Suggestions Please - Wide Belt Wood Sander

[Chris Stormer]

I've been lurking for a long time here and the knowledge you guys possess is just awesome.

I need some help choosing an industrial grade wide belt sander. I'm open to old or new and I'm just not sure what companies make good quality wood wide belt sanders. Probably at least 24" wide.

Thanks

[Loren Woirhaye]

I think any of the brands will do. Used ones can be abused in production and repairs can be costly. They are built real heavy and some of the older ones at least have non-proprietary parts. Most of them have a funny pneumatic tracking system that uses electric eyes to trigger a cylinder that pushes and pulls the upper roller back and forth to track the belt. Newer ones are using more electronic systems which I imagine may be trickier to fix if they go bad. You'll need 3 phase power and a lot of amps.

[Chris Stormer]

I think any of the brands will do. Used ones can be abused in production and repairs can be costly. They are built real heavy and some of the older ones at least have non-proprietary parts. Most of them have a funny pneumatic tracking system that uses electric eyes to trigger a cylinder that pushes and pulls the upper roller back and forth to track the belt. Newer ones are using more electronic systems which I imagine may be trickier to fix if they go bad. You'll need 3 phase power and a lot of amps.

Thank you.

It seems that the general thoughts of the board are to go with TimeSaver as the brand and as wide and as many heads as you can afford. :)

[eugene thomas]

If can afford new would go that rout. I bought used single phase 37" unit from a one man shop and let's just say was used pretty hard. I am glad got it but I had to change conveyor and resurface the contact drum.

[Ira Matheny]

I, too, purchased a 37" sander. [10 year old LOBO] I have had many, many hours of use. I have had no issues, other than to replace the graphite once and a number of belts. I have found many ways to do many different task. I purchased 50 , 80, 120, 150 and 180 grit medium.

I can cut about 25/1000" per pass with the 50 and 80 grit. 120 grit is limited to about 20/1000". With the 150 and 180, I make adjustments of about 12/1000" per pass. I run the boards thru three times a setting for the best finish results when using the 150 or 180 grit.

Some types of wood tend to burn unless you make very fine passes. [Western maple is probably the most likely to burn] Of course, I have 3 phase power in my shop.

[Loren Woirhaye]

I have a little Jet 13" wide belt. It's very heavy for its size, over 1000lb I think. I really haven't used it, just got it going. For wider work I have a stroke sander. I'd prefer a bigger wide belt but the power requirements and all that are not suited to my present location. Stroke sanders are real cool too, something to look into if what you're really looking for is reduced sanding time and not precision thickness sanding.

[David Kumm]

As stated, you need some amps for a wide belt. A 24" single machine needs 10-15 hp and a 37" a 20 hp. Dual head will have either two separate motors, 20 and 15 as the lowest or if a SCMI Sandya you can get a single 30 hp to run both the heads. All 24" machines are Asian now except for a Felder which is made by EMC ( so EMC makes one too.) Not a bad thing as a single head sander doesn't need the finesse of a larger multi head unit. I've got a used Sandya Win 24" and it is a pretty refined machine. Condition is pretty important when talking used. Drum and conveyor belts are expensive to replace. Older machines have much bulkier electrics in a huge box but those old starters are usually pretty reliable. Newer ones seem to have shorter lives but ebay is a great source for euro electrics so they don't scare me anymore. Dave

[Rick Fisher]

I have a 2001 ? 25" SCM Sandya Win .. White color .. Its a great machine and I actually rarely wish it was wider. Mine is 12hp and has no frills. Its a great machine.

[Albert Lee]

just keep in mind when you buy a wide belt sander, its not just the sander you are buying, you may potentially have to upgrade your compressor, extractor, ducting and power to the shed.

I've recently purchased a 30 years old 37" SCM Uno, its old but it is very solid, sander has not been used much, its a single head machine with platen, 15hp main motor. I had to hire a technician to give it once over and the service was about $300 USD, the machine costed me about $1100 USD. please dont remember this number and using it as a bench mark, I got it really really cheap, the guy obviously didnt know a sander of this calibre can fetch more than this.

