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Thread: Best value for a small footprint wide belt sander?

  1. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Paul J Kelly View Post
    Derek,

    There are a few guys on the Felder Owners Group that own a North State DW-16P. Seems like a Powermatic clone but they swear by it.

    https://leneavesupply.com/northstate-dw-16p.html

    Says it is in stock too! They say $6,799. I cannot find a powermatic for less than $9k, but I didnt look that hard.

    PK
    PKwoodworking
    Same price, so not much in the way of savings there. The powermatic 3PH is sub 7k.

  2. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Bobby Robbinett View Post
    I recently got some hands on time with the open ended Grizzly wide belt. Helped a busy set it up and get it calibrated. When we got done it was dead on. We ran some rough glue ups both ways through it and the results were amazing. We also tried some freshly built raw wood cabinet doors and I was blown away. I would imagine the Powermatic and Baileigh to be even better.

    I personally use a Cantec that is worlds ahead of the Grizzly I had prior. My Cantec has powered up and down and is significantly better machine than a Grizzly or Powermatic. They are also comparable in price.

    With drum sanders you don’t want an open ended model. But wide belts are much better made and heavier duty and more accurate
    Interesting, which model Cantec are you using?

  3. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by David Kumm View Post
    If you can fit a 24" machine, look for a used SCMI Sandya Win. they go for about 4K-5K on the used market and a good machine. You want a drum and a removeable platen. Also check the tracking system and air requirement needed. An electric eye coupled with pneumatic tracking uses less air than strictly pnuematic. Since a WB generally runs a 10 hp motor, you don't want to need a large compressor running at the same time unless you have lots of amps to spare. Dave
    I don't think I have the tolerance for anything used. It turns into a project of its own, and I don't have much time as it is. I did look at the 24" units, but they just seem a bit larger and far more expensive. I'm not sure I would get the value.

  4. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by derek labian View Post
    I don't think I have the tolerance for anything used. It turns into a project of its own, and I don't have much time as it is.
    Dont be so sure that buying new wont be a project of its own as well. Many of us have had long slog's with brand new equipment. Often times snagging something that has been fully de-bugged and is running flawlessly but is just being replaced due to upgrade or increased capacity is a win win. I have a Holz-her 1435se Genesis edge bander that was swapped out for a new 150K machine blinged out and the seller told me he wished he'd never sold it becuase they knew the machine inside and out and had worked all the kinks out. The new machine didnt make parts for months after hitting the floor. Same pertains to smaller machines.

    Dont cut your nose off to spite your face. We all went through the stages of thinking new was the only way to go. Its often a huge mistake in money and time to have nothing more than a shiny new coat of paint sitting on the floor. You find a machine that is running without a hitch and being swapped out for upgrade for 1/3 the money and you'd be crazy not to snatch it up.

  5. #20
    I had the same feeling as you about drum sanders and saved for a while for a wide belt, twice I had the money saved and my wife's chemo bills hit. Finally got a Grizzly G0819 15" about 5 years ago. I have sanded a bunch of wood on it and it works great, highly recommend it. Wish I had it when I built my kitchen cabinets, would have saved me many hours with a random orbital.

  6. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by Warren Lake View Post
    everytime I read these posts im thankful ive had stroke sanders from the start.
    I'm not so sure that the two even serve the same function. A stroke sander is more interchangeable with an an orbital or handheld belt sander than a wide belt or drum sander.
    Last edited by johnny means; 12-20-2021 at 10:31 PM.

  7. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Bolton View Post
    Dont be so sure that buying new wont be a project of its own as well. Many of us have had long slog's with brand new equipment. Often times snagging something that has been fully de-bugged and is running flawlessly but is just being replaced due to upgrade or increased capacity is a win win. I have a Holz-her 1435se Genesis edge bander that was swapped out for a new 150K machine blinged out and the seller told me he wished he'd never sold it becuase they knew the machine inside and out and had worked all the kinks out. The new machine didnt make parts for months after hitting the floor. Same pertains to smaller machines.

    Dont cut your nose off to spite your face. We all went through the stages of thinking new was the only way to go. Its often a huge mistake in money and time to have nothing more than a shiny new coat of paint sitting on the floor. You find a machine that is running without a hitch and being swapped out for upgrade for 1/3 the money and you'd be crazy not to snatch it up.
    A used piece of equipment may be the devil the seller knows, but its going to be largely an unknown to the buyer. New also comes in a crate, support etc. as i do t have a sander at all, and wide belts seem relatively complex, id rather start with something new, than find out i made a mistake and saved a hit of money.

