Looking For Bigger Vertical Belt Sander

[Bazzmate]

Hello all, I have a small Ryobi belt sander (pictured) which gets a lot of use. It's great value but it has one drawback . . . The space between the machine arm and the back of the belt is only 100mm. I've been making letters and names out of MDF and the belt sander is good for sanding the internal straight edges of the letters but limits the size of the material that can be sanded. It would be great to have the same clearance as say a scroll saw (e.g. 400+mm) but an extra 100 - 150mm would be a bonus and worth the extra expense of a bigger machine. Does anyone know if a similar belt sander with more clearance is in existance and where it could be purchased? Thanks.

[Fossil]

These machines don't seem to have the clearance that you are after, but they certainly do seem versatile. Mabey it would be suitable for your task by attacking the job in a different way???

http://www.radiusmaster.com.au/belt-grinder-contact-wheels.htm

[Bazzmate]

Thanks Fossil. The Radius Master would be a handy machine to have but I would still need to get my material around the back of the belt. Here's a picture to show what I use my sanders for. You'll see what I mean about getting around the back of the belt.
Hmmm . . . I still have a few days holiday up my sleeve, I might open up my sander tomorrow to see if I can modify it. Cheers.:)

[jemmy]

Hello all, I have a small Ryobi belt sander (pictured) which gets a lot of use. It's great value but it has one drawback . . . The space between the machine arm and the back of the belt is only 100mm. I've been making letters and names out of MDF and the belt sander is good for sanding the internal straight edges of the letters but limits the size of the material that can be sanded. It would be great to have the same clearance as say a scroll saw (e.g. 400+mm) but an extra 100 - 150mm would be a bonus and worth the extra expense of a bigger machine. Does anyone know if a similar belt sander with more clearance is in existance and where it could be purchased? Thanks.


hi there BRD, how about you make a jig for your belt sander, and there you got it job done ????? Jemmy.:2tsup: happy new year.

[MrFixIt]

Hi

HAve you considered making your own? Many other people have done :)

Here is a link for you...

http://groups.msn.com/HomeorshopmadeGrinders/shoebox.msnw

you may get some ideas from those examples :)