Safety Speed Cut widebelt?

[Dave Cav]

Anyone have any experience with Safety Speed Cut wide belt sanders? I'm considering upgrading my drum sander to a widebelt and Safety Speed Cut is one brand I'm considering. It looks like a 37" sander is available from them for about the same price as a Grizzly 24". 24" is probably all I'll need but the extra capacity would be nice. This would be for a one man, semi pro shop making mostly furniture, not cabinets.

Thanks

[David Kumm]

The repair guys I spoke with when looking steered me away from them but no first hand experience. Went with used SCMI but also looked at older AEM and Timesavers. Chris@comprehensiverepair.com would be one contact to ask. Dave

[Dave Cav]

Thanks; I'll send him a note later.

[Mark Wooden]

The repair guys I spoke with when looking steered me away from them but no first hand experience. Went with used SCMI but also looked at older AEM and Timesavers. Chris@comprehensiverepair.com would be one contact to ask. Dave

Can I ask- what the repair outfit's problem with them was? I replied to this on another forum, and if what I was told is correct, the SSC is the continuation of Halsty, and I found that to be a good sander.

[Dave Cav]

Can I ask- what the repair outfit's problem with them was? I replied to this on another forum, and if what I was told is correct, the SSC is the continuation of Halsty, and I found that to be a good sander.

All my searches more or less turn up the same thing....

[John A langley]

SSC bought Halstey a few years back. I don't know whether SSC has continued to make them the same way. I talked to Halstey at one of the trade shows when he was still making them. All the parts ie electric and air could be gotten at Graingers which I thought was a good point. When it came time for e to buy a wide belt I bought a SCMI Sandya. My impression of the Halstey was that it was a good sander. My concern was when SSC bought them out they might screw them up. I've heard from real good things about mobile 37" timesaver.

[David Kumm]

I was told to avoid Sandingmaster, SSC and Halsty but have no personal experience with them so take it for what it is worth. Took at wimp way out and since i was looking at used I waited until I found a nice Sandya. All the Asian sanders are pretty much made in the same factory and very similar. The machines themselves are pretty simple except for the tracking and in the case of Euro machines,lots of electrics. The older AEM and some Timesavers were made here and then AEM was bought by Timesavers. The two companies were run by brothers or something like that. Some TS were Korean and later Taiwanese. There are no longer any Euro small 24" machines made so Asian is the choice. Houfek is Eastern Euro, Kundig is German ( or Austrian), smaller Butferings are Asian,Cemco is Asian, EMC is Italian, as is SCMI. If going used the condition of the drums and conveyor are important as they cost up to 1000 each to fix. Older sanders and lower end have pneumatic tracking although the switchover to electric eye isn't all that expensive. Dave

[Chris Rosenberger]

When I was looking at getting a wide belt sander, I heard all of the problems about Safety Speed Cut Sanders. The complaints were always from people that never used them. I never headr a bad thing about SSC sanders from people that had used them.

I bought a 4 year old Safety Speed Cut 4375 wide belt sander a year and a half ago. It has done an excellent job for me & been trouble free. The larger shop that it came from, bought it new & stated they had no problems with it. The dealer that sold it new, said they had no record of any problems with it or any other SSC wide belt sanders.

They are simple built, but heavy built machines. The electronics & bearings are off the shelf parts. I do not have to buy those parts from SSC.
I could have spent a lot more money for one of the other big name sanders, but they would not have sanded any better than my SSC.

[Mark Wooden]

[QUOTE=Chris Rosenberger;2114270]
..............They are simple built, but heavy built machines. The electronics & bearings are off the shelf parts. I do not have to buy those parts from SSC.
I could have spent a lot more money for one of the other big name sanders, but they would not have sanded any better than my SSC.[/QUOTE


Your note about the complaints about the machine is well taken- funny how that works, aint it?
But, honestly, I did find the Halsty wasn't great at sanding veneer, seemed to get some of sand throughs, which meant re-do. I have used an SCMI- a much more refined, complicated and expensive machine- for veneer sanding and the results were terrific. But, I'd still buy the SSC.

[Dave Cav]

Since I deal nearly with all solid wood, and make furniture, not cabinets, I think a SSC will probably work fine for me. The local dealer, Eastside Saw in Bellevue Wa is going to send me a list of references so I can go by and take a look at one.

Thanks again for the input and if anyone else wants to chime in about SSC or the small Asian widebelts, I'm interested in as much information as possible. I'd especially like to hear from 24" Grizzly or other Asian widebelt owners.

