Edge Sander - Regular or Oscillating?

[Tim Armstrong]

Well folks I think I've read every bit of talk on this site about shop floor sanders and after much internal debate, I've decided that I'll skip upgrading my tiny Craftsman disc/belt combo and opt for an edge sander instead of a big combo machine. While lots of people are very happy with the quality of the combo sanders, there seems to be an underlying theme towards... I wish I had bought and edge sander.

What I have not yet decided is whether I pull the trigger with something inexpensive like the Homier or Griz entry level edge sander, go somewhere midstream and check out the non-oscillating Jet, Powermatic, or new Griz, or bite the bullet and go for the new Griz oscillating or something it that price range.

The cost of oscillating is very significant and I'm not sure it's worth it. Top to bottom in my decision scope is more than a $1k.

For those of you that have or have used edge sanders - would you please weigh in on oscillating vs. non-oscillating?

Thank you!

[tod evans]

tim i have an antique non-oscillating edge sander and have not noticed it consuming belts at a higher rate than those i`ve used that do oscillate. as with most sanding equipment horsepower is your friend. for me the simpler a piece of equipment is the better `cause when i break it i have to fix it. tod

[Thomas Prondzinski]

Tim check out the new Jet oscilating edge sander,mine is on order at Rocklers,may be here middle of Dec. end of January. Best estimate from Jet,it is a new product.Sold my belt and disc to my neighbor


Tom

[Brian Hale]

I'm pleased with my non-oscillating edge sander i got from Wilke Machine in PA. I also debated the benefits of each and didn't see the extra money being worth it.

Something to think about.... Don't they only oscillate on one end?

Brian :)

BTW, if you haven't looked at the Bridgewood line from Wilke you should. High quality stuff and you won't find better customer support. Also, most of their machines are setup, tuned and run under power before they ship.

[CPeter James]

I have a 6x89 jet non oscillating belt sander and don't find that there is that much build up that an eraser cleaner won't remove it. I also (horror of horrors) reverse the belt from time to time to even out the wear. Powermatic has one for about $600. I have seen them in Western Tools. A pretty well kept secret. Well worth the money.

BTW, get a 180 grit metal grinding belt. Quickest and neatest way to flatten tools like the $3 plane from a yard sale or correct the angle on a blade.

CPeter

[Jim Becker]

If you can afford the extra cost for the oscillating version, that's a good thing, IMHO. Better belt life and cleaner/less scratchy sanding.

[Steve Rowe]

Tim,
I have the Grizz non-oscillating edge sander (6x80). It performs acceptably but, I will probably upgrade next year to an edge sander with a longer platen and oscillating. Mostly, my need is the longer platen. If you are limited by $1K, oscillating probably isn't in the picture but, I would recommend going for the longest belt you can. Good luck.
Steve

[Perry Holbrook]

Looks like I'm in the minority here, but I think the oscillation is very important. I use by Bridgewood 6 x 108 for a wide range of operations in my shop. Althought I'm a professional, I don't spend as much money on equipment as a lot of hobbist, but when I bought the edge sander I spent the extra bucks. I guess it had something to do with the fact the the furniture factory I used to manage had a couple of dozen edge sanders and all of them oscillated.

[James Boster]

I have a large edge sander with oscilation and I beleive it makes a world of difference. Longer belt life and a better finish. I kept my combination sander but I hardly ever use it any more, I go to the edge sander. My recomondations would be to go with the oscillation and but the biggest one you can possibly afford. Mine has a 48" platen, 6"x123" belt and I would like to have a bigger one! I built mine to use a bunch of belts I got when i bought another machine so I can't really complain but I see a bigger one in the future. Good luck with your decision.;)

[Tim Armstrong]

Wow - thanks guys... lots of good advice. I'm glad that I didn't buy the Jet combination sander that was in my Shopping Cart on amazon. Not because it's not a good tool, because I think it is, but I'm more convinced now than ever that I should save up for a good edge sander. I have home basement shop so size and floor space is always a concern but I will take your advice on buying as big an edge sander as possible.

