Robert Hayward
02-23-2022, 8:26 PM
Originally had a Rikon belt/disc sander. I felt it was marginally powered and had only a 10” disc. Sold that and decided a 20” disc sander was all I really needed. Regretted not having a belt sander since. Last fall I decided to treat myself to a new tool for Christmas. On November 8th I ordered a Baileigh ES-6100 edge sander from Grainger with a web site promised delivery of November 19. While ordering I had the option of liftgate residential delivery for an additional $225 or maybe it was $275. Or free delivery if I picked it up at a Grainger store of my choosing. Less than an hour drive to a Grainger store so I chose that.
Received notification my order was ready for pickup on January 28th! The web site obviously was not up to date with current conditions. Drove to the Grainger store with a copy of my delivery confirmation. When at Grainger I told them I had a full size Chevy van and was not sure the crate would fit as the web site listed 48” tall and during a call to Baileigh that morning was told it was really 44” high.44” will fit, 48” and I will have to rent a trailer.
The rep I was dealing with suggested we go out into the warehouse and measure the crate. He pointed and said that is yours over there. That one??? The crate was mangled. Top was off, sides were askew and it was all shrink wrapped together. Looking it over we saw the main belt drive drum was bent and all else looked good. He called Baileigh and had a new drum shipped with me agreeing to install it. So far okay until he tells me he does not have a forklift capable of going into the parking lot to lift it into my van or a trailer. Depending on which web site you read this machine crated is either 480 pounds or 326 pounds. The Grainger building is a dock high building with the floor being about 48” above ground level. Even at 326 pounds I am not going to try to lift that crate from their floor into a van or trailer on the ground.
The rep offered to ship it to my house free with a lift gate. Very nice of Grainger. The machine arrived late Friday afternoon and Grainger had put the crate on another pallet and wrapped the mangled crate better for the short hop to my house. I uncrated it in my driveway and looked it over good. Got a little help from neighbors and put it in the garage shop.
Did not have time until Monday morning to start cleaning shipping oil and setting it up. Everything looked good until I got to the main cast iron table. There was a small crack in the cast iron near one edge. Called Baileigh and was asked to send pictures. Received and email that afternoon that I had to deal with Grainger as it was shipping damage in their opinion. Called Grainger customer support and again was asked to send pictures. Two days later I am told they are going to replace the machine. I suggested sending me a new table and I would install it. Said they had never heard of doing such a thing. I did not want to wait months more for another machine. Grainger said they had one in stock in Utah. Wondered why I was not sent that one in the first place. Turns out the Utah machine was one serial number behind the first one I got. They must have bought two when they bought mine.
Because they could not load the machine at the store they agreed to ship it direct to my house with a llftgate for free. Thanks again Grainger. The second machine arrived about a week later with an intact crate. With the exception of the integral pallet missing a couple of its feet and a small hole in the crate side above the missing feet. Noted that damage on the truck drivers paperwork and started uncrating.
The machine is held on the pallet with only two bolts both of which were missing. They were there at one time I could tell by marks left on the wood and machine base. The machine being loose in the crate appeared to not cause any damage other than a few small marks on the sanding belt cover. The cover is shipped in wrapping and laying on the pallet beside the machine.
One manufacturing problem is the belt cover needs a small notch cut in it to clear a bolt head so the cover will lay flat on the sanding head. The belt cover on both machines is a one piece affair as opposed to a two piece cover as the manual depicts. A design change was apparently made and allowing for the bolt head was missed. Called Baileigh and they said it would be okay for me to cut the needed notch. Did not want to alter a new in warranty machine without asking, even as minor as this was. A couple minutes with a small die grinder and a file and a perfect fit. Another problem was one of the motor mount hinge bolts hit the edge of the main table when tilting the sanding head. That had to have about 1/8” ground off it.