[Rick Fisher]

I have a 25" SCM Sandya Win .. I have played with the Safety Speed Cut sander and have to say, for a one man shop like mine, it seems like a great choice.

Its not as sexy as some machines because it has exposed hex head bolts and similar. The conveyor belt is not waffle, rather its the lower cost drum sander style.. Reality is that I could take it apart .. understand all of it .. and probably ( maybe) .. put it all back together again..

Its not uncommon for me to wish I had a 37" wide machine.. SSC is a great option..


On the Asian Wide Belt sander choices.. I think your big concern should be who you buy from .. Grizzly is IMO the best choice. Problems with sanders will either happen right away, or in 5 - 10 years.. For that reason, you want to deal with someone reputable. Reality is most of the parts are not proprietary.. you won't probably wear out a steel drum .. rather you might need a pneumatic line, bearing or belt.. maybe brake pad material if your sloppy about how you turn the machine off ..

Check out these sites..

http://www.oavequipment.com/en/2_1692/manufacturer/Wide_Belt_Sander_id45844.html
http://www.sander.com.tw/e_sem_series.htm
http://www.boarke.com.tw/e_html/all_1.htm
http://www.holy-wood.com/en/products/?method=detail&aid=137
http://www.trupro.com.tw/product.php?mode=list&cid=62

If you look at that last supplier .. Trupro.. Then look at Cantek in the USA ..

http://www.cantekamerica.com/categories.html?id=12

I don't know if Tru-pro makes them or buys them and re-sells them ?? One of the many confusions of Asian machinery ..

End of the day, these machines are built pretty tough.. if your the only user and you treat your machinery well .. whatever you choose will likely last forever.

[David Kumm]

Given your hp limits, the speedsander series from Timesavers would fit too. Don't know anything about them but sure they are Asian too. Asian isn't all bad in the sander area as they are heavily built so they should hold their settings. I assume you would want a combo head with a 2" wide platen or so. I like steel head with a soft platen but that is just me. In the used market the steel heads are less likely to be banged up than rubber. Usually you are looking at something like 85 duro for the rubber and they can be re dressed if not too bad. I put proscales on mine so digital readouts are less important if not standard. If electric tracking you don't need much air, if pneumatic you need a compressor that can keep up and that adds to your amp load. I would quess that most of the machines on your list would be in Vegas this July. Dave

[Andrew Joiner]

I have no experience with the SSC widebelt.

I do have fond memories of buying my panel saw from them.

It was 1971 and I worked in a small woodshop for a friend. I had some side jobs in my home shop I did at night. I lived in Minnesota at the time. They had a SSC panel saw at my day job. I was amazed with the accuracy and efficiency one person could cut up sheet goods.

I knew that a panel saw would be profitable in my own shop. I drove to SSC and paid $400 cash for a new deluxe model. The guy who helped load the saw in my truck was the guy who made the saw! That $400 saw helped me make a great living for many years.

SSC sanders are made in the USA in the same place my saw was made. If I needed a wide belt the SSC would be at the top of my list.

[J.R. Rutter]

Sorry, I don't have first-hand experience other than using a Halsty years ago. It was a pretty heavy, no-nonsense machine. I saw SSC sanders at AWFS last time that I went. For a basic sander, they seemed quite nice. The off-the-shelf parts are a plus. I didn't look too closely at how easy it might be to fine tune them, but most adjustments are pretty universal on sanders like this. Believe the hype - pretty much any widebelt is better than a drum sander! As a small shop, you can learn your machine inside and out and get good consistent results from it. One caveat - eventually, for any number of reasons, you may want to incorporate veneer into your furniture. If you talk to users, try to get a sense of how it works for handling 1/16" and thinner stock. This seems to be a function of the feed belt and hold-down/roller spacing. You are just down the road from me, so if you ever want to stop in, you are welcome.

I will mention the things that steered me towards an Italian sander.
1. Steel drum for calibrating thickness uniformly
2. Grid type feed belt to aid with above calibrating (less "give")
3. Multiple heads and ability to run 3 contact points with a 2-head setup
4. Pneumatic raise/lower of both drums and platen
5. Timed platen activation to avoid rounding over leading/trailing edges
6. Pneumatic control of platen pressure
7. Belt cleaner jets for fine grit head

The downside is that my sander is not designed for aggressive sanding, it is more of a lightweight finesse machine. But we did run some veneer down to 1/32" on it last week and got flawless, uniform results.

[Jim Andrew]

I have the tiny Grizzly G9983 15" widebelt, and I think it is great. I have used a speedsander by Timesaver, and it worked great as well. What I like about my Grizzly, is it is affordable, doesn't take a lot of space, and Grizzly has reasonably priced belts, and a manual that explains every problem I have had, with solutions.

