New to me sander ... lots of pics..

[Rick Fisher]

Well, for some time, I have wanted a proper wide belt sander..

I am short of space.. Right now I have a 24" double drum and a 15" General Wide belt.. Its a DIY model.. No platten, 3hp .. no compressed air.. etc.. Same model that Steel City sells.

So I found one in Vancouver, went over, it was immaculate.. Super clean..

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1150283.jpg

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1150284.jpg

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1150285.jpg

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1150291.jpg

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1150290.jpg

Its so clean.. Very low hours .. Belonged to a college.. they had 2 others, both where 36" machines .. Didnt get used much .. so they sold it to a two man shop.

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1150289.jpg

[Rick Fisher]

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1150288.jpg



I bought it because of the condition.. its immaculate.. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of some machines.. its the smallest Wide Belt that SCM makes.. It weighs about 1100 lbs.. Heavy beast.. Runs like a top, Zero vibration, and pretty quiet..
It has a 2 speed belt feed.. 4.5 m/sec and 9 m/sec.. It came with 10 belts.. 80 and 120 grit.. I will order some 150's for it on monday.. maybe some 180's.. The platten is like new.. graphite is in perfect shape.. easy to adjust.. It has a steel contact drum... I would have picked Rubber .. but with the platten, it shouldnt matter much.. ??

I have sufficient dust collection.. and a 20hp phase converter.. The FLA on this machine is 35 amps/ 220V PH3 .. It will need about 70 amps of 220V PH1 to run.. I expect it will dim the lights in the house when it fires up.. lol.

I have to deal with the air requirements.. My compressor is one of those tiny Senco models .. This sander needs 4 CFM at 90 PSI to work..

I think it will be excellent for my uses .. it takes a 25" x 60" belt.. for the rare occasions when I need wider than 24" .. I will have to make two panels and clean up the glue - up..












Motor Plate

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1150286.jpg

It has a 9KW motor .. 9000 watts / 745 = 12.08 HP..

that is a big improvement over my 3hp drum sander.. lol ..

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1150293.jpg

Metric dust port .. lol .. Sigh . .

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1150296.jpg

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/P1150292.jpg



I ran it at the 2 man shop.. they had it connected to a king 3hp x twin bag dust collector, with a 4" flex hose, 10' long.. It was sufficient.. I will reduce 6" flex down to fit the port, and have more power than that .. I am very confident that dust collection will be fine .. It has a large dust pickup at the contact drum..

[glenn bradley]

Wow. That is an impressive beast. Congrats!

[Scott T Smith]

Rick - very nice score!

When I start my Laguna from my 30 HP phase converter, occasionally it will start up about 90% of the way and then a contactor will trip inside the WBS. When this happens, if I immediately hit the start switch again it will spin the rest of the way up and work just fine.

I'm mentioning this in case you encounter something similar, although your ratio of motor size to converter is greater than mine (25 hp on a 30 hp converter in my case).

[george wilson]

You may be wasting your money on belts finer than 120 grit. My sander just burns with finer paper. They never used below 120 in our millwork shop in Williamsburg,either. They also had a system for cleaning belts with a caustic spray solution,plastic vat,and protective plastic suit. Do you have a well? I wouldn't dare put it on my ground at home. They plugged up some 4" drain pipes eventually with semi digested wood mush from that belt cleaning system. They looked like 4" tubes of MDF when the pipes were knocked off! So,be careful where you dispose of the wood slurry from cleaning belts. They did do an awful lot of heart yellow pine,the worst thing to sand.

You might want to get some extra graphite strips. Easy to put grooves into them. Always run narrow strips at an angle,never straight or you'll groove the graphite.

That is a very nice sander,but do be careful about what I have advised. We had a 36" model for many years next to where my toolmaker's shop was. I used it many times.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Rick, I saw your mention on another post, and was wondering if you'd post some pics... NICE!

I know nothing about these, what is the compressed air for?

[george wilson]

Compressed air tensions the belt.

[Carroll Courtney]

Boy,what an improvement over a DS.Congrads---Carroll

[Bruce Page]

Very nice!
It looks like the footprint is about the same or maybe even a little smaller than my woodmaster. It requires a little more juice though...

[Kent A Bathurst]

Rick - care to share how much $$$?

[Rick Fisher]

Sure, it was just over $5K.. Not a gloat, but I have a quote for a new one, it was $14K.. Mini Max has the 36" on special right now for $12,995.. so I dunno.. lol..

This will be in my garage. So a 36" will be just too big..

The Pneumatic system tracks the belt and tensions the belt.. There is a button, if you pull it out, the belt is tensioned, push it in, its loose.. Belt changes are super fast.. like less than 30 seconds..

If the machine loses compressed air, it shuts down.. Some type of safety switch..

I have to figure out how to get it on wheels today.. plus a bunch of electrical stuff, and adapting the DC to it..

[Mike Heidrick]

Rick, Congrats.

Please keep me posted on how you adapt the DC. I have a similar need for my shaper.

Looks like a great machine.

Does it have an optical eye to keep the tracking of the belt adjusted?

What kind of belt cleaning does it have?

[Kent A Bathurst]

Rick - sounds like gloat neighborhood to me. Nicely done. Nicely, nicely.

[Rick Fisher]

I figure it was a good deal... I had gotten a quote on a new on in the summer, I found it.. it was $14,600 in Canada.. In the USA, I would expect it would be about $12,000 ..

Considering the condition, the 5K area is a good deal, but not gloatworthy.. There are a couple of these on Exfactory.. but they are much more "used"..

On the DC.. I have a 6" PVC system.. I tried a 4" - 6" PVC adapter today.. the 4" portion is exactly the same diameter as the outlet.. so it appears a 4" PVC will fit inside perfectly ..

The problem is that it will make the outlet even smaller.. Which isnt ideal..

The footprint is 19" x 37.5" at the base.. I ordered a mobile base of sorts today.. 2 x 29" long pieces of 5/16" Steel with 1" returns on each side.. 4 1/2" wide each.. I will bolt them to the bottom of the sander like Skids and bolt casters to the steel.. It will broaden the bottom by 5" on each side..

It will be mobile, and safer, but look a bit funny.. I dont want it falling over on me.. I am sure it would kill me..

It doesnt have belt cleaning.. No airjet system.. It has Pneumatic belt tracking with the little arms that the belt hit.. Its all set - up, so its mine to screw up now.. lol.

As I said, its a simple machine.. not full of bells and whistles.. but it will hold its resale value in a hobby shop because its a decent brand name and I will keep it in pristine shape..