Any Grizzly widebelt owners here??

[Jeff Monson]

I'm ready to upgrade from my drum sander to a small widebelt, I have it down to 2 Grizzly models, the 15" open end G9983 or the 18" closed end
G0527. I like the idea of being able to sand rp doors, glue up panels, etc. over 18" if the need arises, so that makes the 15" more attractive. The G9983 also
has a platen, (not sure if this is really needed?) where the G0527 has no platen. I'm leaning hard towards the G9983, but would like to hear some opinions
on either model pro's and con's.

BTW I'm not interested in a used 37" timesaver or similar used large widebelt as I have no room for a machine of this size. I'd LOVE to own one, but the real estate is just not there.

[David Kumm]

Jeff, depends on what you are sanding. the 18" closed end with a straight head- probably larger diameter- will be the better calibrating sander. Is the drum steel or rubber and what diameter? It also has electric eye tracking so it will require less air than the open end with pneumatic tracking. Ask about the air requirements unless you have a decent sized compressor. The 18" needs air but very little to handle the oscillation. The extra hold down rollers are a nice feature vs the two on the 15". I assume the 15 has a combo head and the platen can be adjusted? The platen is nice with the finer grits- just kissing the board as it goes through, not really taking much off. Other with more knowledge will chime in but I could see the 15" with primarily 180 grit as a final pass sander, maybe 120 grit as well if you can adjust the platen, and the 18" as more of a level glue ups, take the planer marks off and run 120-180. I think to get to a closed end combo head you would have to go to a 24". Dave

[Jeff Monson]

Good points so far David, appears in the manuals, that the g9983 has 2 rubber rollers and a 1 3/4" platen, which is adjustable. The g0527 has a single roller, which is much larger diameter and also rubber (appears that way in the pic anyways). Air supply is not a concern for me as I have a 60 gal. compressor. I'd also really like to know how well the open end works, if I have a 24" wide panel to sand, will flipping the workpiece end up with a consistent thickness? or marginal at best results, like my drum sander?

[David Kumm]

Jeff, there is a difference between a platen head and a combo head. A platen head runs two small rollers but depends primarily on the platen for sanding. Combo head uses the front drum to sand but the platen can also be set to just kiss the stock after the main head or be used stand alone like on a platen head. I would much prefer the combo head. Having said that I've talked to guys who were happy with their 15" open sanders. Don't know what heads they were running though. The head on the open machine should be adjustable so you can dial it in so the outer edge is a tad high so when you flip the stock for the second pass you don't end up with a hollow or groove in the center. Don't know how touchy they are to keep in alignment. Dave

[Steve Kohn]

Believe me when I say I'm no expert; just an enthusiastic amateur running a pretty well equipped hobby shop. I've had the G9983 for 3 years now and rely on the machine. A good friend of mine, who is a retired mechanical engineer and factory machine designer, has been very favorably impressed with the sander when he uses it. Almost every piece of flat stock goes thru that sander at least once. Relating to your question on alignment, I've never adjusted or had to adjust the platen or head. It came dialed in from the factory, and has not moved.

[Jeff Monson]

Believe me when I say I'm no expert; just an enthusiastic amateur running a pretty well equipped hobby shop. I've had the G9983 for 3 years now and rely on the machine. A good friend of mine, who is a retired mechanical engineer and factory machine designer, has been very favorably impressed with the sander when he uses it. Almost every piece of flat stock goes thru that sander at least once. Relating to your question on alignment, I've never adjusted or had to adjust the platen or head. It came dialed in from the factory, and has not moved.

Nice Steve, glad to hear from a happy owner. As far as sanding wide panels (over 15"), how does it do on the overlap? What do you primarily use it for, doors, glue ups, veneers?

[Kelby Van Patten]

I have the 527. It is a very well made machine with great features. One advantage is that it has 4 pressure rollers (2 outfeed and 2 infeed), which eliminates snipe completely. My only knock on the machine is that I have had problems with the sanding belt sometimes travelling too far on the drum and flipping the limit switch rather than oscillating back the way it should. It doesn't happen all the time, but often enough to be very annoying. I've spent quite a bit of time on the phone with Grizzly customer support, and while they have been very courteous in trying to help, the problem remains. It's still a very nice machine, but it's also a lot of money for a machine this size, and I'm not happy that Grizzly has thus far not been able to help me get it working properly.

