Recommendation for a table top belt/disk sander

[tim walker]

Not sure how often I would use it so don't want to break the bank, but sometimes it would come in handy. Any recommendations? I have an oscillating drum sander and a Performax 16-32 sander along with various Festool handheld sanders. TIA.

[Tom Trees]

Regarding new on a budget, if I were to buy one now, something like the 6x9 belt & disc.
I reckon I'd be looking for one which takes a V-belt, rather than the cogged belts.

Not sure if there are any if much difference than that between designs.

Haven't found much use for mine, and it is tucked away for now.
The disc on mine was never great, and had a tendency to make things convex.
Perhaps it could be fettled, but never bothered inspecting and I never thought worth changing out for a new abrasive, as there's not much real estate on the disc anyway.

The belt is a hungry beast, and can do a lot of work quickly, actually too quickly as is...
so it will keep it's place in the shed.

I intend to mount the machine on it's side somehow, making an edge sander, (I seen it on the official luthiers forum before)
with a massive by comparison flip down table,
Then I can throw the absolutely pathetic flimsy support rest thingamajig for the belt,
wot ya couldn't really call a table, away and it wouldn't be missed.

Infact, I wouldn't call the cast iron table for the belt, what's half the size of my laptop, actually fit for purpose.. if I were to fab up something
to mount it.
So there you go, as in some suggestions on what might be sold as features, might not be important compared to others, and the real features IMO may well be hidden.

Not to say a cast iron table wouldn't be nice, but scratching my head on what I could use it for, surely it could be of use, and would be a nicer job of whatever application that be,
compared to the alloy types out there.
I reckon I'd personally choose a proper v belt drive at the expense of the table. but saying that out of ignorance really,
as I never took the motor off to see if that pulley can be changed out,
and indeed to see if there's a difference in shaft size.

Hope that helps,

p.s would love to find some links of this being done, as I've not came across this elsewhere, nor can I find the article on the OLF
I seemed to remember there were a problem with the capacitor not too long after the mod was done,
but from reading up about that, can't see why that might matter, and putting that down to coincidence. (not a deal breaker to sort out even if it were the case)

All the best

Tom

[Jim Becker]

I had a very nice 12" disk/6x48 combo sander in my shop for a few years. I found I used it maybe three or four times in that time period and ended up selling it to reclaim the space. It was a great machine (Grizzly...the only one of their machines I have owned) but I wasn't finding a need to use it. My suggestion is to think about this carefully and what you might use it for. If you determine that either the disc or the belt will get the majority of the work, get a machine that does that...a big disc or a nice edge sander.

[Richard Coers]

The only time I use a bench top belt and disc sander is when I make Shaker boxes. It is that little combo machine they sell at Harbor Freight. I use a 20" sander for sanding the base of 18" once turned bowls. That 20" is a very expensive machine for using a few times a year and the price of 20" discs just makes me cringe every time I buy them. I used a huge disc sander in the Model Shop at Caterpillar when I was in the Industrial Design Division and that is what influenced my decision to buy. But my work, now that I am retired, does show little need.

[Terry Therneau]

There is a saying that an edge sander is one of the last tools people buy, and one of the last they sell when downsizing. That is true for me: I use mine on essentially every single project. It's not exactly a benchtop though (80 x 6 in belt), so I'm not really answering your question. I also have a very nice oscillating sander (State) that gets used 2x a year at best.
Terry T.

[Aaron Inami]

I did a bunch of research on this last year. For a low cost belt/disc sander, you are looking at one of the 4" x 36" belt (with 6" or 8" disc). There are only two models I would recommend:

- Any Bucktool 4x36 belt/disc sander
- Porter Cable PCB420SA from Lowes

These are the only 4x36 sanders that are direct drive. All the rest of the 4x36 belt/disc sanders are belt driven and suffer from belt slippage. You will want to replace the electrolytic start/run caps with good film caps on these to avoid the cap burnout problems that are very common on these low cost sanders. This is easy using caps from Mouser. The cost of these sanders are in the $200-300 range (with tax/shipping). The support tables on these belt sanders are not the greatest, but I still think they are your best option at the bargain basement level. These low level sanders are realistically something like 1/2 HP or 2/3 HP. Even though they are direct drive, you can actually bog down the motor if you push the material hard enough.

I had the Bucktool BD4802 model last year for a little while before I got my edge sander and it was significantly better than my previous 4x36 sander.

If you want to move up to a larger 6" x 48" belt, the lowest cost option I could recommend is the Grizzly G1183 (5000 FPM) or the Grizzly G1276 (2500 FPM). These would come in at about $1300 total (with tax and shipping). They are low cost variations of the Jet JSG-6 belt/disc sander (which is more of an $1800-1900 cost). It's sort of a table top, but still very heavy at about 150 lbs. The Grizzly sanders are 1HP motors. The significantly more expensive Jet is 1-1/2 HP.