Put a plug on the cord and turned it on for the first time. Ran smooth with no tracking problems. Other than the bottom of the belt was running about an inch below the lowest setting on the main table and about ¼” below the bottom of the drive drum. With that condition my 6” wide belt is only 5” wide useable. I was able to move the belt tracking up on the idler end of the drive system with the tracking adjustment. The drive end though stayed about 1” below the table.
Baileigh touts lifetime technical support with hands on savvy techs for their machines so I called them. Cannot say for certain but am guessing the tech I talked to had never used a belt sander before. I am sure as I talked to him he was looking at pictures in a manual trying to answer me. Very nice and willing person just not able to give me any answers. Told him thank you and hung up.
The ES-6100 has a right angle drive gearbox coupled to the bottom of the drive motor that provides the belt oscillation. This is accomplished using small tie rod ends hooked to the gearbox in an off center position. The tie rod ends have threaded studs and nuts that can be adjusted to reposition the motor as it rocks back and forth on its hinged mounts causing the belt to oscillate. I fiddled with those adjustments off and on for three days with no permanent results. The sanding belt could be made to move into a centered position but after a few seconds it would jump to the top of the drive drum so much a ½” or so of the belt would be above the drum. Adjust it back to center and it would eventually jump back to the bottom of the drive drum.
At one point I had the tie rod mechanism disconnected from the gearbox. Plugged the machine in to try something and the switch was in the on position. On no, I jumped for the switch and saw the belt perfectly centered on both the drive and idler drums. I let it run for a couple minutes and the belt stayed centered. If I tilted the motor by hand down the sanding belt moved down on the drive drum. If tilted up the opposite happened. Exactly what I would expect and thought adjusting the tie rod linkages should have done.
The sanding belt oscillates only about 3/8 of an inch. Not sure why I thought I even needed the oscillation with that small amount. My last belt sander did not have it and I did not miss it. So for now, and maybe permanently, I removed the tie rod linkage and altered the motor mounting mechanism to a fixed but adjustable position. I welded a tab to the arm that held the tie rod linkages and tapped it for two jam bolts. One to push and one to pull. This allows the motor to be adjusted so the sanding belt runs centered on the drive drum and to hold that position. The way I did this still allows the jam bolts to be removed and the tie rod linkage to be reinstalled if I figure out a way to center the sanding belt while oscillating. I know I have altered a brand new machine but I wanted to use it not play with adjustments. Also seems a shame to pay for oscillation and disable it.
The sander came with a table mounted fence. A piece of heavy gauge sheet metal bent to be used as a fence when using the sanding head in the horizontal position. Most likely will not have much use for it so I made a couple brackets to hang the fence on the back side of the machine base cabinet. Out of the way but easily reachable if needed.
The sander also has a small table that fits on the idler drum end of the machine to use as a spindle sander. Heavy cast iron table that adjusts up and down. I have a good oscillating spindle sander so did not even install the support arm and table. With the belt oscillation hooked up the idler drum pulsates in and out on its spring loaded mount as the drive drum rocks back and forth causing the oscillation. Not sure how you would use the spindle sanding option with the drum pulsing in and out.
Overall the machine is sturdily built with a nice storage cabinet on the bottom. Dust collection is about what you can expect from a belt sander as long as the 6100. The 4” collection port is over three feet from the far end of the main table. I will have to use the big gulp dust hood I use when sanding on the lathe in addition to the machines dust port. The miter slot is not a standard ¾” wide, it is narrower at about 18mm. Had planned on using one of my good miter gauges for sanding angles but that will not happen. The included miter gauge while useable is a pretty cheap one. The included gauge clamps to the miter slot thus providing a bit of safety which my better gauges would not do.
Moving the sanding head from vertical to horizontal is accomplished by a clamp with one of those spring loaded handles under the main table. On my machine loosening the clamp a small amount allows the head to start to move. Then it has to be loosened more for the table to move more. Then loosened even more about ¾ of the way to horizontal. Then the clamp gets real loose in the full horizontal position. Requiring two or three full revolutions to tighten back up for a proper clamp. The handle can turn only about 180 degrees before hitting the cabinet underneath. Then has to be pulled outward and repositioned on the clamping nut. Really tedious having to do this numerous times to move the head. For now I took the handle off and am using a ratcheting closed end wrench.