If you are buying second hand make sure you spend some money on hiring a technician to calibrate it, mine was calibrated, the difference in the sanded panel between the right and left side of the sander was 0.05mm, which is 2/1000".

When asked about upgrade to newer machine, the technician commented newer machine has more electronics and potentially its more likely to go wrong.

Before I bought my sander I have seen about 8-10 2nd hand machines, I am not trained in looking at the machine to see if it has been abused, but after 3-4 its pretty easy.

[Max Neu]

What kind of work do you do?I am in the cabinet making business,and my 43" is just wide enough sometimes to get get 42" high face frames in.For me,42" high face frames are common since alot most of my customers with 8' high ceilings want full height cabinets.I build my upper cabinets in 1 piece regardless of how wide it ends up being,so I can get some pretty big frames at times.I would just think ahead,and make sure you get one wide enough.If I was in the market for a new one,I would probably be looking at a Butfering.

[Dave Cav]

If you're a one man shop, or not planning to run the sander eight to ten hours a day, six days a week, take a look at Safety Speed. Very basic machine, but simple, easy to work on and off the shelf parts. Also made in the USA. I got one last summer, very happy with it. It's not as powerful as a big 30 hp Timesaver like the one I have at school, but it's light years ahead of the drum sander it replaced.

[Jim Andrew]

I have the G9983 Grizzly open end 15", 5hp. I like mine very well, skipped the drum sander route. It has a small footprint, you can sand wide panels, and face frames. Maybe not as big as Max makes but a very good small machine with a small price compared to other widebelts. I figure it is so much better than a drum, and turning the panel around makes sanding take 2 times as long as with a big widebelt, but miles ahead of anything else.

[Rick Fisher]

I learned something from this thread..

In Western Canada, face frame cabinets are really uncommon .. European has been 99.9% of the market since I was a kid. I always wondered about these 43" and 50" Wide Belt sanders. I could see the odd time doing a table top that big, but wow would it ever be heavy .. lol

Wide Face frames makes so much more sense.

I have done table tops over 25" . did them in 2 pieces, jointed, domino's .. and light sanding.. But I could totally see a wide machine for face frames.

[Max Neu]

Rick,
Not only do I use my 43" sander for wide face frames,but it is also very useful for bar backs.Whenever I make a raised panel backs for a raised bar in a kitchen or a basement bar,they can get pretty long,and they are usually around 40" high.Based on my type of work,I would not own a sander under 43".

[Kevin Jenness]

Different folks have different approaches. I see no utility in running assembled face frames through a wide belt and spending time removing the cross grain scratches with a DA. I run the pieces through with the grain, assemble them within a few thousands of flush, level the joints and finish sand far more quickly on the bench.

In terms of stock removal, gross thickness reduction should be done with the coarsest belts, and with careful milling and joining should rarely be needed on most woods. I usually plan on removing about .010" to .012" with a 100# belt and .005" with a 150# unless there is serious tearout, in which case I will start at 60# or 80#. There are times when I wish we had more than 15hp on our single head Sandingmaster for wide, figured wood panels, but not that often. Fine belts(150# and above) will run far cooler and last longer if they take .005" or less per pass. Once you get through tearout, you should only cut deep enough to get down to the bottom of the previous grit's scratches, which is not as deep as you might think. There is an excellent discussion of this issue at surfprepsanding.com.

For accurate calibration you will want a precise digital depth gauge such as Accurate Technologies sells, or you could get by with a dial indicator or caliper mounted to the machine.

When we looked at replacing our old Sandingmaster, the newer Butfering, SCMI and Timesavers we looked at had far more electronics, and we wound up going with a rebuilt Sandingmaster for its simplicity and heavy build (most functions are controlled pneumatically).

As Loren stated, stroke sanders can't be beat for finish sanding anything within their size limits. They take up space and require some skill, but they will get you to a finish-ready surface. No matter what the salesmen may say, a widebelt will not do that.