Homemade edge sander upgrade to Ridgid OSS/Belt: Pics/short review

[Andy Pratt]

I've been getting by with a belt sander somewhate creatively clamped on it's edge to do a sloppy job of edge sanding on the (up until now) limited occasions I needed to do it. Today after nearly botching my first attempt at making chair legs, I decided to put an end to it the nonesense (see picture belows) and get the right tool for the job.

I'm a biased reviewer right now, but the Ridgid sander really seems awesome. Belt/spindle transitions are a snap, power is sufficient and the belt was accurately aligned 90 degrees to the table and miter track out of the box. The only complaint I would make is that the dust collection, while adequate for a portable tool like this, probably could be more effective. The port just seems like it would have been more effective placed right under the spindle side of the belt. At $200, with oscillating belt and oscillating spindles, this thing seems like a steal for all of the functionality it provides. If you've been sitting on the fence like I was, get off it and go buy one.

For all of you guys who have one, am I missing the storage location for the curved work stop that attaches on the spindle side of the belt (black metal thing about 6" long). It's removable for work on long stuff, which is all I'll use this for, so I think I'll lose it if I don't find or make a spot. Since everything else with this has a perfect storage location built in, I was surprised to not be able to find the spot for this.

Not sure how much I'm going to use the handheld belt sander now, but I won't be sad if I see it collecting dust for a while. It's a great sander, but it was a pain when it was the only thing I had.

Andy

[Bob Noles]

Andy,

I picked one up last Thursday and love it so far. A nice machine for the money and a real pleasure to have in the shop.

I am scratching my head trying to figure out where to buy various grit sandpaper spindles for it though ???

[Peter Quinn]

Any place that has the Delta BOSS spindles, they are the same height. I bought mine through amazon in a pinch. I was amazed when I went back to the Borg to buy spindel replacements and the guy in the tool deparment looked at me like I had a third eye for asking if he stocked paper for the machine he sold!

[John Huber]

I get my spindle sleeves and belts from Lee Valley. They load up less than cheapies. I've had my edge sander for several years. It is a great tool for the purpose. From the photos, I'm not sure what your upgrade does. Tell us more.

[Don Abele]

When I bought mine last year, I picked up a couple of packs of spindle sleeves right at Home Depot. They were in one of those plastic molded packages with one size of each sleeve in both 80 and 150 grit. They are branded with the Rigid name as "Sandpaper Sleeve 10 Pack" with part number R28400.

Be well,

Doc

[Bob Goldsmith]

Andy,

I don't think there is a storage location for the curved, black stop. At least my doesn't have one either. I just leave mine attached and when it's in the way, I just rotate it back behind the belt.

Bob

[Bob Noles]

Just for the record and after much painful searching, I found that the easiest place to purchase the sanding sleeves is at Klingspor. Here is the link

http://www.woodworkingshop.com/cgi-bin/CD9F9EC8/mac/qryitems.mac/itemDisplay?lenSgDsc=6NLB4%2E5SANDING%20SLEEVES%20-%204%2E5%22%20LENGTH&qryType=GRPSG

[Andy Pratt]

Thanks for the responses guys.

I just put in a bulk order for 10X belts each in 80, 150 and 220 grit and sleeves in 150 grit from klingspor also, seems like they're aiming to be the premier abrasive supply company, if they aren't already regarded as such. Picked up a bunch of belts for my Performax 16-32 there also, prices seemed good and, more importantly, I didn't find anyone else who supplied all the various sanding stuff I wanted to get. Their shipping was very reasonable at a flat rate of 6.99 for most orders.

John not sure if you were joking or not. In case not, the huge things the ridgid gives me over the cob job are: 1) being able to set the work 90 degrees to the face I'm working on (not sure if the pic relates it, but there's no 90 degree reference with the hand sander contraption) 2) Better dust collection (not perfect, but better) 3) Oscillation and 4) spindle sanding.

As a funny point about HD employees, I called the other day and asked for a price on 1/2" and 3/4" MDF. I even made sure they connected me to a guy in the building materials department. The guy said that they didn't have any MDF in stock. I asked him to double check, since I've never been in a HD that didn't have some form of MDF in stock at all times. He gave me a price for melamine, which he thought was MDF. After he said that they didn't have any 1/2" hardwod plywood either I got off the phone. Needless to say, everything I asked about was in stock when I got down there.

Thanks for the comments on the work stop, guess I'll just have to rig something up. That thing's going to end up lost if I don't find a place for it.

Andy

[Rick Thom]

Andy, I've had one for several years now and it is all is seems to be.. no disappointments for sure. On the dust control, I find it quite good connected to my shop vac, but better connected to my 1 1/2hp DC. You will be surprised at how long the abrasives last if do 2 things.. keep them clean by using a crepe block , and when sanding use the correct grit and don't apply more pressure than needed.. let the machine do it's thing.
I also checked the flatness and how plumb the belt was to the table.. acceptable for most of what I do as well. I generally edge sand in 2 passes, the second with the board flipped end of end so the edge stays a little truer. A separate sanding disk machine will give a flatter surface if the belt isn't precise enough for some jobs.