Brian, thanks for the tip about Bridgewood and Wilke - I'll investigate.

Thomas I'm looking on the Jet web site but don't see the new sander you are talking about. Any tips on where I can catch a glimpse and see some specs (and a price)?

Thanks to all - lots of good tips and advice in here. I really appreciate it.

[Tim Armstrong]

Ahhh... found the new Jet on the web site. Strange enough, WMH doesn't have this new machine listed on their site under edge sanders, they have it listed under oscillating sanders. I guess both are true but if it were me, I would have listed it under edge sanders. oh well. For anyone's future reference...

http://www.wmhtoolgroup.com/index.cfm?area=shop&action=detail&iid=6056208

I'm guessing this machine was going to be the Powermatic Model 80 but WMH must have pulled it over (down?) to the Jet line. I've seen references to the Model 80 as a fine machine - but can't find one for sale anywhere. Did Powermatic ever get these out there?

I'm new to the Pond and am really impressed with how many of you share your knowledge and experience almost daily. It's very helpful to me as I'm just starting out in this great (albeit, very expensive) hobby.

[Gary Sutherland]

I have an oscillating sander. The odd thing is that I had never used one that oscillated and when looking wasn't actually planning to get one that did, but came across a fairly large one at a fantastic price, so it wasn't really a 'choice' but more chance.

Now that I have it though, I really appreciate that feature, and feel like I "lucked out".

Gary

[Rob Russell]

... I'm new to the Pond and am really impressed with how many of you share your knowledge and experience almost daily. It's very helpful to me as I'm just starting out in this great (albeit, very expensive) hobby.

Tim, welcome to the Creek! FYI, the "Pond" is a reference to another woodworking forum called Badger Pond that closed a couple of years ago. This is a good forum - friendly and with a nice range of skills and contributors.

Rob

[Tim Armstrong]

Oh - where's my head? :o Creek... Pond - I'm easily confused. Thank you for the welcome and I promise to get the name right from here on out!

(guess I spent too much time looking at those shop tour pictures on the old Pond site - I had Pond on the brain.)

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

One of the reasons I like an edge sander is that if the table is square, and the belt is tracking straight, you oughta be able to sand to or maintain a square edge that's flat. I'm not sure what benefit oscillation would provide, other than to help with belt wear...and I'd call that 'necessary' only under extreme use...and maybe even detrimental to maintaining a flat edge. When I was using one, I regularly switched the direction of the belt, and also moved it 'out of alignment' higher or lower to catch new abrasive. I'm going to buy one for myself probably next summer, and 'oscillating' won't be feature I'll be willing to pay more for.

There are many times I wish very loudly that my drum sander didn't oscillate, because it just seems to make it harder to 'control', especially on a sweeping arc.

KC

[David Less]

Tim,

I've been in the same boat as you for about a year know. I was about ready to pull the Plug on a Powermatic model 80 ocsillating sander but they took it off of the market. I was told it became too much to manufacture for the price. Too bad, sound like even a better reason to buy one. One thing people have told me that bothered them was that most 6" sanders only allow you to use 4" of the belt because of the table interfearing. I could not find a picture of the new jet either.

Keep us posted,

David

[Quinn McCarthy]

Tim

I have been looking at edge sanders for over a year. I looked at several under 1500.00 sanders both occillating and non. The one thing that I didn't like was the fact that the dust collection hoods don't move on a lot of the machines. I called Grizzly and none of their models have moveable dust ports. They also told me I could grind them back with a die grinder if I needed to do unlimited length. Not what I wanted to do to a new machine. That means that you are limited on length. I needed one that I could do unlimited length. I ended up with a Vega. Not occiilating however they make one. It has a 4" bias and belt life seems to be great. It has adjustable ports so I can do long material. 4' table is a great work surface. It has a 6x132 belt. I am quite happy so far.

