Gloat of the month (possibly year), wide belt sander, $2K

[Eric Larsen]

LOML: Where have you been this morning?

Me: Out shopping.

LOML: What did you buy?

Me: A sander.

LOML: You have two already.

Me: Yep, but I needed another one.

LOML: At least it's a small tool.

Me: Well, not exactly...

LOML: What?

Me: It's the size of a Datsun and twice as heavy. A forklift is bringing it over right now.

LOML: You're freakin' kidding me.

Me: Remember when I told you I really needed a drum sander to make the panels for the walk-in?

LOML: Yes... but you didn't mention anything about "size of a Datsun"

Me: This one works 100 times better and was LESS than the drum sander.

LOML: Oh, well great, I guess.

Me: It gets better...

LOML: How?

Me: He threw in about $3,000 worth of wood and a 15" planer.

LOML: (looks in the garage). What?!?!?! Where am I going to park?

Me: Outside for about a week while I rearrange the shop and find an overhead solution for all this wood.



(To be continued.... Pix forthcoming as soon as my battery recharges...)


Wow. Just wow!

[jason lambert]

Nice! Your a dead man.... Let me know where you live so I can pick up the tools ;)

[Eric Larsen]

I'm about to head to bed, I'm REALLY sore today.

Basically, this guy I just met has had a really awful year. One of his employees stole a lot of stuff, including the customer list, and has been underbidding jobs.

Business fell off, big time, and he had to vacate his shop. Imagine a moustache-twirling landlord cackling "have these tools out of here by 5 p.m., or I'm taking them all."

So, we got a forklift, and moved everything to a U-Store type place, except for the Griz G9964 24" widebelt sander (which still has the plastic coating on the control panel). Are you freakin' kidding me? This thing has less than 100 hours on it, and comes with a LIFETIME supply of belts.

I could sell the belts alone for more than I paid for the sander. And this sander is CHERRY. These things sell new for $8K, and there's no reason on earth I couldn't turn around and sell this for $5K three years from now.

The planer and the wood simply won't fit in the self-storage garage, so I get that, too.

This guy is selling a load of serious quality tools, including a an Edgebander, 36" wide-belt sander (three-phase), Unisaw, Powermatic 20" planer, Powermatic shaper with powerfeed, Powermatic Dovetailer, and more. When he's ready, I'll help him write up a CL ad, then post it in deals and discounts.

My camera battery is STILL charging, but here's a link to the sander. There's essentially no difference between mine and this one in the catalog:

http://catalogs.google.com/catalogs?id=EApd9SUu_cIC&pg=PA94&lpg=PA94&dq=grizzly+g9964&source=web&ots=rm5q6suR4q&sig=eQOg4WwgEhDlyyn92ys_PEvylL4&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result

[Rick Potter]

I bow to the King.

Rick Potter

[Rick Fisher]

I respectfully submit that you SUCK. :)

That is a heck of a machine.

[Seth Poorman]

Now I know why people didnt like me when I got a good gloat....:rolleyes:
LOL !! Just kiddin..:D
Congrats on that sander its a nice one !!!:)

[John Shuk]

Great gloat. Ominous sign of the economy.

[Eric Larsen]

"Didn't happen w/o pix..." So here are some LONG overdue pix.

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/9850/dsc2832wq2.jpg

Clockwise from left (all except the BS are CL scores): a $1000 PM66, a $300 G0555, the $2000 sander, a free PM60, and a $50 Shopsmith. Not pictured are DC, the Jet planer/molder, and the griz planer. LOML and I added up last night, the whole shop is cost less than $4,000.

Here's a closeup of the sander. I put a can of Boeshield on the conveyor for scale:

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/5637/dsc2835cv9.jpg


The shelves are going (to LOML's craft room), so I can make room for stationary tools and a workbench along that wall. The wood is going to have to go overhead. That will be a royal pain, but there's no other way.

[Russ Massery]

Very gloat worthy. Congrats on all you finds.

[Don Bullock]

Great gloat. Congratulations.

[Bob Aquino]

Very nice. That comes with a 10 horse 3 phase motor according to what I see on griz's website. Whatcha going to run it with?