I would avoid the Jet JSG-96 models (at around $1100) because the support tables are all mounted using a single point onto a plastic base. They have a lot of play/wiggle and are not considered an accurate sander at all. Really poor design.

[glenn bradley]

I had a very nice 12" disk/6x48 combo sander in my shop for a few years. I found I used it maybe three or four times in that time period and ended up selling it to reclaim the space. It was a great machine (Grizzly...the only one of their machines I have owned) but I wasn't finding a need to use it. My suggestion is to think about this carefully and what you might use it for. If you determine that either the disc or the belt will get the majority of the work, get a machine that does that...a big disc or a nice edge sander.

I wish I lived closer to Jim when he sold. Even at today's gas prices I could probably have driven to PA, paid what Jim was asking, and drove home for less than I paid for the same sander a short while back. We all do different things but for me a 4" belt was too narrow and anything smaller than a 12" disc didn't provide enough real estate to do anything I needed done. I will pile on the edge sander band wagon especially if it oscillates.

You say you have an oscillating drum and a 16-32 drum. Do you mean an oscillating spindle? If I could only have the belt (edge sander format) or the disc, I would take the edge sander (6" minimum) every time. JME.

[Robert Hayward]

Check out the Rikon 50-120 (https://rikontools.com/product/model-50-120-6-x-48-belt-10-disc-sander/)

I had a twenty some year old one for years. Only trouble I had was the cogged drive belt broke twice. Eventually sold it and bought larger stand alone disc and edge sanders.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I have an old Delta import 4x36. It was a trash find. Some Phill Wood Tenacious Oil brought lt back to life. The motor burned out after a few years and I put a salvaged Kitchen Aid dishwasher motor in. I got 10 years out of the dishwasher motor then stuck a Delta Homecraft motor on the outside. It is going strong and is used a lot. Long story even longer, the little bench top models are not great but can be very useful.

[Dwayne Watt]

For limited use, I would go the 4x36 belt route if you don't have a designated purpose in mind. Big machines are great, but they take up valuable space. I have had a Ryobi version for many years and had no issues with the machine itself. I use only the belt and never use the disk on the sander. That said the drive belt will probably break the next time I use it.

[Scott Winners]

I have one, I think it is a Delta, 6 inch disc and 4" belt width. I find them super handy for boat building, but very messy. At the second step of a boat, once the strong back is square and level on the floor, having a power sander like this is super handy coming up to the line exactly after getting within an eighth or so with a bandsaw or jig saw on the stationed hull forms. They are also super handy once the hull is complete for making the curve of the ribs fit good, and especially for those fussy little bits at the corners of the stern where the transom slopes forward into the corner block at some angle, but on the sides the profile of the curve the corner block needs to fit in tight enough to glue happens to be whatever you actually built.

Super handy tool for stuff like that.

If I ever build one of those tables with the rotating top and casters, I will put my belt/disc on one side with my DeWalt lunch box planer on the other surface. FWIW my jointer is my only floor tool, and it has adequate wheels under it.

I personally use the disc a lot, probably 90%, and the belt part maybe 10%, but we are all chasing different goals.

[Ron Selzer]

I would recomend the Harbor Freight, small bench top unit to see if you will use it enough to justify a nice bench top unit that will be too heavy to store and bring out when wanted, so it lives on the bench forever. The Harbor freight unit works ok for what it costs, go on ebay and buy the custom made piece to hookup your shopvac. I have a 6x48 belt floor model 50yr old Delta and have a yet to be used edge sander. The Harbor freight sander covered what I needed when room was tight, it lived under the bench most of the time. Now that the shop is twice the size, I have added a 19" Rockwell band saw, the Woodmaster edge sander, a Delta 6x48 floor sander, Delta Uniplane, Milwaukee panel saw, Powermatic mortiser, Powermatic drill Press, jointer/planer, etc and room is tight again. Actually, less room than I had before.
Still drag out the little Harbor Freight sander every once in a while, as it just fits the need the best. I won't give up bench space to a better, way heavier bench model combo sander.
Good luck
Ron

[tim walker]

yes oscillating spindle sander.

[Doug Colombo]

I have the Rikon 50-122 6” X 48” belt / 10” disk sander (https://rikontools.com/product/model-50-122-6-x-48-belt-10-disc-sander/).

I have had it for around 5 years and have had no issues at all with it. It doesn’t get a ton of use but I am very pleased with it and glad it is part of my shop. I also have a spindle sander and a Supermax 19/38 drum sander and find that each has its use and each one is very useful.