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Hi Guys!

When it comes to edge sander, is oscillating a non desirable option for guitar building? I have never used one but since the vertically setup belt moves up and down and if you put your bridge or other small parts, wouldn't the part get pushed up and down by the oscillation to the point where you will have less control of the part you're holding and might even drop/or damage it? I can see that bigger and heavier parts will stay put with belt's oscillation but I don't see how you can hold small parts stable unless you push it really hard.

Also I noticed some edge sanders like Steel city/ Jet belt speed is 3900 fpm and some like Grizzly G1140/G0512 where the speed is 1800 fpm. Is one speed desired over the other for wood working, especially guitars?

Those who own an edge sander, do you feel the need for smaller 6x48" combination sander or a spindle sander?

Finally, does anyone have any clue as to why Jet Oscillating sander cost less than their stationary edge sander on Amazon.com? I would think that oscillating would be more expensive...

Thank you, David

David, if the grit of the belt along with the oscillation is enough to pull the piece up from your hands, wouldn't the speed of the belt alone (without oscillation) pull the piece away from your hands too? You don't need to push the piece into the paper very much in order for it to work well. And actually, when you're sneaking up on "the line" you only want to push into the paper gently. You don't need to worry about the oscillation pulling the piece out of your hands.

If I were in the market to buy an edge sander, I would most definatly be looking for an oscillating edge sander. First off, the oscillation allows for more of the paper to be used which will help eliminate burning the piece (more "fresh" paper per pass) and build up of sawdust in one location on the paper. Second, the oscillation helps reduce heat build up on the paper, which in turn reduces sawdust build up on the paper and burning of the piece.

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David, I would opt for the oscillation for reasons Rod mentioned.
As for belt speed in FPM, I would go with the slower speed.
The higher speed is great for quick rough sanding but the slower speed is much better for controlled "precision" sanding and working with plastics etc.
The ideal would be a variable speed but I know of no one making this in a larger edge sander.
Reversing would be another feature that would come in handy at times.
I've often thought that a 3-phase sander with VFD would be ideal to accomplish VSR capability.
I often wonder why toolmakers don't offer this option on different types of machines. Some day?
Nelson Palen

I have the non-oscillating version of this sander, but in a different paint color. I use it extensively for both freehand sanding and precision machining of guitar parts. I probably use it more times a day than any other stationary machine in the shop, though not necessarily for the longest overall length of time. I have been around a number of these sanders in various brand colors, and they are all the same. In my younger years I was employed in a shop that had a large industrial edge sander, so I do have that point of reference also.

The 3 important things to keep in mind:
None of these machines are of the quality that you should expect for $1000+. Frankly, they are borderline crapola.
Given the above, you will still find it to be incredibly important in your shop.
Don't buy the oscillating version.

First, about the oscillating sander: the oscillating mechanism on these machines is pretty cheesy - they just wobble the drive pulley. You will lose some sanding area, if that is important to you. The belt on these sanders is long enough that loading up (with the non-oscillating version) is not as big of an issue as with a spindle sander or drum sander. Yes, they will load, but it is easy to stay on top of it. The real deal killer is the horrible dust collection system on the oscillating version. One of the most useful aspects of the edge sander is access to the roller for contour sanding. It is far better than a spindle sander for any operation for which the roller diameter is not too large. With the oscillating version, you have to remove the dust collector in order to access the roller sanding area. Now imagine pulling off the shroud and putting it back on several times a day - insane. Repeating for emphasis, contour sanding at the roller is going to be VERY important to your luthier work. Almost all of the traditional industrial edge sanders are non-oscillating, for what thats worth. All of my following comments apply to the NON-oscillating model.

If you are just going to be using the sander for freehand work, which is still reason enough to get one, then you will probably be perfectly happy with the Jet. The main thing that will irritate you is that it such a pain to move the table up and down, that you will not do it as often as you should. The other main irritant is the lack of any precision stop on the swinging sanding arm, meaning that a square is required every time that you move it to the vertical position. When you do get it square, the clamping mechanism is not totally reliable to prevent some creeping. By the way, the 3850 rpm motor is fine - This is the same speed range as industrial machines and you will easily learn to work with a light touch. I shape bone nuts and saddles freehand with no problem.

In my work, I use the edge sander with jigs for shaping braces, radiusing fretboards, and radiusing heel and tail blocks. For these uses the flaws in these machines are magnified, and extremely frustrating. Besides the issues mentioned above, the biggest problem is the wimpy support of the main sanding arm. The entire sanding belt arm is supported only at one end, and that is with an inadequate system. The result is that even a few pounds of pressure at the idler roller end of the arm will flex it noticeably. Not a big deal for freehanding, but a major problem when a jig is clamped to the table, which is none too stable itself.

If a $1000 table saw or jointer was this poorly executed, it would be blasted in magazine and online reviews and pulled from the market. Unfortunately, the market for these small edge sanders is limited, and the few reviews out there are mostly useless. If you ever read unqualified praise for any 6 x 89 sander currently on the market, I would be very skeptical.

