Spindle Sander - Delta or Rikon?

[Len Rosenberg]

Looking to get a spindle sander with a good size table, the only two that look good are the Delta 31-483 and the Rikon 50-300. The specs are so similar I wonder if they are the same machine with different covers. Anyway, looking for opinions and experience from folks here, as I was unable to find any useful information from a web search.
Thanks,
Len

[Mel Fulks]

That is interesting. What I suggest now is look up specs ,especially overall sizes and weights of both. If they are close I’d bet they are
they are “ twin brothers “ tired of having to always wear matching colors.

[Jonathan Jung]

Have you considered used? They are simple machiens. For that price you could get a much better one used. I got my floor model in great condition with a full set of spindles for $350.

[Brian Tymchak]

Delta has earned a very poor reputation in the past several years for bad tool quality, bad customer service, and bad repair service and lack of replacement parts. Of the 2, I'd recommend the Rikon which is about the polar opposite on all those points.

[John Ziebron]

I bought a used Jet JOVS-10 several years ago and have been very happy with it. It has a 24 x 24 inch tilting table and spindles from 1/4 to 4 inches and a 1 1/2 inch oscillation. They have a newer version, made in Taiwan, that appears to have the same specs.

[John Kananis]

I have a delta. The machine functions well but the dust collection tray (under the main body) is cheap'ish plastic and broke at the points where screws secure to the underside. I need to take it apart and maybe epoxy it all together but I've just been clamping a dc hose to the top (until I can get to it).

[Robert Hayward]

Whichever machine you decide on make sure it has a decent collection of spindle sizes. My first spindle sander drove me nuts with the diameter of spindles that came with it. Seemed I always needed a spindle 1/2" or whatever different in diameter than what came with the machine.

[Curt Harms]

When I search for Delta Spindle sander I get two different one. The one that Home Depot shows looks like the old Delta BOSS. I have one of those, the dust collection isn't bad for a 2 1/2" port. A weak point of the old BOSS was the gear that made it oscillate. It was nylon I think and was prone to failure. Home Depot's web site shows it out of stock so who knows about availability. Price $365.94

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Delta-Bench-Oscillating-Spindle-Sander-with-Kit-SA350K/205112290

Deltamachinery.com has a heavy duty version. I suspect this is the one this related to the Rikon spindle sander. Woodcraft has the Rikon for $699. Amazon has the Rikon for $523. I can attest that Rikon's customer service is quite good. I needed parts for a 10-325 band saw and it took about 3 weeks and a couple pestering phone calls but I did get the requested parts. This was a few months ago when the supply chain was even more buggered up than it is now.

Amazon has a Triton where the table doesn't tilt and is smaller but the price is $150.

[Richard Coers]

I'm with Brian, Delta is completely off my list unless it's earlier than 1970.