Stroke sander: experiences and opinions

[Todd Davidson]

I have the opportunity to pick up a Boice Crane 2HP 6' stroke sander for dirt cheap from a cabinet shop that upgraded. Have no experience with one so was wondering what y'all thought of them.

Reason for edit: Was initially told it was a Grizzly but it's not.

[Richard Wolf]

Todd, I think with the introduction of economical priced drum sanders, stroke sanders have become a dying breed. Of course if the price is right and you think it will work for you they work well for sanding larger panels and doors.

Be well my friend.

Richard

[Todd Davidson]

Hi Richard~

A local cabinet shop is relocating and upgrading. They're selling the equipment from their current location and having the new equip sent to the new location. I'd been waiting on and finally purchased their Grizzly 8" jointer. Will also be acquiring a 24" planer. The owner only wants $150 from me for the stroke. Thought it might be an economical solution for sanding cabinet doors. Am waiting to see if they're going to part with a couple other machines.

[Vaughn McMillan]

I didn't know what a stroke sander was until I Googled it, then realized that it was "the big belt sander" I used in high school shop class. For $150 I don't see how you could go wrong, assuming you have the space. Sounds like quite a nice haul in the making.

- Vaughn

[Todd Davidson]

HI Vaughn~

I could rearrange the shop to make room and I more than likely will (anybody need a RAS?) but I'm gonna wait 'til I commit on it until I learn a little more about the machine as I have no experience with one. The price is right but it is also 700lbs to have to move.

[Todd Davidson]

Checked it out this evening and will trailer it home Tuesday. Found a pic at OWWM of one similar: www.owwm.com/PhotoIndex/detail.asp?id=3339 (http://www.owwm.com/PhotoIndex/detail.asp?id=3339) Heck, it was cheaper than my PC belt sander and it comes with a few new belts. The motor supposedly was replaced a couple years ago. It should do the trick until we find an affordable drum or wide belt sander.

[Steve Clardy]

Got a buddy that has one. It will do interior, exterior doors. But that thing stretches out about 16' total. Has monster length belts.
He's now wanting to get rid of it, as it consumes to much space.
It's 3 phase, an antique, and I think Noah brought it over with Him on the Arc.

[Richard Wolf]

Well good luck with it, boy it does look big. It should work great for you.

Richard

[Todd Davidson]

It's about 7' long and 32" deep. Will definately be getting rid of the RAS and CMS and going with a SCMS on a mobile base. That will clear up one wall of our shop.

[Corey Hallagan]

Congrats on all the new equipment Todd! Sounds like a deal. Enjoy and be safe! Haven't heard from you for awhile, I take it you have been busy and that is good!

Corey

[Dev Emch]

Todd, not bad.

What is your RAS? PM if your RAS is an older Norhfield X-36 Unipoint with the vintage American blade flask!!!! Love to get one of these beasties!

Its hard to say if the stroke sander is a cat's meow machine. Many complain about its size. Many think its great. It can do capacity that few other sanders can do. And it produces a platen like finish as opposed to a drum like finish. Most drums are about 6 in diameter and these are not really a finishing drum. Some have fat drums about 12 in diameter and this helps in improving finish. But in the end, nothing beats a nice platen. And the stroke provides a very good quasi-platen like finish for this price.

[Norman Hitt]

Excellent find, Todd. I'd sure like to have one, but a Find of that kind of machinery just doesn't exist anywhere near my neck of the woods. I helped build a "Shop Made" one in the college ww shop in 1957, and it worked great. I sanded all the carved initials, grafiti, and multi layers of paint & other finish, off of 22 student desk tops of maple and refinished them. They came out perfect, and it was pretty quickly done too. My instructor was impressed, and I was absolutely astonished. I could only imagine how long it would have taken me to scrape, hand plane and sand those things.

[Chris Giles]

Todd,
I have this machine in my shop. I bought it about ten years ago from a used machine dealer. $150 is a great price on it. I use the thing almost every day, even though I originally bought it to sand a run of custom crown mouldings. I flush sand all my doors and drawer fronts as well as solid nosings on veneer. We put a mobile base on it, but rarely move it. We also removed most of the metal guards as they just got in the way. You will need to have good dust collection on it because it pumps out a huge amount of very fine dust. We order our belts from Klingspors (specify belt length) and they also supply graphite padding material for the pressure block. This is a compact version of the more well known larger sizes, and fits in my shop pretty easily. Using this machine effectively takes a bit of practice, but it is definitely worthwhile. I don't know what I would do without mine.

[lou sansone]

If you have a lot of space and real decent dust collection it is probably worth it. Like others have said, they do a decent job, but there are a few drawbacks to them. most of the stroke sanders I have seen on the used market do go for 2 cents on the dollar, so if you really want to have one there are plenty to pick from.

lou

[Bob Winkler]

Hi Todd,

Sounds like another shop reorg may be coming. Let me know if you need a hand getting stuff upstairs or downstairs. I might be able to lift more than Kim. ;)

Bob

BTW- the metal handwheels work great