Overall I expected better for paying ~$1700. I have not used the machine for real work sanding yet, only tests and playing. Time will tell if the machine is really worth the money.
Received notification my order was ready for pickup on January 28th! The web site obviously was not up to date with current conditions. Drove to the Grainger store with a copy of my delivery confirmation. When at Grainger I told them I had a full size Chevy van and was not sure the crate would fit as the web site listed 48” tall and during a call to Baileigh that morning was told it was really 44” high.44” will fit, 48” and I will have to rent a trailer.
The rep I was dealing with suggested we go out into the warehouse and measure the crate. He pointed and said that is yours over there. That one??? The crate was mangled. Top was off, sides were askew and it was all shrink wrapped together. Looking it over we saw the main belt drive drum was bent and all else looked good. He called Baileigh and had a new drum shipped with me agreeing to install it. So far okay until he tells me he does not have a forklift capable of going into the parking lot to lift it into my van or a trailer. Depending on which web site you read this machine crated is either 480 pounds or 326 pounds. The Grainger building is a dock high building with the floor being about 48” above ground level. Even at 326 pounds I am not going to try to lift that crate from their floor into a van or trailer on the ground.
The rep offered to ship it to my house free with a lift gate. Very nice of Grainger. The machine arrived late Friday afternoon and Grainger had put the crate on another pallet and wrapped the mangled crate better for the short hop to my house. I uncrated it in my driveway and looked it over good. Got a little help from neighbors and put it in the garage shop.
Did not have time until Monday morning to start cleaning shipping oil and setting it up. Everything looked good until I got to the main cast iron table. There was a small crack in the cast iron near one edge. Called Baileigh and was asked to send pictures. Received and email that afternoon that I had to deal with Grainger as it was shipping damage in their opinion. Called Grainger customer support and again was asked to send pictures. Two days later I am told they are going to replace the machine. I suggested sending me a new table and I would install it. Said they had never heard of doing such a thing. I did not want to wait months more for another machine. Grainger said they had one in stock in Utah. Wondered why I was not sent that one in the first place. Turns out the Utah machine was one serial number behind the first one I got. They must have bought two when they bought mine.
Because they could not load the machine at the store they agreed to ship it direct to my house with a llftgate for free. Thanks again Grainger. The second machine arrived about a week later with an intact crate. With the exception of the integral pallet missing a couple of its feet and a small hole in the crate side above the missing feet. Noted that damage on the truck drivers paperwork and started uncrating.
The machine is held on the pallet with only two bolts both of which were missing. They were there at one time I could tell by marks left on the wood and machine base. The machine being loose in the crate appeared to not cause any damage other than a few small marks on the sanding belt cover. The cover is shipped in wrapping and laying on the pallet beside the machine.
One manufacturing problem is the belt cover needs a small notch cut in it to clear a bolt head so the cover will lay flat on the sanding head. The belt cover on both machines is a one piece affair as opposed to a two piece cover as the manual depicts. A design change was apparently made and allowing for the bolt head was missed. Called Baileigh and they said it would be okay for me to cut the needed notch. Did not want to alter a new in warranty machine without asking, even as minor as this was. A couple minutes with a small die grinder and a file and a perfect fit. Another problem was one of the motor mount hinge bolts hit the edge of the main table when tilting the sanding head. That had to have about 1/8” ground off it.
Put a plug on the cord and turned it on for the first time. Ran smooth with no tracking problems. Other than the bottom of the belt was running about an inch below the lowest setting on the main table and about ¼” below the bottom of the drive drum. With that condition my 6” wide belt is only 5” wide useable. I was able to move the belt tracking up on the idler end of the drive system with the tracking adjustment. The drive end though stayed about 1” below the table.
