disk and belt sander combo

[Josh Bowman]

I have a shop smith with all the attachments and am only using the sanders on it now. I think I will sell it.
I'm looking for opinions on disk/belt sander combo's. I have a Jet 1.5 hp in my sights now, but really have just started. Thanks for the help.
Josh

jsbowman@bellsouth.net

[Van Huskey]

FYI 3 more days on the Jet sale which includes the 1.5hp combo you mention, it may go back down black friday but who knows.

If I was buying today AND used a combo sander a lot I would get the PM 31A, it is a great combo and is $999 in the current sale.

I personally am not a big proponent of the combo setup, I prefer a wide belt and a seperate disc, or in my case no disc at all since I almost never use one.

[Matt Meiser]

I had a 48x6/9" Jet belt/disc which I sold when I finished restoring a Powermatic Model 30 48x6/12" from the 60's. Then I got an edge sander and never really found anything I couldn't do with the edge sander that I could with the belt/disc so I sold the Powermatic (actually traded for a really nice SCMS plus some cash.) I think it depends on what you want to do with it and how much space you have.

The Jet was fine other than that the first one I got had a seriously warped disc. The manager of the place I bought it was my neighbor so he first tried swapping out the disc but couldn't get it off and ended up just swapping the whole machine.

The Powermatic was a much heavier machine all around.

[mark kosse]

Since you uses the shopsmith I'm assuming a disc is important. I recently bought a delta 31-731 for a 150.00, used. It is a good machine and was still US made at the time. It is a lot quieter than the powermatic I have at work. It tracks well and the only flaw I see is it has to be taken apart to change the belt, and with a link belt that wouldn't be required if you cut the old belt off.

Is used an option?

[Jerome Hanby]

I don't know how old your smith is or what the exact model is, but if it isn't a model 510 or 520, I'm not sure how much you will get for it. Maybe selling off the accessories you no longer use then cutting down the rails to turn it into a dedicated sanding station would make sense...

I know I've definitely paid more for add-ons for my model 500 (bandsaw, belt sander, lathe duplicator, jointer) than I did for the 500 itself (I did bargain with the previous owner and got a pretty good deal on the jointer). If I can ever catch a good deal on the strip sander, then I think I would have the makings of an unbeatable sanding center...

[Cary Falk]

I find a oscillating edge sander much more useful than a disc/belt combo.YMMV

[Kevin Gregoire]

i have the jet combo and it works good but its like so many others in that the little
table that mounts on the belt sander is placed in a very bad location as there is like
five inches of belt on the under side of the table that is wasted. the table should
be mounted down farther so more of the main belt area can be utilized.
if you have the funds, i would get a big edge mount oscillating spindle sander on a
stand and then a ten or twelve inch disc sander mounted on a bench.
but if you want a standard combo i think the delta looks best.

[Jon McElwain]

+1 on separate machines. Also, I do a good variety of projects and did not end up using the belt sander very often. I ended up selling my combo machine (a delta 6" belt, 12" disk) and getting a benchtop 12" and a rigid oscillating edge sander. Not the biggest most impressive machines on the market, but they do their jobs quite nicely. I would really encourage you to look at how you will actually use the machine as so many people I talk to rarely use their combo sanders.

[Josh Bowman]

Thanks for the help. I have the rigid ocillating belt/drum sander and plenty of hand held sanders, maybe I'll just sell the shop smith and see if a need arises that I can't do without a belt sander. That may be the best tack.
Now to try to come up with a price for a Shopsmith that I bought in the early '80s:rolleyes::confused: