Stationary Oscillating Edge Sander

[Dave Novak]

A recent thread on this subject got me thinking about thistool. Instead of hijacking that thread Ifigured I’d ask my question here; how do you guys use this tool? The edge of most boards I mill have beenjointed or ripped and need very little sanding. I’m guessing an OES will remove a lot of stock quickly, so unless you’reawful careful about how you move your stock into the belt it could takesomething out of square pretty quick. Are folks using high grit paper and finish sanding with it?

I guess what peaked my interest is that there’s a lot oflove for Vega OES’s, I live less than an hour from the factory, so if a casecan be made that I need one I’ll drive on over and have a look. Thanks.

[David Kumm]

Once you have one you find lots of uses. Touching the edge of boards, even the face. Tapers, drawer boxes, on and on. A good rigid table and platen are important. With oscillation the finish always seems a tad better than the grit 120 leaves a nice finish and not too aggressive. 80-120 for most stuff. 48" is the medium size but get what you can fit in the space. Dave

[Mike Heidrick]

Dave, do a tour of Vega if you can. That place is like a museum for crazy battleship class tools. Man I wish they were a full production on top of the world company! You shoudl see some of the tools they used to make. Full on sliding tablesaws, pretty much any tool you can think of they have made.

If you buy the OES from them have them sell you a miter gauge too - they dont have them for sale anymore but I think they had a couple dozen they would probably sell. When you see it you will wonder why they ever left the market. Makes the Incra and Kreg look like pure C%AP.

For those folks too far for a tour here are pics I took when I was there: http://s39.photobucket.com/albums/e169/BloomingtonMike/Vega%20Enterprises/#!cpZZ1QQtppZZ20

Here are the pics of the OES they make.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e169/BloomingtonMike/Vega%20Enterprises/sander1.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e169/BloomingtonMike/Vega%20Enterprises/sander2.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e169/BloomingtonMike/Vega%20Enterprises/sander3.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e169/BloomingtonMike/Vega%20Enterprises/sander4.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e169/BloomingtonMike/Vega%20Enterprises/sander5.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e169/BloomingtonMike/Vega%20Enterprises/sander6.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e169/BloomingtonMike/Vega%20Enterprises/sander7.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e169/BloomingtonMike/Vega%20Enterprises/sander8.jpg

[Jim Andrew]

My edge sander doesn't oscillate. And it's kind of hard on the belt to just sand on the same strip, but wouldn't want to be without it. My belt size is 6 x 89. Don't want a smaller sander. Use it to sand the edge of doors, tops, about anything that I can hold up against it. And use 120 grit only. Don't have a problem leaving mill marks on edges. It's great to sand the edge of a top or other before you router it, as it gets rid of mill marks, and your edge needs less sanding.

[J.R. Rutter]

Door ends and general edge smoothing. The drum on the end works well for curves. The back side of mine has a small platen setup with jointer style fence for feed through operation. I have a feeder mounted for this. I leave 120 on it all the time as well, perfect all -around grit. I was giving an prospective employee a tour one time and he told me that 120 was too coarse, lol. Needless to say, he did not get hired.

[Todd Burch]

I have the Powermatic OES 9" x 138.5". 3 HP, 3 PH. Luv it. I just used it for sanding the box joints / excess glue off of my drawers. 120 grit here too. I've used it for up to 12" tall drawers - just have to flip it over.

I did not get rid of any belt sanders - still use them, like for taller items with box joints, or items that don't fit on the table. I used mine recently to clean up the bandsawn tapers on the kitchen island legs. I clean up all my doors and panels too. It's awesome for "fine tuning" an inset door.

That Vega looks nice.

[David Kumm]

Take a look at the Oakley on Woodweb. Dave

[Andrew Joiner]

Dave, do a tour of Vega if you can. That place is like a museum for crazy battleship class tools. Man I wish they were a full production on top of the world company! You shoudl see some of the tools they used to make. Full on sliding tablesaws, pretty much any tool you can think of they have made.



Thanks Mike for posting this. Do you know more of the history of Vega? John looks to young to be the original owner.
I've seen the Vega adds in old FWW magazines.Cool to know they are still making machines in the USA.

