Timesaver 137-1HD / 36" wide belt sander _ one head

[andrew whicker]

Any thoughts on this machine? Good or bad?

Thanks much and cheers,

Link to machine specs and photos from an old auction: https://aarauctions.com/servlet/Sear...2&itemId=78852

[Kevin Jenness]

I would want to see it in action. If in good shape it should serve well, if not it could be an expensive pain in the neck. Things to look at would be contact roller, pressure rollers, pressure bar, conveyor, air line and platen condition, do the oscillation and tracking work reliably, do the electronics and wiring look clean? Any repair history? Parts availability Age and use? Wide belts and edgebanders can be tetchy and costly to repair.

[lou sansone]

Great older time savers I have a similar one and it served me very very well as the others have said you got a check the service of the rollers and also the condition of the feed belt but the feedback can be replaced for a few hundred dollars there much heavier duty than many of the modern machines and timesavers has a File on each and every machine they make doesn’t matter how long ago it is the tracking can be a pain I had to switch mine out from pneumatic tracking to an electric guy that operated the pneumatic tracking cylinder

[stephen thomas]

You may have acquired one by now?
As has been said, if all systems are in good condition that might be a very nice machine to have.

A few notes going forward if you continue to search:
1.) it might not make a big difference to you, but 60" belt machines tend to wear belts prematurely because they are short and heat. Belts just 25% longer (75" machines) cost proportionately for the extra length, but last disproportionately longer. (well worth the extra length for durability, and for easier sanding of some substrates)
2.)People have touched on the systems that matter, and that you should be able to verify fairly quickly by careful visual inspection, hopefully by running the machine if possible. One thing not mentioned is that the tables do wear (under the conveyor belt) & it can be ugly. The belt is compensated by dressing it to the head from time to time, but a worn bed with a trough in it is not desirable. For one thing, if the bed is dead flat, you can dress the contact roll to it. A perfect cylinder is important for the contact roll. If the bed is not flat, dressing the contact roll is not possible, or at least requires significant other tooling and experience.
3.) very few people actually know how to operate a widebelt. With sanding belt speed fixed, there is a matrix of conveyor speed x depth of cut x grit x material substrate that cannot be exceeded without rapidly ruining belts and eventually the conveyor and contact drum. If you get a widebelt sander, the manual by Howard Grivna is well worth the $100 or so it costs. Describes how to troubleshoot systems, cure them, and how to use abrasive efficiently for best work on the substrates. When i bought it you could still get 3 hrs or something like that of phone time with the man himself, but have heard he might not still be with us? FWIW, the website front page still exists and shows 2024 current, but i'd check who i was dealing with.

All that said, the Timesavers shown at the price listed is a machine that should be worth putting effort into it. Depends what you need for the final result - sanding narrow strips as a finish operation only? Or more rigorous tasks like calibrating wide panels? Or calibrating shop sawn wide veneer and lay-ups?
For a rebuilder project, I'd still rather start with a 75" machine.

Good luck!