Thread: Belt Sander Help

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

Wouldn't it be boring if we all thought the same?

Pavlova. EVERYONE loves pavlova.

Damien
I spite of the naysayers, in my experience the Festool BS 75 with sanding frame is a gem. Being able to dial in the sanding depth to just skim the high spots means a truly flat surface without unnecessary loss - important on think stock. I'd say just keep looking - Ive seen a few in the past year and although they are hard to find, they don't seem to sell that quickly. And, if all else fails, maybe just bite the bullet on a new one - it will last 20+ years and you'll be thankful every time you use it.

I think the Festool belt sander with sanding frame is great and something that hasn’t been mentioned i think is the length of the soul plate meaning the longer the better.

The Festool really needs the sanding plate as the soul is shorter side.

The issue i have found with fine belts is the heat build up which can melt the adhesive used to join the belts and fail.

For a bit of fun i tried a stroke sander (panel beaters) which has been really good if you have a good compressor to run them.


Sanding boards have also been good for finishing but by gosh they can be hard work!

I simply don’t have the hand skills to finish by hand plane that some do. If you have ever felt or seen a hand scraped or hand planed final finish it’s really impressive.