the exception of needed to tap the
hole in the table that the set screw goes into for the level
indexing--burrs from table finishing had filled it up...

The platen was actually aligned pretty well; simply "adjusted" it a
little to be parallel w/ the belt; it was a little off plumb. I knew
the table was small--didn't realize just how small, but then the whole
unit isn't but 15" sq or so...

Runs and as other said w/ the rubber footsies, it's stable and stays
put...for small stuff it's pretty much useful right out of the box.

I had a set of front legs roughed out which was reason for jumping at
the moment--they're 28" L and 6/4 by roughly 4" oak so are bulky enough
the little 8" sq (or so, didn't actually measure, but that's probably
close) was pretty small to give a reference point but being eager I put
one of the 120 grit belts had ordered separately on to be
not-so-aggressive and gave it a quick shot...not bad! But, was quite
difficult to swing around an arc smoothly w/ little support so took a
chunk of an old Formica-covered kitchen counter top had laying around
and cut it out to fit around the existing table and for a quick,
temporary test made a box of scrap ply ripped to height of table less
the 3/4"+. Shimmed it level on the bench and tacked it in place w/ a
couple of furring strips to the bench top and checked out how a piece
could be moved...worked pretty well. W/ that, was able to clean up the
convex curves in the constricted spaces to within about a sixteenth or
so of the intersection of the two curves in the point which is limit
owing to thickness of the platen preventing a belt edge going past it
into the crevice. But, a little hand work w/ chisel and that is also
gone...

Overall, for the price and if you're not expecting an
industrial-strength machine, it's not a bad little unit. If build an
extra table for perpendicular, it can handle decent sized work if don't
try to hog too much material at a time. If want the angle, that'll take
some engineering to arrange anything larger that's adjustable; the small
bracket provided to mount the table that comes with it isn't sufficient
for much else than that...

--

On Sun, 17 Feb 2013 09:16:11 -0600, dpb wrote:

I had a set of front legs roughed out which was reason for jumping at
the moment--they're 28" L and 6/4 by roughly 4" oak so are bulky enough
the little 8" sq (or so, didn't actually measure, but that's probably
close) was pretty small to give a reference point but being eager I put
one of the 120 grit belts had ordered separately on to be
not-so-aggressive and gave it a quick shot...not bad!

That's a pretty large job for something whose footprint is about the size
of a piece of paper :-). I'm pleasantly surprised it did as well as it
did.

FWIW, I was looking for fine grit belts. The only place I found them was
Woodcraft. They go down to 220 for $1.49 per belt. There were 10 packs
but I didn't check the price. When I find out what the best grits are
for grinding model RR rail I'll go back and buy the bulk packs.

I would also use the unit for sharpening lathe tools, but I have the
Delta belt/disk combo in the workshop for that. In fact, I bought the HF
unit just so I wouldn't have to lug the Delta back and forth :-).

--
When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and
carrying a cross.

Larry Blanchard wrote in
:


That's a pretty large job for something whose footprint is about the
size of a piece of paper :-). I'm pleasantly surprised it did as well
as it did.

FWIW, I was looking for fine grit belts. The only place I found them
was Woodcraft. They go down to 220 for $1.49 per belt. There were 10
packs but I didn't check the price. When I find out what the best
grits are for grinding model RR rail I'll go back and buy the bulk
packs.

I would also use the unit for sharpening lathe tools, but I have the
Delta belt/disk combo in the workshop for that. In fact, I bought the
HF unit just so I wouldn't have to lug the Delta back and forth :-).


Lee Valley had some really fine grit 1x30 belts, so if you need finer
than 220 it might be worth a look.

There's another placed that I wound up ordering a bunch from, I'll look
it up if you're interested. It went up to around 3600 grit, I think.

Puckdropper
--
Make it to fit, don't make it fit.

On 2/17/2013 12:15 PM, Larry Blanchard wrote:
On Sun, 17 Feb 2013 09:16:11 -0600, dpb wrote:

I had a set of front legs roughed out which was reason for jumping at
the moment--they're 28" L and 6/4 by roughly 4" oak so are bulky enough
the little 8" sq (or so, didn't actually measure, but that's probably
close) was pretty small to give a reference point but being eager I put
one of the 120 grit belts had ordered separately on to be
not-so-aggressive and gave it a quick shot...not bad!

That's a pretty large job for something whose footprint is about the size
of a piece of paper :-). I'm pleasantly surprised it did as well as it
did.

FWIW, I was looking for fine grit belts. The only place I found them was
Woodcraft. They go down to 220 for $1.49 per belt. There were 10 packs
but I didn't check the price. When I find out what the best grits are
for grinding model RR rail I'll go back and buy the bulk packs.

I would also use the unit for sharpening lathe tools, but I have the
Delta belt/disk combo in the workshop for that. In fact, I bought the HF
unit just so I wouldn't have to lug the Delta back and forth :-).

The platen length above the table is roughly 3" I'd estimate w/o going
and actually looking again so there's adequate sanding surface for a 2"
thickness. One could, I'm sure, bog the puppy down pretty easily, but
for finishing to a line a light touch is the ticket, anyway. It did
just fine as far as stock removal goes.

It would _not_ have been very easy w/o the auxiliary table I described
to keep the leg flat on the table and make a smooth transition rotation,
however, so I think for anything of any size one would always have to
that for any precision.

What surprised me was that it was not difficult to get close-enough to
square of the table to the surface in both planes that there's no
discernible angle across the faces and they're flat enough no gaps show
w/ the small square. I had expected a lot of fiddling around filing,
shimming, whatever, to be able to come even close but at least this one
was really quite close from the start.

I don't know of super-fine 1x30 belts; I order a selection from
http://www.2sand.com/377/1x30-White-Non-Loading-Sanding-Belts.html as
starters--the coarse and find combo selections and something just over
$1/belt average I think it was.

I may delve into the sharpening later on; my object at the moment is to
build this credenza/whatever to call it to set the new TV on that's
replacing the old console model the folks had when we moved back...it's
going to mimic (very crudely) an old washstand down in the change room
from which I took the leg patterns. When I get a little further along
I'll try to post some pichurs somewhere--I'm actually pretty please w/
the legs; I hadn't done any "fine" work in some years being tied up w/
the barn and farming and all...

--