[Mike Heidrick]

Gregory Stahl brought a used 24" SCMI by one day. Dream sander and small. Exponentially better than small asian sander. Try to see one of those before you buy.

[Steve Kohn]

Nice Steve, glad to hear from a happy owner. As far as sanding wide panels (over 15"), how does it do on the overlap? What do you primarily use it for, doors, glue ups, veneers? I pretty much run everything thru the sander that is solid wood. I did buy it primarily for sanding door and side panels, most of which are over the 15 inch nominal width. I've not been able to detect visually any kind of mark in the center of the panel (either raised or dished) after running a panel thru both directions. In fact I built a kitchen table out of 6/4 cherry and those panels were 27 inches wide. The machine left the surfaces flat.

[Rick Fisher]

Hey .. I have a 25" wide belt, which is much easier on the real-estate than a 37" .. having said that .. an 18" would do 90% of what I do with my 25"

Most of what I sand is less than 10" wide. Its components for tables etc.. Stuff like that .. Then I get to the table top.. Where width becomes an issue.

So .. If I had 18" .. I would still use the sander on every piece.. just not for the final sand on the table top ..

I would choose a platen over no platen every time.. I started with a 15" GI Wide belt with no platten and found it lacking .. no comparison to the 25"

[Jeff Monson]

I started with a 15" GI Wide belt with no platten and found it lacking .. no comparison to the 25"

Rick, care to elaborate on "lacking"? The Griz 15" does have a platen, what mfg. of 15" did you own? Just looking for all the info I can get, thanks!

[Jim Andrew]

Jeff, I have the G9983 and think it is great. Have had the oscillation problem, but the book covers the problem, and it has only happened once. Main thing I have to be careful with is changing belts, easy to not pay attention and get the belt slightly out of its range. My air compressor is small, so doesn't take a large air compressor. I made 24" wide end panels for my nephew's kitchen cabinets, and just reverse them when sanding, and it flattens the panels perfectly. You still need to run over things with your ROS in my humble opinion. Just takes much less time. One thing I would like to go with the sander is a larger cyclone. Mine is 2 hp, and a little dust hangs around in the machine. Not terrible, I worked in a shop with a speedsander, and it was full of dust, so it is common. The sander has a 5" dust connection, and it would work better if it were 6".

[Rick Fisher]

The model I had was a General International .. Looking for an old picture of it ..

Not as heavy as the one from Grizzly..

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/My%20Machinery/th_P1140206.jpg (http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/My%20Machinery/P1140206.mp4)


If you click on the pic there is a video of it running .. Its a small machine.. 15" x 39" belt.

Having said that.. I put a bunch of wood through that machine ..

One issue was that the oscillation left a curvy line in the center of a wide panel. If the panel was 25" .. you got a long S shaped snake down the center .. you needed to clean it up by hand..

I replaced it with this..

http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m455/jokerbird_photo/SCM%20Sander/P1150317.jpg (http://s335.photobucket.com/user/jokerbird_photo/media/SCM%20Sander/P1150317.jpg.html)

Not a huge machine.. but much more capable than the little gaffer from General Int.

The platen is a big deal .. Its the big difference between a drum sander and a wide belt.

I picked that machine up used, its a 2001.. Runs flawlessly.. As I said before, 90% of the wood that goes through it is narrow. Today it ran 13" wide x 40" long walnut glue ups.. 3 passes off the planer at 150 grit and they are flat and smooth.. about a minute per panel with 220 grit on a 6" sander and they are finished..

The quality of the sanding with a platen is night and day.. I got roller marks with the GI .. easy to sand out ... but if you missed them .. obvious... I also got then with the drum sander .. I don't get them with the SCM .. The difference is the platen...


By the way .... I run that SCM sander off that Makita compressor .. Makita told me it probably voids the warranty .. but its been 3 years .. runs the little compressor hard.. but it works. I have a big shop compressor but do so many " quick " sands.. that waiting for it to reach pressure is boring.. You don't need a massive compressor for a wide belt sander..

[Dave Zellers]

Total wide belt clueless idiot here....

What does the compressor do?

[Mike Heidrick]

Total wide belt clueless idiot here....

What does the compressor do?

Belt tension and Oscillation

[Rick Fisher]

The compressor on mine tensions the belt, but more importantly operates the pistons that oscillate the belt side to side ..

The Makita runs probably 2/3 of the time the sander is running.