[Andy Casiello]

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/9850/dsc2832wq2.jpg


Congrats! I love your clamp storage. :p The LOYL isn't parking in there for a while. :D

[Eric Larsen]

Very nice. That comes with a 10 horse 3 phase motor according to what I see on griz's website. Whatcha going to run it with?

Nope, this is the single phase 10 horse model...

http://www.grizzly.com/products/24-Wide-Belt-Sander-10-HP-Single-Phase/G9962Z

It's the reason I bought it.

[Bruce Page]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/icons/icon14.gifhttp://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/icons/icon14.gif
Excellent gloat Eric, it should give you years of great service!
I wish I had the electrical power for something like that. My 5hp Woodmaster is pushing my limit.

[Eric Larsen]

I am happy to report that after changing the plug (I use "dryer" 220 plugs instead of the Euro plugs), plugging it in, resetting the machine, and adding compressed air, THE SANDER SURVIVED THE MOVE AND IS IN PERFECT WORKING ORDER. W00T!

Now I need a 6"-to-4" converter for the DC.

I ran a 5' piece of oak through. It came out smooth as a baby's bottom. The ampmeter barely budged.

I will never be aggressive with this sander. I'd rather do three 1/16" passes than one 3/16" pass. Just because I have 100 sanding belts doesn't mean I have license to trash them.

The sad thing is, I'm still a mediocre woodworker. Having these tools is not going to magically allow me to make a box like Bill Wyko's or a cabinet like Calvin Hobbs'.

But it will speed up sanding to the point where I can focus on other skills.

Next on the CL search -- a joinery solution. (Multirouter, Matchmaker, something like that.)

[Jacob Mac]

I am happy to report that after changing the plug (I use "dryer" 220 plugs instead of the Euro plugs), plugging it in, resetting the machine, and adding compressed air, THE SANDER SURVIVED THE MOVE AND IS IN PERFECT WORKING ORDER. W00T!

Now I need a 6"-to-4" converter for the DC.

I ran a 5' piece of oak through. It came out smooth as a baby's bottom. The ampmeter barely budged.

I will never be aggressive with this sander. I'd rather do three 1/16" passes than one 3/16" pass. Just because I have 100 sanding belts doesn't mean I have license to trash them.

The sad thing is, I'm still a mediocre woodworker. Having these tools is not going to magically allow me to make a box like Bill Wyko's or a cabinet like Calvin Hobbs'.

But it will speed up sanding to the point where I can focus on other skills.

Next on the CL search -- a joinery solution. (Multirouter, Matchmaker, something like that.)


Nice shop.

It seems like you did an outstanding job of maximizing your resources. And I can't imagine that having fantastic tools will do anything but help you develop your WW skills.

[Rick Fisher]

Eric.

You should do some reading on storage of belts. They have a shelf life, albeit a longer one.

There are ways of storing them that make them last longer. If I could remember, I would chime in. I know they should not be stored on concrete and should be bone dry all the time.


The belts are likely worth $40.00 each, or more. I dont know. I think its the weld that lets go over time.

[Jim Becker]

Well, yea....that's a serious gloat!

(Um...you're gonna need all the DC you can supply for that puppy, so count your pennies!)

[John Thompson]

What happens in Las Vegas... stays in Las Vegas. You couldn't have been as lucky in a casino I assure you.

NIce haul and congratulations on being at the right place at the right time. ;)

Sarge..

[Peter Quinn]

Wow. Wish we were neighbors, very friendly neighbors!:D

Congrats on that machine and to you for helping that guy out with CL and his other machines. It always pains me to see a small wood business fail. My wife would prefer our garage was filled with machines. Instead it is filled with lumber I'm saving for 'someday' or projects which require more round tuits than I seem to have. She actually thought at one point that a garage was for parking a car!:D Love that silly girl.

[Eric Larsen]

And so ends the Gloat of the Month.

Final report.

We loaded up the truck with a metal lumber rack, the only one that will fit in my garage. (Nine foot ceilings, what a drag.)

We also loaded the truck with about 20 sheets of baltic birch ply, a sheet of cherry ply, a few sheets of mdf, and about 200 board feet of various hardwood, including three nice 1x12x10' oak boards. Also some sheet copper, about 50 various 10-foot lengths of molding, about 50' of DC hose and some DC fittings.

It will take me months to go through all this wood. And best of all, I'm finally starting to accumulate stock.

