Thread: disc sanders for refining cuts

Hi Corgan,
Yeah those saws are great until the blade goes.
I thought your miter problems were mostly to do with the tubing not having flat sides?
You should be able to tweak the bandsaw to get you damn close. Whats wrong with it?
Have you looked at belt sanders? they might suit your needs better than a disc(assuming they dont cost the earth).

Stuart

Yeah mate the dry cut saw itself is great- and its really really good on mild steel (so i'll be keeping it instead of sending it back, just for my mild projects) but forking out 500 for a blade that isn't even guaranteed to last is beyond ridiculous

the main problem with the bandsaw is that the cutting bed isn't flat- the base of the saw is twisted so the piece can rock back and forth putting the vertical out of square.

i can get very close sometimes but other times it can be off - its just not real consistent. now that i'm fully aware of the wonky square tubing problem i won't be buying any tube i don't personally inspect, so that part of the problem should be gone. but i thought it'd be nice to have something in the shop that can fix any cut to perfection should the blade wander a bit etc.

truth be told im probably overthinking- i haven't cut a full frame in the bandsaw since the last batch of badly wonky square tube.

Hi Corgan,

I've got 3 of those H&F disk sanders, and they are excellent value for money. I use the velcro backed pads, but with the stick-on disks I think it's are bit more accurate than the velcro backing.

For cleaning up cuts, you would need to set up some jigs for 90 and 45 degrees, I've got a linisher and a bigger belt sander, but for quick cleanup jobs, I mostly go to the disk sander, I keep one for metal and the other ones for wood.

Definitely a good investment.

Regards
Ray

And I thought my cold saw blades were expensive at $220ish each.... Doesn't seem so bad anymore.

Like Stuart said a belt sander would be the go and you could clean up the welds with it as well. For the stuff your doing you can buy fine belts and scotchbrite belts at very reasonable prices ($10-$30) that you cold use to finish then with as well.

For your band saw if it's still under warranty, take it back and get a good one. If it's out of warranty ask here on the forum and someone maybe able to help you out by milling it flat or doing it with a shaper. You could also have it ground, car engine heads are about that length and cast iron, so you might be able to get a head shop to clean it up for you.

Dave

They sound like good suggestions- i've thought about getting it milled flat, wasn't sure if hafco would touch it as i've done a few mods to the frame (drilling holes for setting the fence at different angles, etc)

i'd still find good use out of one of the little disc sanders though for random projects.

i'm a little confused about the linishers/belt sanders and how they'd be set up to straighten cuts- the only one i''ve used was just a big belt on which you applied the workpiece by hand- no table or adjustable fence to allow you to set precise angles and hold the piece firm against. missing something?

jekyll- the normal TCT blades are about $200, for mild steel cutting. i'd still recommend the dry cut saw for this, as it's much much nicer than an abrasive and much quicker than a bandsaw

well i went ahead and bought the hafco sander- cleaned up 4 cuts and i'm pretty happy with it so far. It's pretty easy to touch up the cuts and get them dead on and i reckon this machine will see lots of use.

included is a little sliding miter fence that fits in a slot on the table but i think i'd be better off making another one as it's pretty flimsy and plastic

cheers
corgan