New ( To Me ) beltsander

[Vinny]

Rubber coating them isn't a problem. I work with rubber and plastics all the time.

[DaveH]

The wheels on mine are polyurethane coated.
 
DaveH

[wrustle]

(11-10-2015, 02:47 PM)Roadracer_Al Wrote: @ Russel -- belt sanders aren't hard to make, and for a heck of a lot less than $700.

(12-18-2015, 11:26 AM)carkrazd Wrote: Russ with the shop you have why not build a kit and sell it at a good price.
build the wheels and let guys build there own frames.
keep the price low and sell sell sell.

Gentlemen...........time is money!   And $700.00 is cheap compared to time!  LOL

Like a sad sap though, I just go out and keep buying the home depot, or Lowe's specials for $130.00.  Some last awhile, others not so much..........


It's starting to look like a belt sander grave yard at one end of our stock room!!   I guess the next time the scrap guy comes by, I can load him up with a few carcasses.  

[carkrazd]

   

[Vinny]

Thanks! I'll see what I can work up.

[Roadracer_Al]

Russell -- if you buy and burn up 6 of those Home Depot belt sanders... and it sounds like you're getting there... you've more than paid for one properly designed, component-repairable $700 grinder.

Here's another thought: I agree: time *is* money, (which is doubly true for the self employed people like us than it is for salaried employees) so, decide how many hours you can allot to building a burly grinder - there are plans available -- and see how it would compare to buying the $700 grinder.

A real good question is if you have welding in-house.

[Highpower]

I have a feeling limiting Russ to just ONE belt sander would severely handicap his operation. I've worked in a few shops that only had ONE transmission jack, but they would take in 5 or 6 tranny jobs a day. So we always had 5 or 6 techs all fighting to get their hands on the sole jack at the same time. Either you waited around loosing time for somebody to finish using it, or like most of us - just wrestled the transmission out and in by hand. When you are young and think you are invincible, you can lift a transmission over your head and get the job done. Over the years we've all payed for it in the end with bad backs, shoulders and knees. But I digress.....

In Russell's case I would imagine he would have a bottle-neck at the sander with multiple people wanting to do some de-burring at the same time with the number of parts they produce in a day. Just guessing.  

[wrustle]

(12-25-2015, 01:14 PM)Roadracer_Al Wrote: Russell -- if you buy and burn up 6 of those Home Depot belt sanders... and it sounds like you're getting there... you've more than paid for one properly designed, component-repairable $700 grinder.

Here's another thought: I agree: time *is* money, (which is doubly true for the self employed people like us than it is for salaried employees) so, decide how many hours you can allot to building a burly grinder - there are plans available -- and see how it would compare to buying the $700 grinder.

A real good question is if you have welding in-house.

(12-25-2015, 02:48 PM)Highpower Wrote: I have a feeling limiting Russ to just ONE belt sander would severely handicap his operation. I've worked in a few shops that only had ONE transmission jack, but they would take in 5 or 6 tranny jobs a day. So we always had 5 or 6 techs all fighting to get their hands on the sole jack at the same time. Either you waited around loosing time for somebody to finish using it, or like most of us - just wrestled the transmission out and in by hand. When you are young and think you are invincible, you can lift a transmission over your head and get the job done. Over the years we've all payed for it in the end with bad backs, shoulders and knees. But I digress.....

In Russell's case I would imagine he would have a bottle-neck at the sander with multiple people wanting to do some de-burring at the same time with the number of parts they produce in a day. Just guessing.  

Both are very valid points.......... and yes.........no welding.

We do have multiple sanders, each set up for specific deburring, polishing operations.  One belt for alunminum, one for steel, and a polishing belt (which really should be two-one for roughing-one for finishing).

Another one of the problems I have is finding a really good horizontal belt sander.  A vertical sander for our operation is just no good at all.  With the quantity of pieces being handled, a horizontal sander takes a lot of the fatigue factor out of the process of deburring parts from the saw because the weight of the part for the majority of the time it is handled is being taken up by the belt sander.  

With a vertical sander (unless it has a large table-which would then impede the process) you are not only working the part on the belt, but supporting it as well......making fatigue a factor.

I guess in a sense I'm being kind of self conflicting on the whole issue.

I do understand that in the long term a good quality horizontal belt sander is the way to go, versus purchasing a new cheap one once or twice a year.

It's just the thought of spending several thousand dollars to replace them that has me balking at the thought of actually doing it. 

There's just no "feel good" feeling about buying a belt sander like there is with with buying a new cutting tool.   That's why I have no problem spending hundreds of dollars on a new cutter from my tool rep.   

It's an almost immediate return on my investment! 

[Roadracer_Al]

i get that a sander isn't sexy like an inserted cutter designed to spin 20k RPM.

But if it's part of your process, it needs investment in good tooling that doesn't nibble away at your bottom line, IMHO.

I'd suggest having a look at the Grizzly line, particularly the 6x48" products because the one I have is designed for both vertical and horizontal operation.

The bearings that came with it were crap, I replaced them with sealed Timkens when they got noisy. It's not the most powerful thing, it's possible to stall it with large work. If it became a problem, I could upgrade the motor, it's a NEMA frame.

I've had it for probably 15 years and have been very satisfied with its performance. At the time I bought it, it was $275.

[Roadracer_Al]

Looks like they sell the same one, but now it's $399.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Combinat...ies/G1014Z

In retrospect, I've been married for 15, and I had the sander "BW" -- before wife -- so it's at least 20 years, and going strong