Anyone every used (or even seen) one of these sanders? [+gloat]

[Rick Christopherson]

I don't normally make tool gloat postings, but I am kind of psyched about trying this sander out, and I've never used anything like this before.

So has anyone used one of these mini detail belt sanders for woodworking? I know they are normally used in metal fabrication because the first time I ever saw one was on one of those car or motorcycle building TV shows. When I first saw the sander I thought it was kind of cool, but didn’t know where I could find one. It wasn’t until just a few weeks ago that I discovered it was a Dynabrade sander. Heck, I’ve got 3 Dynabrade ROS sanders, but I never knew they made these sanders too.

http://www.waterfront-woods.com/tempgraphics/DynaFile-lo.jpg

Well, 2 days ago Philly Tools gave me one of these Dynabrade Mini DynaFile II Kits (http://phillytools.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=phillytools&Product_Code=15006&Category_Code=AAB) in exchange for some stuff I am doing for them (ya, it sucks to be me).

I haven’t had the chance to play with it yet, but the reason I asked them to send me one was so I could try it out on an old hollow spiral turning project that has been sitting in the corner of the workshop for close to 5 years now. I started these hollow spiral turned columns for my fireplace surround, but I never finished them because the sanding was killing me. I am hoping that the mini belt sander is going to work a lot better than the little drum sanders I was originally using (and eventually gave up on).

I’m thinking the belt sander is going to fly through this project, but if nothing else, it should give me a heck of a lot more control over where I sand compared to the round drums. The kit came with the standard 1/2" x 3/4" platen, but also includes the 1/2" x 1/4" platen, plus the curved wheel-thingy for doing inside corners. Oh, that little black thing in the corner is a 1/4" collet so I can also use this as a right-angle die grinder.

(This is an old picture of the spiral turning, but is the only one I have at the moment. That's an old drillpress I mounted to a rolling carriage on the lathe, and I used it to drive the forstner bits and sanding drums down the center of the spiral to shape it.)

http://www.waterfront-woods.com/tempgraphics/spiral-small.jpg

[Tom Klass]

I have an electric one at home and air driven at work. They are great for some jobs it worked super for sanding some fancy cove molding I made. You need a real fine touch because it doesn't take long and you put a groove from the edge of the paper as you sand. It will happen very quickly on the spirrels you have in the lathe.
Tom

[Jim Becker]

That's a very interesting tool, Rick, that could fit some unique jobs.

[Bruce Page]

"Anyone every used (or even seen) one of these sanders? [+gloat]"

Oh yeah. I used to use one a lot back in my mold making days. They can be very handy to have around.

[lou sansone]

i agree with bruce, mold making

lou

[Jim Dailey]

Rick I'm surprised with your connections you aren't able to obtain the obsolete Euro only kit for the RAS 115 E ;)

For portability an electric version would work better for me. It's too bad the RAS 115 E accessory isn't available, it would make a very good limited use tool more versatile.

jim

[Todd Burch]

I've seen them. My buddy has one. They aren't cheap.

I take the poor man's approach. I'll start with a 3X18 belt and make a 3/4" wood block to fit inside it by rounding over the ends with a rasp (or power sander). I'll make the block fit tight. Then, I'll take the ready-to-use sanding block and rip it on the tablespace to make thin strips.

Todd

[Kevin Groenke]

As is the case with so many tools, cheaper versions can be had. We've got a narrow belt from harbor freight ($35) which works fine for occasional use.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=92158

The belt tends to fly off if you move side-to-side too much, but I bet that happens with the $300 dynabrade too. We half a dozen pneumo die grinders from HF for $20 ea, they're used frequently and none have ever crashed.

[Bill Wyko]

Air file. I've had one for years. It's easy to throw belts but it works great for small spots.

[Jude Tuliszewski]

Used a different model in jet engine repair. Works great on curves and in some small tight spots, but as said use a light touch. Save yourself a headache and practice on a lot of scrap first to get the feel of it.

[Kelsey Bock]

as Jude says

Fan blade dressing tool. When you silly little suitcase lock gets sucked into the engine. I spend half the night "with a hand file blending out the nick"

Or my buddy checks out one of those and I cut it like butter.

using them with metal belts, shread, shoot off, take too much out,

very touchey.

get a inline regulator and choke you air down that will help.

Maybe a wrist rest. lathe tool rest to keep you hand steady to allow you to concentrate on the speed of you grinder.

[Rick Christopherson]

Jim Dailey, Oops, wrong company. This is a Dynabrade, not a Festool. Frankly, even if I got an electric sander for free (regardless of the company) I would not trade for my Dynabrade orbital.

Kevin, I think Dynabrade also makes an electric version too, but I prefer pneumatic tools because they have a higher power to weight/size ratio. Also, there is less cost in the physical motor for pneumatic tools, so the drivetrain components tend to be better. For example, most typical electric ROS sanders use a single 1/2 inch bearing for the main eccentric. A good electric sander uses double 1/2 inch bearings, but a Daynabrade sander uses a single 1-inch thick (tall) bearing. This makes the orbit much more stable with less chatter.

Jude, That's probably the best advise I could have read here. With the amount of experience I have with sanders and grinders, I know I would have jumped straight into sanding that column shown above without doing any playing (that would have been my "playing".) I've already anticipated how to use the sander without gouging, but throwing a belt or some other unexpected action could damage the fragile flutes.