Sanding disc for tablesaw

[Pete Staehling]

If you have a lathe it is a better option

Where does this 1750 rpm limit come from?

Hmm...I have a 4" right angle grinder. Among other things, I run sanding discs on it. For instance, I use them as part of making tractor-seat style chair seats. I haven't noticed any burning. That grinder runs at 11,000 rpm. If I have my math right, that would be 138 thousand inches per minute at the edge of the disc. A 10" saw disc at 1750 rpm would be 55 thousand inches per minute at the edge of the disc. So my experience differs from the general advice. Maybe the guys who sand on a regular 10" tablesaw are okay.

There are lots of factors that come into play one of the biggest is wood species, but things like grit, adhesive and backing type, sanding pressure, and technique all come into play. I have found that for me at 1750 some species are fine, but cherry requires a lot of care or it scorches a dark red. That means light pressure and keeping it moving across the disc so it doesn't heat up by staying in one spot. Ideally I'd run the 12" disk sander a good bit slower for much of my work. I do just that with the lathe disk attachment, but don't have the option on the dedicated disk sander. I wish the dedicated one had a VFD.