Rikon belt/disk sander

[Bill Sherman]

I'm looking for a bench top belt/disc sander. The Rikon 50-120 ($410 - $500 ) looks good but one site that I read reviews gives it generaly positive reviews and another site gives almost all negitve reviews. Anybody have this sander? Is there another brand I should be looking at? Thanks for any help you could give.

Bill

[glenn bradley]

I would question the site with all negatives. Competitors are not above salting sites with negative reviews of popular products. The Rikon is a light duty, small form-factor machine that would be good for many crafting needs. You know your needs better than I do. If I were going to spend in that price range I would go a bit higher and get a 12" disc (the smallest I really find valuable). Remember you don't get to use the whole disc so your 10" has about 4" of usable area. Grizzly has been selling a proven design for over 30 years in the G1183. There are others in this arena but, this just happens to be one of those machines where Grizzly is offering the 'most bang for the buck'. Other manufacturers have that on other products; this is not a Grizly flag waving thread ;-). If the disc is secondary and you are mostly after a belt, $500 puts you in the neighborhood of some larger, more powerful machines if space allows.

[George Bokros]

I have that sander and find it acceptable for my needs. No issues and seems well made.

[Bill Sherman]

The Grizzly 1183 says it is recomended for metal. it runs at twice the RPM of the 1276 that is recomended for wood - 2500 RPM vrs. 5000 RPM on the belt. Would you recomend the faster RPM? The Grizz looks like it has a guard that would keep you from using the radius at the end of the belt. Is that guard removable?

[Stan Mitchell]

If you have reservations about the Rikon, take a look at the Grizzly 1014Z. Very similar machine. I have the 1014ZX. Both versions come with a stand - the ZX comes with a cabinet that is nice for storing extra belts and discs. I've had mine for a couple of years and I really like it. Very handy tool and well built for the price.

I agree that a 12" disc would be more useful, but that feature hasn't been critical for me.

[Andrew Joiner]

I would try one of these. Looks a lot like the Grizzly 1014Z. You can get it with a 25% off coupon. There are several stores around the Atlanta area so you can see before you buy and pay no shipping. Try it and if it doesn't work for you they have a 90 day return policy.
I wouldhttp://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-x-48-inch-belt-and-9-inch-disc-combination-sander-6852.html (http://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-x-48-inch-belt-and-9-inch-disc-combination-sander-6852.html)

[glenn bradley]

Hmmm, I can't even find the 1183 under Grizzly's metalworking section. However, who's to say they don't try to sell it for "whatever" ;-) Here'
s from the online catalog regarding the 1183:

"Description
Built to the scale and level of quality professional woodworkers demand, this heavy-duty sander features"

Be that as it may, I too often wish for slower speeds on my sanders. Griz does offer one at half the speed in the model 1276. I am not saying that you should only look at Grizzly. I just know the boost I got when I went from 1/3 and 1/2 HP universal moter'd sanders to a 1HP induction motor'd machine. The smaller machines did fine within their scope and I am not one to tell folks to spend without reason. Look at what you want to do and then look for the best sander you can afford to do that job.

P.s. I do not believe the guard allows you to use the roller as a spindle sanding area. ;-(

[Brian W Smith]

For a long time Grizz was selling two models of the same basic design....only difference was belt speed.