[Harvey Melvin Richards]

My edge sander is home made and has a slight oscillation. I use 4 X 132 belts. I also regularly use belts from 80 to 220 grit. The 220 is easy to glaze if you aren't careful.

One of the main uses for my sander is solid edging for shelves. I joint a board, then rip a 1/4" strip. The jointed edge gets the glue, the ripped edge gets the edge sander after being trimmed flush.

[Jerome Hanby]

Is the oscillation intentional?


My edge sander is home made and has a slight oscillation. I use 4 X 132 belts. I also regularly use belts from 80 to 220 grit. The 220 is easy to glaze if you aren't careful.

One of the main uses for my sander is solid edging for shelves. I joint a board, then rip a 1/4" strip. The jointed edge gets the glue, the ripped edge gets the edge sander after being trimmed flush.

[Todd Burch]

Is the oscillation intentional?

Oooooooouch!

[Harvey Melvin Richards]

Is the oscillation intentional?Not on my part. I had a new idler pulley made for the sander by a company that specialized in making them. The pulley (about 5 or 6" diameter) has a crown on it that helps the belt track. The crown is not symmetrical with the pulley, it kind of wanders about the central plane. It's hard to explain, and I have a hard time visualizing how it was made. The end result is that the belts oscillated about 1" for every pulley rotation.

[Rick Lizek]

Don't get hung up on oscillating. Tilting the table at an angle and moving the piece will duplicate the oscillating effect. Vega uses a small gear motor to make their sander oscillate and you can add the gear motor later as an upgrade.

[Jerome Hanby]

Thanks for the information. Sorry my question came off kind of flip, this was exactly what I was asking about. I wondered if it was a lucky accident or if it was planned. I could visualize an arrangement that would move around, but not how to make it "stable" where it would repeat back and forth.


Not on my part. I had a new idler pulley made for the sander by a company that specialized in making them. The pulley (about 5 or 6" diameter) has a crown on it that helps the belt track. The crown is not symmetrical with the pulley, it kind of wanders about the central plane. It's hard to explain, and I have a hard time visualizing how it was made. The end result is that the belts oscillated about 1" for every pulley rotation.

[Van Huskey]

Not on my part. I had a new idler pulley made for the sander by a company that specialized in making them. The pulley (about 5 or 6" diameter) has a crown on it that helps the belt track. The crown is not symmetrical with the pulley, it kind of wanders about the central plane. It's hard to explain, and I have a hard time visualizing how it was made. The end result is that the belts oscillated about 1" for every pulley rotation.

If I am not mistaken thats how the Jet derives its oscillation.

[Sam Layton]

Dave,

I have the Vega edge sander as well. I don't have the oscillation. I do angle the table so it uses more of the belt. The thing I like about the Vega is the option to add the oscillation at a later date. For me, the edge sander is the go to sander. I use 80 grit in mine. It is not an aggressive sander if you don't want it to be.

Sam

[Cary Falk]

If I am not mistaken thats how the Jet derives its oscillation.

You are mistaken. :D(payback) The idle drum has this magic box below it that controls the left to right rocking(viewed from the idle drum sighting down the length of the sanding belt) of the idle drum.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/DSC_0811.jpg
229955

[David Kumm]

I agree that oscillation isn't critical but once you have it you will use it about 90% of the time. Leaves a much better finish. Dave

[Dave Novak]

Wow, they make lathes too. I'm afraid what might happen if I drop in for a visit.

[Todd Burch]

Do they make stroke sanders?

[frank shic]

Do they make stroke sanders?

that's supposedly one of the cheaper alternatives to a wide belt sander...

[Todd Burch]

I've used one. They are great. For a big heavy item like an entrance door, I would rather use a stroke sander, and the lugging of the door back around through and through the wide belt would get old. Plus, tables can be like 4' wide and 10' long, and a wide belt that wide would cost a large ransom. Very cost effective, they are, just a big footprint.

[Van Huskey]

Do they make stroke sanders?

No, Vega doesn't make stroke sanders. The only make a couple of copy lathes, a couple of bowl lathes and the one edge sander.