[Dave Cav]

Thanks again for the comments. Eastside Saw is working up a quote for a 10 HP 3760 for me, and they gave me the name and number of a shop in Arlington that's working with one. I called him and long story short, he said no problems with it. I'm going to go look at it next week. I also broached the subject with the wife and at least she didn't say "hell no".....

[Barry W. Larson]

Hi:
I realize I am resurrecting a 3 year old thread, but I am wonder if Mr. Cav bought a Safety Speed Cut wide belt sander and if he would care to comment on it's performance? I am curious as I am looking at a replacement for my double drum sander and am looking at some of the entry level wide belt sanders including the Time Savers Speed Sander. Any and all information appreciated. Thanks.
Barry W. Larson
Calgary, Alberta, Canada eh!

[Martin Wasner]

The speedsander is a pretty basic machine. Lightly built from cheap components though.
I ran one for about five years, it was a good machine for the price, but it was pretty used up by the time I sold it.
As an intermediate machine, it's a very good value. Mine was only 7½hp, which may have contributed to the degradation of the machine. That's not enough power for a 37" in my opinion.


If you've got the juice, I'd look for an older, better built widebelt on the used market. One with more horsepower.

[Dave Cav]

Yes, I got it in June of 2013 and have used it quite a bit. It's perfect for a one or two man shop. Belt changes are quick and with the 10 HP motor it has a reasonable amount of power. I occasionally use a 40 grit belt for abrasive planning a big glue up or table top; it takes a decent cut but you can't hog off material like you can with a big 30 HP timesaver. It's been a huge upgrade over the drum sander and for me, well worth the investment. If you have two guys operating it, one feeding and one tailing, you can run quite a bit of stock through it in a hurry. The quality of the finish is much better than what I got with the drum sander, and if you run stock through with a 180 belt and the platen, it's nearly ready to finish right off the machine.

As mentioned by Martin above, one feature is that it's almost entirely made from off the shelf components and steel stock; it's not a huge, heavy iron machine, but it does weigh in at around 1400 pounds. I think if you got one you'd be happy with it.

[Barry W. Larson]

Thanks Dave. Sounds like the SSC is a good machine for a small shop and would be a good replacement for my double drum sander. I have a good sized RPC so I will likely get the 3ph, 15 hp motor. Does anybody have the 43 inch version to report on? I'm inclined to think that a 75 inch belt is better than a 60 inch belt - more area and cooling, but does it make that much difference in the real world? The 43 inch version is a fair chunk of change more than the 37 inch, and I am not sure how often I would need the extra 6 inches of capacity.
Cheers,
Barry W. Larson
Calgary, Alberta, Canada eh!

[Martin Wasner]

Longer belts is always better. They don't cost that much more, but they last a whole lot longer. I regret not getting the 103" belts for my widebelt.

[Barry W. Larson]

Thanks Martin. That was my impression as well. Maybe start saving my pennies (ok nickels since we don't have pennies in Canada anymore and I need to make up for the exchange rate) for the one with the slightly wider and longer belt.
Cheers,
Barry W. Larson
Calgary, Alberta, Canada eh!

[Dave Cav]

Maybe start saving my pennies (ok nickels since we don't have pennies in Canada anymore and I need to make up for the exchange rate)
Cheers,
Barry W. Larson
Calgary, Alberta, Canada eh!

Or dollar bills. Loonies and Twonies were one of the better decisions you guys made, and one we should copy down here.

And what ever wide belt you end up getting, I'm sure you'll be very happy with it once you've used it for a while.

[Rick Fisher]

I went from a drum sander to a Wide belt, just a small one .. 25" x 60" belts. The difference is night and day .. you won't regret the upgrade.

On width, I always appreciate having the 25" .. but often wish I had more width.

Power is different. Mine is 12hp and honestly I don't think it would have mattered if it had only been 7.5hp .. It maxes out at 31 amps but rarely tops 20 amps. It idles at about 9 amps and most times jumps to 14 or 15 when sanding.

The number one thing to me with a wide belt is can I condition the main belt. Mine is a 2001, and I have had to refresh it 2 times. Its surface gets old and slippery ..

[Barry W. Larson]

Thank you gentlemen for your sage advice. It appears that the longer belt might have some advantages as will an extra 6 inches of width. I should be able to handle the extra power requirements with an upgrade to my phase converter. I guess the next step is to see what my financial advisor has for input:)!
Cheers,
Barry W. Larson
Calgary, Alberta, Canada eh!