[Steve Cox]

I purchased a Ritter 4 x 120(?) non-oscillating a while back at auction. Wound up paying $750 between the unit and the phase converter I needed. While I like the oscillating units (I've used both extensively) the Ritter does an adequate job for a whole lot less money. Switch the belts, angle the tables, these can all make the belts last longer. BTW, most less expensive oscillators I've seen oscillate about 3/4". How much wear will that really save? It will be smoother but I doubt the belts last much longer.

[Tim Armstrong]

Thanks again to everyone for all your input - it has really helped me with the decision. Taking in all of this plus my budget and a relatively small basement shop, I've decided to buy a non-oscillating.

I know there are advantages to the oscillating and I certainly appreciate those things, but I'm just a basement woodworker and I can't justify the cost of a descent oscillating rig. (Kind of like the same reason I don't have a 3HP Unisaw.) The oscillators are almost double the price and I could certainly buy a lot of lumber or more toys (er... I mean tools) with that difference in cost.

I drove out to the Woodcraft last night (quite a hike for me) and looked at that General. I think the deal is pretty much sealed on that unit - it looks like a solid machine.

Looks like the table is a PITA to move up and down, but how often am I going to do that... not sure. Except for the Griz, they all have that same dumb design anyway. The table and miter are very solid though and the dust collection hood looks like the best set-up one could have on that type of sander. I also like that fact that there is a cabinet - I can always use storage space. The PM and Jet don't look like the bases open to a cabinet - strange. Besides, LOML says the green will look good in the shop. ;)

So, now I sit and wait in hopes that the holidays will bring a better price - Woodcraft is asking $699 for that right now. Of couse, it seems like General stuff almost never goes on sale so that may just be it.

Thanks again for all the help!

[Chris Barton]

So, let me play devil's advocate here and ask why an edge sander rather than a good hand plane and a little hand sanding? Don't get me wrong, I love heavy metal but, I honestly don't know what I would do with an edge sander. I have a small (Ridgid) oscilitating belt/spindle combo and a griz belt/disc combo that I use very sparingly. What kind of work are you doing that requires a machine that is so specialized and single function?

[Steve Cox]

Chris,
While I love hand planes, an edge sander is faster, doesn't have any tear out problems, and is simply easier to use. I use mine to do initial sanding to remove mill marks, to shave off small increments to fit doors, and I also use it to do shaping of outside curves (mine doesn't do contour sanding although many will). It is also the best tool for me to joint veneer sheets. I never understood their use either until I worked in a shop with a couple. After a few months I wondered how I ever got along without one.

[Tim Armstrong]

Chris,

I certainly appreciate your question - and if I were more of craftsman and less of a wood-hack, I would ask the same thing. To be honest, I haven't yet gotten the hang of using a hand plane - I'm not good at it and I haven't invested in good planes. I know I'm missing out on a whole world of fine woodworking, but I guess I'm saving some of that finer skill building for later in my wookworking learning curve. I know my place for now.

Like you said, big power tools are great, but I have sincere respect for the folks that can cut dovetails by hand, chissel a perfect mortise, or plane a surface so fine it doesn't need sanding. I'm just not there yet and guess I feel like I've got too much production to get out the door for our old 1920's bungalow. So, I buy machines.

Looking at the projects in my queue, it seems like an edge sander would really save some time; I'm starting some built-in's for both sides of the fireplace - arts and crafts style. Then, furniture for the bedroom - same type of style. And next year - a kitchen full of cabinets.

I have a small combo belt/disc sander but it's just too under powered and constantly stalls out on me. I read a bunch of postings, and rather than upgrade, it seemed like an edge sander was the way to go.

All that being said, I look forward to someday earning my wings as a true woodworker and craftsman, so thanks.

[David Less]

Tim,

My thoughts exactly, Let me know when and where the General is on sale. That was my non ocsilating choice but can't "touchy feel" one from where I live.

David

[tod evans]

oakley is still in business, they`re located in bristol tenn. don`t try finding them on google `cause the sunglass folks have displaced them. they make the good stuff, quite a bit more than the imports but real died in the wool american equipment. i give their products four stars. tod