Thread: Do I need a combination sanding machine?

Originally Posted by quercus

I don't really need many excuses to buy it, hey it will look good in the workshop, but if someone asks what I use it for, i would like to confidently reel off a few reasons for them to be jealous...

I sure hope that is tongue in cheek.....

If not, then contact the Local Men's Shed and ask what new machinery you could donate to them.

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

I sure hope that is tongue in cheek.....

If not, then contact the Local Men's Shed and ask what new machinery you could donate to them.

Yes, definitely tongue firmly in cheek. I can imagine it is good for sanding angles and rounding over ends, just not many other applications I can think of


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I have had one like that for years in fact it was one of the first power tools I bought ,i use the belt more than the disc but with the belt in a horizontal position
If i didn’t have it i would be lost ,you will use it more than you can imagine
I had a fence made that let me square up narrow board edges
Just a great tool

Very handy device, mostly use the belt for sanding, great for outside curves.

Of course then you'll need something to sand the inside curves, I have one of these, they are great!

JET-JBOS5.jpg

Mine has a 2m long belt and a 300mm disc and I use it at least a couple of times a week, probably more for metal and plastic than I do for wood.

Even though I also have a dedicated 50 mm wide x 900 mm long Multitool belt sander specifically for metal, often that belt is not long or wide enough for the pieces I'm working with. Typically I cut up sheets of Al with my TS, or various shapes with the BS, and removed the burr and cut marks with the belt sander.
The disc is less used than the belt

One thing you will need is good dust extraction the standard dust ports are poor at collecting the dust and as they can generate a lot of dust they can completely fog your shed with fine dust.

I ditched the small dust port on mine and replaced it with a 6" bell mouth hood.
IMG_2041.jpg

Originally Posted by BobL

Mine has a 2m long belt and a 300mm disc and I use it at least a couple of times a week, probably more for metal and plastic than I do for wood.

Even though I also have a dedicated 50 mm wide x 900 mm long Multitool belt sander specifically for metal, often that belt is not long or wide enough for the pieces I'm working with. Typically I cut up sheets of Al with my TS, or various shapes with the BS, and removed the burr and cut marks with the belt sander.
The disc is less used than the belt

One thing you will need is good dust extraction the standard dust ports are poor at collecting the dust and as they can generate a lot of dust they can completely fog your shed with fine dust.

I ditched the small dust port on mine and replaced it with a 6" bell mouth hood.
IMG_2041.jpg

How wide is that belt Bob? Funnily enough the go to tool in my mechanical workshop at work is the multi tool on the 8” grinder that you also mention. For Deburring and prepping for welds it is fantastic



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Originally Posted by Jeffen

Very handy device, mostly use the belt for sanding, great for outside curves.

Of course then you'll need something to sand the inside curves, I have one of these, they are great!

JET-JBOS5.jpg

Ah my arch nemesis! I was going to buy one of these Jet bobbin sanders a couple of years ago when Carbatec had them on sale for $450 during a 10% off sale. Then the price went up to $550- and the 10% off didn't return. Then the price went up to $699- and now I can't buy one because I keep remembering when I was going to buy it for $450- lol.

I don't have a combination belt / disc sander either and I can't really think of many occasions where I would "need" to use one. If I had it I could definitely see myself using it for things like sanding outside curves on mdf or ply templates and any time I had to quickly knock something down. If I had plenty of shop space I might get one, but for me personally, I'd rather use the space for other tools. Like you said though, if you have the space, money and you think it looks good in the shop then that's as good a reason as any . I'd probably lean more towards an oscillating belt sander in that case though.

Cheers,

Dom

I have one similar to Bobs, it doesn't have the disc but the belt can move from horizontal to the table to vertical (90 degrees)
I use it a lot, from flattening the face of chainsawn bowl blanks, box making, linishing metal and plastics etc. Just watch your fingers, they will be gone in seconds! The belt is 150mm wide. I bought mine second hand for $200 with a heap of belts.

Originally Posted by DomAU

I don't have a combination belt / disc sander either and I can't really think of many occasions where I would "need" to use one. If I had it I could definitely see myself using it for things like sanding outside curves on mdf or ply templates.

It is possible to sand at least partial inside curves with a belt sander - just take the end guards off the rollers and hold the workpiece at a slight angle so that it clears the belt away you go.
You get 180º of access and by rotating and flipping the piece it's possible to get pretty accurate sanding done.
I have even sanded complete larger inner diameters this way.
All the large outside edges and even the inside circle of the rocker on the mens shed gates were done using this sander.
The
ALgatep.jpg

How wide is that belt Bob? Funnily enough the go to tool in my mechanical workshop at work is the multi tool on the 8” grinder that you also mention. For Deburring and prepping for welds it is fantastic

Its a 150 mm x 2m belt.

The strip of gummed dust on Cals belt shows the benefit of an oscillating belt.
That's also why I prefer using the belt flat and moving the fence around so that a different part of the belt is used.
At the mens shed they have a set of 18mm MDF sheets with short pins and sockets that can be stacked on top of each other on the table to change the height of the belt being used.

The OP was do I need another power tool?
I put this in the same category as;
Is the pope a Catholic?
Does a one legged duck swim in circles?
Etc.

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I am sure you need a drum sander as well.

But "needing" is different to "wanting"

Originally Posted by Chesand

But "needing" is different to "wanting"

Respectfully disagree . You don't "need" to do woodworking so it's all about wants here.