Baileigh touts lifetime technical support with hands on savvy techs for their machines so I called them. Cannot say for certain but am guessing the tech I talked to had never used a belt sander before. I am sure as I talked to him he was looking at pictures in a manual trying to answer me. Very nice and willing person just not able to give me any answers. Told him thank you and hung up.
The ES-6100 has a right angle drive gearbox coupled to the bottom of the drive motor that provides the belt oscillation. This is accomplished using small tie rod ends hooked to the gearbox in an off center position. The tie rod ends have threaded studs and nuts that can be adjusted to reposition the motor as it rocks back and forth on its hinged mounts causing the belt to oscillate. I fiddled with those adjustments off and on for three days with no permanent results. The sanding belt could be made to move into a centered position but after a few seconds it would jump to the top of the drive drum so much a ½” or so of the belt would be above the drum. Adjust it back to center and it would eventually jump back to the bottom of the drive drum.
At one point I had the tie rod mechanism disconnected from the gearbox. Plugged the machine in to try something and the switch was in the on position. On no, I jumped for the switch and saw the belt perfectly centered on both the drive and idler drums. I let it run for a couple minutes and the belt stayed centered. If I tilted the motor by hand down the sanding belt moved down on the drive drum. If tilted up the opposite happened. Exactly what I would expect and thought adjusting the tie rod linkages should have done.
The sanding belt oscillates only about 3/8 of an inch. Not sure why I thought I even needed the oscillation with that small amount. My last belt sander did not have it and I did not miss it. So for now, and maybe permanently, I removed the tie rod linkage and altered the motor mounting mechanism to a fixed but adjustable position. I welded a tab to the arm that held the tie rod linkages and tapped it for two jam bolts. One to push and one to pull. This allows the motor to be adjusted so the sanding belt runs centered on the drive drum and to hold that position. The way I did this still allows the jam bolts to be removed and the tie rod linkage to be reinstalled if I figure out a way to center the sanding belt while oscillating. I know I have altered a brand new machine but I wanted to use it not play with adjustments. Also seems a shame to pay for oscillation and disable it.
The sander came with a table mounted fence. A piece of heavy gauge sheet metal bent to be used as a fence when using the sanding head in the horizontal position. Most likely will not have much use for it so I made a couple brackets to hang the fence on the back side of the machine base cabinet. Out of the way but easily reachable if needed.
The sander also has a small table that fits on the idler drum end of the machine to use as a spindle sander. Heavy cast iron table that adjusts up and down. I have a good oscillating spindle sander so did not even install the support arm and table. With the belt oscillation hooked up the idler drum pulsates in and out on its spring loaded mount as the drive drum rocks back and forth causing the oscillation. Not sure how you would use the spindle sanding option with the drum pulsing in and out.
Overall the machine is sturdily built with a nice storage cabinet on the bottom. Dust collection is about what you can expect from a belt sander as long as the 6100. The 4” collection port is over three feet from the far end of the main table. I will have to use the big gulp dust hood I use when sanding on the lathe in addition to the machines dust port. The miter slot is not a standard ¾” wide, it is narrower at about 18mm. Had planned on using one of my good miter gauges for sanding angles but that will not happen. The included miter gauge while useable is a pretty cheap one. The included gauge clamps to the miter slot thus providing a bit of safety which my better gauges would not do.
Moving the sanding head from vertical to horizontal is accomplished by a clamp with one of those spring loaded handles under the main table. On my machine loosening the clamp a small amount allows the head to start to move. Then it has to be loosened more for the table to move more. Then loosened even more about ¾ of the way to horizontal. Then the clamp gets real loose in the full horizontal position. Requiring two or three full revolutions to tighten back up for a proper clamp. The handle can turn only about 180 degrees before hitting the cabinet underneath. Then has to be pulled outward and repositioned on the clamping nut. Really tedious having to do this numerous times to move the head. For now I took the handle off and am using a ratcheting closed end wrench.
Overall I expected better for paying ~$1700. I have not used the machine for real work sanding yet, only tests and playing. Time will tell if the machine is really worth the money.