Thread: Edge sander and optional equipment

I am about to order an edge sander from a manufacturer, they have a list of optional equipment, I have a SCM 1100mm wide belt sander but new to edge sander and not sure if I need some of the optional equipment? can someone who is experienced with edge sander give me some advice?

I make solid wood furniture, this sander will be used to sand edges, curved component and anything I cant put through the WBS, sometimes 2 workers may use the sander at the same time. below are the details:



Sander spec:
Sanding belt size 150 mm x 3200 mm
Motor 3 kW, 950 ot/min. 15 m/s. (3000 fpm)
Height adjustable sanding unit
Pneumatic sanding belt tensioning
Oscillating sanding unit
Work table length 2180 mm
Work table width 1030 mm
Exhausting in table, exhaust outlet Ø 150 mm


Optional equipment:

Motor 5,5 HP (4 kW)
Motor with brake
Sanding belt motor frequency inverter - speed 6 - 17m/s.
Motorized sanding unit height adjustment
Rubbered drive roller
Supporting ruler for sanding against the rubbered roller
Mitre fence
Exhaust hood with magnetic tips
Carriage - 2x revolving wheels, 2x fixed wheels
Custom machine colour

1. Do I need a 4kw upgrade? is 3kw enough for an edge sander? I work with pine, 90% of the time

2. Do I need the motor brake? I am guessing this not an emergency brake, is this beneficial on an edge sander?

3. Motorized sanding height adjustment, how often do you need to change the height? do you change the height so you can use the upper half of the sand paper not just the lower half?

4. Rubbered drive roller and supporting ruler to sand against rubbered roller, how important is a rubbered drive roller? is this so the drive roller can grab onto the sandpaper better than steel roller?

some of these optional equipment are not too $$$ but all add up...

Thank you for your time.