In addition, my walk-in closet arrived yesterday in the form of 200bf of rough spanish cedar, all 1 to 1 1/2 by 6 to 12 by 10 feet. I'm going to resaw enough to panel my closet, then use some more for cedar drawers and shelves. An order from Hardware Hut will complete the project.

Any leftovers will go to making a humidor.

So I didn't get a damned thing done on the stairs. But I'm not complaining.

[Ed Bamba]

And so ends the Gloat of the Month.

Final report.

We loaded up the truck with a metal lumber rack, the only one that will fit in my garage. (Nine foot ceilings, what a drag.)

We also loaded the truck with about 20 sheets of baltic birch ply, a sheet of cherry ply, a few sheets of mdf, and about 200 board feet of various hardwood, including three nice 1x12x10' oak boards. Also some sheet copper, about 50 various 10-foot lengths of molding, about 50' of DC hose and some DC fittings.

It will take me months to go through all this wood. And best of all, I'm finally starting to accumulate stock.

In addition, my walk-in closet arrived yesterday in the form of 200bf of rough spanish cedar, all 1 to 1 1/2 by 6 to 12 by 10 feet. I'm going to resaw enough to panel my closet, then use some more for cedar drawers and shelves. An order from Hardware Hut will complete the project.

Any leftovers will go to making a humidor.

So I didn't get a damned thing done on the stairs. But I'm not complaining.

Wow Eric, you've been pretty busy this pass week. Looks like you've found enough wood and won't be needing to vist Austin Hardwoods for a while. Wish I could've been some help to the guy selling his shop. Congrats on the score. Wish I had the funds for the wide belt sander; heck I don't even have 220V in the garage anyways. Did the guy happen to have an edge sander? I'd like to have one those too.

Take care, have fun, and be safe,
Ed

[Karl Sudar]

I will never be aggressive with this sander. I'd rather do three 1/16" passes than one 3/16" pass. Just because I have 100 sanding belts doesn't mean I have license to trash them.


Just an FYI.. a 3/16" pass would most likely break something on that machine immediately, if not trip the "over-thickness" guard in front of the rollers (I'm assuming the sander has one). Even a 1/16" pass will seriously tax the machine and most likely burn the belt, if not melt the sanding drum. You want to take 1/64" off on each pass, adjusting the feed rate based on your load reading. A 1/32" pass is ok on softwoods and some hardwoods such as poplar, with a slow feed rate. But for maximum belt life you should stick to 1/64" or less.

I use a 37" Timesaver wide-belt on a daily basis and we've had to replace the drum due to melting - figure $1000 for the part and at least a day's labor. The culprit was a board that tapered in thickness - by the end of the board the sander was trying to take off close to 1/8", had burned through the belt and had left a 1" wide burn in the sanding drum. This is why it is a good practice to send everything through the planer first.

[Pete Clifford]

The wood is going to have to go overhead. That will be a royal pain, but there's no other way.
Actually, there is...just convince the LOYL that it would be in her best interests to park outside, so that you can make the things on her "honey-do" list!:D:D:D

[Eric Larsen]

Thanks Karl... I had no idea... 1/64" it is.

Good thing I don't have adequate dust collection yet for this machine, I could have done some damage....




Just an FYI.. a 3/16" pass would most likely break something on that machine immediately, if not trip the "over-thickness" guard in front of the rollers (I'm assuming the sander has one). Even a 1/16" pass will seriously tax the machine and most likely burn the belt, if not melt the sanding drum. You want to take 1/64" off on each pass, adjusting the feed rate based on your load reading. A 1/32" pass is ok on softwoods and some hardwoods such as poplar, with a slow feed rate. But for maximum belt life you should stick to 1/64" or less.

I use a 37" Timesaver wide-belt on a daily basis and we've had to replace the drum due to melting - figure $1000 for the part and at least a day's labor. The culprit was a board that tapered in thickness - by the end of the board the sander was trying to take off close to 1/8", had burned through the belt and had left a 1" wide burn in the sanding drum. This is why it is a good practice to send everything through the planer first.

[Eric Larsen]

I think she's been a pretty good sport about this as it is...:)


Actually, there is...just convince the LOYL that it would be in her best interests to park outside, so that you can make the things on her "honey-do" list!:D:D:D