Grizzly small wide belt advice needed

[Richard Link]

Hi. I am considering replacing my Performax 22-44 drum sander with a small wide belt sander. My primary uses for the sander are (1) removing bandsaw tool marks from shop made veneers and (2) flattening panels and doors and (3) general preparation of stock for finishing. This is hobbiest scale stuff, not high volume. I realize that having a wide belt sander in this situation is an absolute luxury and not a necessity. I had a slight windfall and would like to own this machine and offer access to it to my woodworking friends for their projects as well.

I've narrowed my choices down to two machines, both by Grizzly.

(1) G0527 - 18" closed format wide belt, 4 rollers, 5 hp, pneumatic tracking and tensioning, digital height scale with motor controlling bed height, 16.4 to 32.4 feet per min conveyor speed. $4995

(2) G9983 - 15" open format wide belt, 2 rollers, 5 hp, pneumatic tracking and tensioning, manual high adjustment, max 16.4 feet per min conveyor speed. $3495

In general, it seems like the G0527 has some nice bells and whistles with the digital display, etc. On the other hand, is there really a significant performance difference due to (a) the closed design or (b) the 4 pressure rollers or (c) the faster conveyor speed or (d) something I don't know... given that I am not going to be pushing material through this thing at production levels? Is this machine really precise enough to warrant a digital, motor-controlled height adjustment? With the drum sander, it was a pretty rough seat of the pants adjustment situation....

I have found very little information on either machine on the web. Any strong opinions on either model pro or con? I am somewhat tight on space so a larger model, even if I was prepared to purchase it, isn't really an option. From the dust collection standpoint, I will be drawing off the 4" dust port with a 3 hp cyclone.

I'd greatly appreciate any input someone with experience might have.

Thanks in advance.

Rick

[Jay Brewer]

Hi Richard, I haven't used any of those machines. I have a 25" model that I cant live without as long as work keeps rolling in.

I'll just give some general observations that might help. If you dint run anything over 18" I would much prefer the 18" model. The closed frame and the four post table elevation is a sturdier design.

I love the auto positioning of the table, and yes it is very accurate, to within .005. No more cranking tables up and down and the repeatability is dead on every time.

Either one of those machine will be a big step up from your drum sander. The belts change in less than a minute, and last 10 x longer. A widebelt give a much better finish than a drum sander also.

I would contact Grizzly to see if any owners live near you were you can go see for yourself. I also believe I got a flyer from Grizzly about a sale on widebelts during the show in Vegas, I will have to check. Hope this helps.

[Richard Link]

Thanks Jay. That's a great help. I would be very interested to hear if there is a special deal during AWFS on the wide belt sanders.

[Jay Brewer]

Your in luck Richard. Grizzly is running a sale July 13 through the 20th on the 18". $4195 with free shipping.

You have to call and mention the code 09WOODS.

The 15" isnt on sale. Hope this helps.

[Ed Hazel]

Jay
Is there a list flyer of the on sale items?

[Scott T Smith]

Rick, I used to own a Grizzly 15" open ended sander, and now have an EMC 37" with digital controls. I had no complaints with the Grizzly.

However, of the two choices that you listed, I would personally opt for the 18" for the reasons that Jay listed. Digital height adjustments are really, really nice, and the closed design should be more accurate.

[Rick Lizek]

After spending over 35 years in the industry I would not consider a widebelt without a platen or you have just a drum snader with a longer belt. A platen allows you to go right to finishing without having to random orbit sand to remove drum ripples. The palten can be raised for general light thicknessing work.

If you hadn"t mentioned sanding veneers I would suggest a stroke sander as a good option for finish sanding panels. Takes more space but is less expensive and has some advantages such as sanding radiuses and dovetailed drawers.

[Richard Link]

Thanks for the advice. I have read numerous threads on the stroke sander vs. wide belt issue. Although I've never used a stroke sander, it certainly sounds like a great tool for panel flattening. Unfortunately, I just wouldn't have room for such a beast in my little shop.

I'm a little fuzzy about the platen issue you described. It does appear that none of the more modestly priced wide belts has a platen system. For example, the cheapest Grizzly machine with such a system is >$8000. If I understand correctly, you are saying that an 18" wide belt without a platen system is essentially just an oscillating drum sander with a longer belt? I assumed that the oscillating motion of the belt would simplify the finishing process of pieces put through the machine as compared to my current single drum sander. Is there a reason why the platen changes all that to such a degree? I'd hate to replace my modestly sized and priced drum sander with a 900 lb "drum sander" costing 3X as much due to my own ignorance of the limitation of a non-platen design.

Rick

[Ed Hazel]

The G9983 has a Platen, it shows the platen in the manual.

[Jay Brewer]

After spending over 35 years in the industry I would not consider a widebelt without a platen or you have just a drum snader with a longer belt. A platen allows you to go right to finishing without having to random orbit sand to remove drum ripples. The palten can be raised for general light thicknessing work.

If you hadn"t mentioned sanding veneers I would suggest a stroke sander as a good option for finish sanding panels. Takes more space but is less expensive and has some advantages such as sanding radiuses and dovetailed drawers.


Rick, I have to respectfully disagree. I have used many types of widebelts from my 25" import with palten to a $40,000 Kundig and none of them produced a ready to finish surface , without some RO sanding. Maybe a clearcoat but not a stain job. Definitely not ready to finish on Raised panel doors because of cross grain scratches.

I never run the platen on my machine because all it does is make a wider contact point on the wood, which in turn make the scratches produced by the belt longer also.


I have also never experienced ripples with my machine like on a drum sander and a go straight to clearcoat on my maple drawer stock with a 220 belt on my machine. I would think ripples would be caused by to fast of feed rate more than anything.

Richard, you are not buying a 900 lbs drum sander, even though its not the pinnacle of sanders, it is s huge step up from a Permormax, trust me, I owned one.

[Steve Kohn]

The G9983 has a Platen, it shows the platen in the manual.

I have the G9983. It has a platen that is removeable. You can use the machine either way.

[Daryl Henderson]

I see that Grizzly also has their G1066Z dual drum variable speed 24" sander on for $1795 w/free shipping.

Is a wide belt sander that much better than the closed ended drum sander in a non production shop considering the difference in cost?

Also, is the 18" closed WB sander better than th 15" open ended model considering you lose some width capacity since you can't flip the stock.

What would you consider the minimum width necessary when doing doors, etc.?

[Keith Weber]

Gotta ask... what exactly is a platen?