Where to buy OSS spindles?

[Eric DeSilva]

I got a free benchtop Ryobi OSS when I bought a second hand 18/36 sander off a guy on CL. Its kind of a POS, melamine top, plastic construction... But, I thought it would come in handy sanding some inside curves on some templates I'm cutting. Only, when I went to fire it up, I noticed that while it has all the throat plates, it doesn't seem to have the little rubber tubes that slip over the spindle and squeeze out to secure the sandpaper--other than in the 1/2" and 3/4" size... Kind of small for what I want to do.

I googled around to see about spare parts, but I don't even know what they are called. Anyone have an idea where to get a set? Given my vast investment in this piece of machinery, am I better off just springing for a new benchtop OSS with a full set and calling this a loss?

[Gary McKown]

I have a Ryobi about 5 yo, bought at Home Depot for $99, which has cast iron top and full set of spindles. HD sells the sleeves (or did the last time I looked), but don't know about the rubber spindles. Also, I think Harbor Freight now has a knock-off of the Ryobi and may be a source. (Knock-off of Ryobi - now there's an oxymoron!).

Another thought would be a set for use with a drill or DP. I have an old set that has the required ½" hole - they're just 2" long, though.

Probably not worth much searching. You could get a Delta, Jet, Griz, whatever, and keep the Ryobi set up for the small diameters.

[Jim Pemberton]

Wilton and Grizzly both make an identical unit now. I would have to guess that if you did a search, they have the rubber sleeves available.

Looking at the manual available on the Grizzly site, they have the rubber drums for theirs available as seperate parts. I might be tempted to buy the smaller one and try it on the unit and if it works, order the remainder of the set. The price shows as $4.25 for the 3/4" Diameter one, and plus shipping, it may be worth a try.

I have the Ryobi version and have used it for about 4 years and love it. I am going to have to replace the 1" Diameter one in the next few months, so if you try the above option, let me know how it goes.

[Eric DeSilva]

For whatever reason, I seem to have a devil of a time navigating the Grizzly site... They seem to have *everything* (who knew they sold smokers?), but getting to it is another matter. In any event, I dug around and found a set of 1", 1.5" and 2" spindles for $10. Seems like its worth it to give it a try, especially since I had some other stuff to order from them...

[Jim Pemberton]

Those are the sizes that I use the most. Anything less than 1" seems to be problematic and anything bigger than 2" the machine is underpowered to use (the 2" is questionable, but in softer material it seems to be OK).