Edge sander uses

[Nancy Strevelowski]

Hi there, I just got a Jet oscillating Edge Sander for Christmas and want to make sure I understand how to use this unit to it max potential.

Can an you all help me on what are the typical type of sanding you all do with edge sanders?

when would I want to use the sander belt glad va 90 deg? Using the fence?

thanks! Merry Christmas

Nancy

[William A Johnston]

Nancy,

I have a 6" edge sander that does not oscillate. I use it mainly for cleaning up the ends and sides on cutting boards that I make. That's a very gift and I'm sure you will find many uses for it.

Bill

[Neil Gaskin]

We use it for anything that fits on it. Cabinet door sides to flush up, same for cutting boards, just about anything curved.

Ours did not come with a fence but I have clamped on the board for small parts. My best advice, don't stand up wind of a small part.

[Chris Fournier]

It certainly has it's applications but personally I prefer the disc sander. I have both. Respect the edge sander, it can catch pieces and send them flying, end grain catches quite easily. 60 - 120 grits are the most useful in my shop. Enjoy!

[Bill Dufour]

I suppose it could be used to sharpen chisels and plane blades.
Bill

[Ben Rivel]

Cleaning up bandsaw cuts if/when needed. Flushing sanding joints. Sanding convex curves. I never use it to true up a 90 degree angle as I'd rather do that at the table saw. Other than those things mine doesnt get used for much else besides any general belt sanding needs I might come across.

[Dave Zellers]

I have it and wouldn't want to be without it.

Cabinet door edges, especially the top and bottoms with end grain.

With a light touch, curves. Never point a piece into the rotation, point it toward the back to avoid it being grabbed by the paper.

Use the locking guide to sand end grain to 90º or any angle but again, point the tip of the angle toward the dust collection hole.

I'd say it's too aggressive for plane irons but I did put an 80 grit belt on and used it to flatten an old plane and then square the sides. Worked great but it was an old junker- I'd be wary of doing that on a quality plane.

Once you get used to it, you will use it for things you can't imagine now.

I REALLY wish it could be variable speed.

[Jim Becker]

It's one of those "very handy to have" tools that you'll continually find interesting uses for. It's definitely a great gift that you got!

[Bill Dufour]

For variable speed you could use a 3 phase motor and VFD. I assume they use a standard motor.
Bill

[Jim Andrew]

The other day I needed to remount an axe head. Found that the pulley end worked great for that. Usually I clean up the edges of boards on projects. I make feet for my end tables and bedside tables that fit the radius of the large pulley. Mine also has an attachment for drums so I can use it to sand small radius parts.

[Wayne Lomman]

Like Dave, use it to flush tops and bottoms of cabinet doors. It's also good for any edges where you need to get rid of planer ripples. Set up extension tables and you can sand the edges of log timber and sheet material such as ply. Use the same approach as planing a long edge ie good body position and a smooth action all the way past with no hesitation. If applying veneer edge strips, sanding first gets you a veryclean and almost invisible line. Cheers

[Jan Carr]

I have a non-oscillating large model (6 x 89 belt) and it is both one of the most useful and dangerous tools in my shop. In addition to all the uses noted above, it can also grind and shape wood (think sculpture). But if one of your fingers slips off the piece, it can grind through your skin faster than you can spit.

[Tim Bueler]

Just yesterday I used mine to sand the skin off one of my knuckles. :eek:

[glenn bradley]

The Jet table adjustment is a bit persnickety but, other than that I have found it to be a very useful machine. I found the table size to be limiting and so added this using the t-nuts that came with the machine.

374630

I use a couple of spacers to assure clearance before tightening it down. The sander head is still fully adjustable.

374629

The fence is adjustable.

374628

Proved so handy I have left it on for years despite losing the table thickness in height. As to uses (and I should mention that I have grits from 60 to 400):
- Squaring or flattening the bottoms of small boxes
- Smoothing all sorts of surfaces
- Beveling edges
- Reducing dimensions
Once you start to think of it in your work all sorts of things will crop up that an edge sander can do for you.

Our own Cary Falk designed a table raising wheel mechanism. Unfortunately the pictures were hosted elsewhere instead of being uploaded to the forum so the thread is pretty broken. Still, here it is (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?153140-Edge-sander-table-elevation-handwheel) and maybe a PM to Cary would get you the pics if you wanted to pursue that.

[Tim Bueler]

In addition to the aforementioned knuckle, uh, smoothing I've used mine to "joint" edges for glue up, especially figured grain prone to tearout, smooth curves such as for clamping cauls, true the face of shaper fences, edge sand doors, drawer fronts, cutting boards, etc., and I've used the drum end to create faux live edge for cabinet door rails. Now that you've got it you'll find all kinds of uses for it.

As others have said, use a light touch and try to make sure your work piece, especially curves, sands downstream.

Make sure it's hooked up to a dust collector when sanding wood and unhooked if/when sanding metal (that may spark and make fire).

[Cary Falk]

Here are the pictures in no particular order.

374634374635374636374637374638374639374640374641

[mark mcfarlane]

Nancy, I'm one of those owners that lost a bit of skin on this machine when it was new. I did not respect this sander as much as I should have.

My only advice is to think carefully about how every piece will be supported, particularly small pieces. That belt can whip a small piece away while drawing your hand into the belt, and you will lose a chunk of skin in a fraction of a second.

I use mine all the time, and particularly love it for cleaning up the joints of little jigs, hangers, tool holders,... that I make up for use in the shop. I just nail/glue some wood together, press against the belt, and the joints look perfect. I also use it to round over edges on boards, but that takes a very fine touch because the belt cuts really fast.

[Mike Hollingsworth]

I never stop finding uses for mine.

[tom lucas]

Nancy, I'm one of those owners that lost a bit of skin on this machine when it was new. I did not respect this sander as much as I should have.

My only advice is to think carefully about how every piece will be supported, particularly small pieces. That belt can whip a small piece away while drawing your hand into the belt, and you will lose a chunk of skin in a fraction of a second.

I use mine all the time, and particularly love it for cleaning up the joints of little jigs, hangers, tool holders,... that I make up for use in the shop. I just nail/glue some wood together, press against the belt, and the joints look perfect. I also use it to round over edges on boards, but that takes a very fine touch because the belt cuts really fast.

Yes. It's powerful and can hurt you. If not using the stop bar, stay away from the stop bar with the work piece. If it pulls the work out of your hand and slams into the stop bar it can come back at you. Right now I've got a deeply bruised knuckle because of that. Hurts like crazy but could have been worse. I learned something there.

[Bill Dufour]

I suppose it would work well for sanding down fingernails. I would not want to try to sand toenails with it though.
Bill D

[Joe Cowan]

If you make box joints, it is hard to not have the fingers proud of the surface. My first use was to even out the fingers of a project when I needed box joints.