  8. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by Darrell Bade View Post
    I had the same feeling as you about drum sanders and saved for a while for a wide belt, twice I had the money saved and my wife's chemo bills hit. Finally got a Grizzly G0819 15" about 5 years ago. I have sanded a bunch of wood on it and it works great, highly recommend it. Wish I had it when I built my kitchen cabinets, would have saved me many hours with a random orbital.
    Sorry to hear about your wife. Definitely more important than your sander though

  9. #24
    Every trained european had a stroke sander, no mystery in that. I sand assembled doors doors on it with hardly any cross grain scratches, or hang solid wood cabinets off the sander to sand the outside after glue up, or drop the power table whatever it is probably 30 inches or more.

    You can flip the top belt cover put a stop and edge sand on it horizontal. It can do stuff other sanders cant. Belts are cheap and it can remove material like crazy if you put a coarse belt.

    The biggest problem is you cant put Mongo on them they take skill. Dust collection isnt as good as a wide belt they work great, you can put a dust collector pipe on both ends if you want usually they are supplied with only one end that makes a big difference. You can trash a door in 2 seconds or you can get great results when you have the feel.

    No big power requirements. Kevin there is no drum sander first why would you do that?
    Last edited by Warren Lake; 12-21-2021 at 4:30 AM.

  10. #25
    What's a mongo?

  11. #26
    blazing saddles,

    any of you with employees will have had some.

  12. #27
    Jesus, who let that guy in.

  13. #28
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Tampa Bay, FL
    Posts
    3,895
    I bought a Grizzly 24" closed-end wide belt sander. While it works very well, I regret getting a unit that small. I wound up having far more wider panels than that then I expected. An open unit, if calibrated well would have served me better, or a 37" unit. I sold my 16/32" drum sander when I bought the wide belt. And sometimes miss it for those wider boards.

    That being said, I'm not sure my 10HP Phase Perfect would handle that, so my costs would have gone up astronomically.

    Oh well.
    - After I ask a stranger if I can pet their dog and they say yes, I like to respond, "I'll keep that in mind" and walk off
    - It's above my pay grade. Mongo only pawn in game of life.

  14. #29
    I've got some customers who seem totally happy with drum sanders (Performax, mostly) but production shops won't have any time for one of those. I have not yet seen an open-ended sander in any shop in my area. Plenty of true widebelts, of course. Mostly ancient Italian ones. For the record, to anyone considering a used widebelt, be VERY thorough in your homework before purchasing. They are probably the #2 machine behind used edgebanders as far as "I should have bought new but now I'm saddled with this thing".

    Derek, why don't you get an HS-950? Everyone can use an edge sander and that thing is impossible to beat for the price.

    Erik
    Ex-SCM and Felder rep

  15. #30
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    Western PA
    Posts
    1,242
    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Bolton View Post
    Dont be so sure that buying new wont be a project of its own as well. Many of us have had long slog's with brand new equipment. Often times snagging something that has been fully de-bugged and is running flawlessly but is just being replaced due to upgrade or increased capacity is a win win. I have a Holz-her 1435se Genesis edge bander that was swapped out for a new 150K machine blinged out and the seller told me he wished he'd never sold it becuase they knew the machine inside and out and had worked all the kinks out. The new machine didnt make parts for months after hitting the floor. Same pertains to smaller machines.

    Dont cut your nose off to spite your face. We all went through the stages of thinking new was the only way to go. Its often a huge mistake in money and time to have nothing more than a shiny new coat of paint sitting on the floor. You find a machine that is running without a hitch and being swapped out for upgrade for 1/3 the money and you'd be crazy not to snatch it up.
    Sshhhhh, the man wants new. Just like the guy buying brand new Martin equipment, we need those people to buy new so i can buy their used stuff 15 years from now at a steep discount : )

    Derek, i had one of the bigger/better drum sanders you can buy, the Supermax 37x2. It sucked. Dont be fooled into thinking an expensive and big drum sander will satisfy you. It comes down to the limited surface area of the drum and the paper. At a certain point the heat and dust have nowhere to go. You load the abrasive, heat builds up, and your feedrate is extremely limited.

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