george wilson
02-02-2009, 11:10 AM
There is a discussion going on about selection of belt and disc sanders:Rigid vs. Grizzly. I refer to the Grizzly 6"X48" belt,+ 12" disc sander. If you buy one of these for woodworking,be sure to get the SLOW SPEED version,1725(?) rpm,not the 3450. The 3450 is really for metal,though I don't think they say so. It burns wood pronto. The slower speed one works fine. I cannot say anything about the longevity of the motor.If the special motor goes bad,a replacement had better be available. However,Grizzly has sold these units for many years,and must have motors. One of the weak points about Asian machinery is the lack of parts on machines more than a few years old. Grizzly does have a good parts dept. We hope they keep selling that unit. About the Grizzly jointer: that would accept a common motor,so,no real problem.
Also,NEVER buy belts that have a straight across glue seam. The sander is extremely noisy if the belt is a straight across seam. the fast model sounds like being in the engine room of a submarine. Angular glued belts fix that at once.Also,I only recommend the belts that have a Mylar tape joint. Other belts have a bump in them,because they are lap jointed together. In addition,the lap jointed belts fall apart very soon if they have been stored for some time,even in a humidity controled shop like mine.
At the Toolmaker's shop I purchased a Delta sanding center. I never liked it. It seems to not collect its dust,even hooked up to a 20 h.p. dust collector. That collector was so strong that I once had a dropped Delta arbor nut go up the pipe ! I never liked the groove in the center of the table,though you could jam a piece of wood in it. I had lung problems back in 1963,teaching 6 periods of wood shop,and no dust collector (no safety rules back then). I am very careful about not breathing dust now. Many woods ae carcinogenic,like mahogany,rosewood,boxwood.The list is long.
In my opinion the Wilton belt and disc sander is a piece of junk. It is VERY expensive,made in China,and the tracking mechanism for the belt is very weak. I had one,and sold it very cheap to be rid of it. I think Wilton has been running on their name for years. I do like their square wheel grinder,but there is no substitute.It is Asian.I had to true up the large aluminium drive wheel,but I have a machine shop. Should not have been necessary.Costs a lot,but is extremely versatile.
Also,NEVER buy belts that have a straight across glue seam. The sander is extremely noisy if the belt is a straight across seam. the fast model sounds like being in the engine room of a submarine. Angular glued belts fix that at once.Also,I only recommend the belts that have a Mylar tape joint. Other belts have a bump in them,because they are lap jointed together. In addition,the lap jointed belts fall apart very soon if they have been stored for some time,even in a humidity controled shop like mine.
At the Toolmaker's shop I purchased a Delta sanding center. I never liked it. It seems to not collect its dust,even hooked up to a 20 h.p. dust collector. That collector was so strong that I once had a dropped Delta arbor nut go up the pipe ! I never liked the groove in the center of the table,though you could jam a piece of wood in it. I had lung problems back in 1963,teaching 6 periods of wood shop,and no dust collector (no safety rules back then). I am very careful about not breathing dust now. Many woods ae carcinogenic,like mahogany,rosewood,boxwood.The list is long.
In my opinion the Wilton belt and disc sander is a piece of junk. It is VERY expensive,made in China,and the tracking mechanism for the belt is very weak. I had one,and sold it very cheap to be rid of it. I think Wilton has been running on their name for years. I do like their square wheel grinder,but there is no substitute.It is Asian.I had to true up the large aluminium drive wheel,but I have a machine shop. Should not have been necessary.Costs a lot,but is extremely versatile.