In terms of specs, the Grizzly G0512 with the small diameter idler roller looks interesting, but I have not seen one in person, and have read complaints about it also.

Bottom line is that any edge sander is a very useful tool and I would not want to be without one, even given my complaints above.

One way to minimize burning on a non oscillating edge sander is to tilt the table (along the straight side) lengthwise, if your sander permits this. Whatever is being sanded will remain the at the same angle relative to the sanding belt, but a wider section of the belt will be used. Especially helpful when sanding longer, narrow stuff.

I also use the idle drum part of machine for many things, but there is one problem: The drum is slightly convex (for straight belt tracking), and that shape will of course be transferred to the workpiece. Still very useful, though.

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Brook,

Thanks for the info but I'm bit confused to what you said. What sander do you have? You said one with different paint job but that is not clear to me as to what you have.

Also what is your opinion in terms of the belt speed?

Thanks, David

Sorry if I was too obscure. There are quite a few different brands of shop machinery that may offer the exact same tool as another brand, with the only difference being the color the tool is painted, and the name put on it. A good example are these sanders, which have been sold as Jet, Powermatic, General, and probably others as well. I have the Powermatic, and I can assure you that it is the exact same machine as the Jet (actually Jet owns Powermatic now). Sometimes different companies will specify minor variations to differentiate their version from another brand, but in this case, these are exactly the same.

As far as the belt speed, I will quote my post above: "By the way, the 3850 rpm motor is fine - This is the same speed range as industrial machines and you will easily learn to work with a light touch. I shape bone nuts and saddles freehand with no problem."

Good luck!

Hi Brook
One case where I would like to be able to slow the edge sander down is when radiusing fretboards particularly when they are bound with ABS.
The high speed tends to melt the plastic regardless of pressure and also can overheat the ebony rather quickly.
The reversing I mention above would probably not be warranted on production edge sanders but it would be handy when quickly sanding a roundover on, say, four corners of a block that can't be turned over. Sanding two diagonal corners is fine but try to do the remaining two and the workpiece can be violently ripped out of your fingers. Can make fingers sore and trims fingernails rather quickly when using 36 grit!
I'm a bit of a VFD junky (control freak?) It's sometimes great to be able to slow a motor down and even reverse it. Kind of like a VSR drill, I guess.
I see Bob B. doing a lot of scary things on his belt sander in his videos, even sanding the sides of the guitar. It looks to be running rather slow.
I was glad to hear some of the negatives on the oscillating edge sanders. I've been suffering from TAS and lusting after one of them. Maybe I'll save the money now.
I've had a Woodtek 6x89 edge sander for about 10+years and it's been a workhorse to say the least. I did mount a dial indicator to it so that I can get an accurate 90 degree setting when moving back to edge sanding. Yes the clamping is cheesy at best. The machine was built so flimsy that I had to do some welding on it when new just to make it work satisfactorily. Been trying the ceramic belts lately and they seem to last quite a long time but very pricey also.
Nelson Palen

I have a fast and a slow sander, and its great to have both, but if i only had one it would be the slower speed. I feel that i have more control with the slower speed, while the fast machine is for making wood "dissapear" in a hurry.

If you are VFD savvy like Nelson, one variable speed sander would be ideal.

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Ithaca, NY

Nelson, I do agree with you, and I would love to have a smaller industrial edge sander with a 3 phase motor and VFD. An 8" Wysong and Miles, with oscillation that can be turned off would be nice. Just need to find an extra 10 grand for a used one...

Also, I do like your idea of a reversing feature to make it a bit easier to round over or bevel ends that have to be presented at the "wrong" angle to the belt.

My comments were specific to the clone 6 x89 sanders in question, and the oscillating one would be virtually unusable to me, unless I figured out a way to rebuild the dust collection component.

I have never had any problems with overheating ebony; what symptoms of that have you seen?

Yikes, 36 grit! I would be very nervous about getting my fingers within a 16th of that, which I do frequently with the 80 or 100 grit.

Thanks for the heads up on the ceramic belts - any downsides to them?

Brook

Hi Brook,

What do you think about sanders like Grizzly G1140 and G0512? They are 80"x6", bit slower(1800FPM),Bit shorter but also bit cheaper.
www.grizzly.com

The G0512 currently has free shipping.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/freeshipping.aspx

Anyone know if the idler roller is crowned? I'm guessing that it is cushioned but can't tell for sure.
Looks like the crown would be somewhat of a show stopper when using as a spindle sander.
Nelson Palen

edit: Looks like the idler roller is called out as rubber in their parts book.
Looks like the belt tracking adjustment is tedious. That would be a concern as different belts track differencly.

Skyhigh,

I have never been close to the Grizzly G0512, so take my comments with a big grain of salt. Hopefully someone here who owns one will chime in.

Potential Pros (as compared to the Jet):
small idler roller - I love this feature
Not a tilting sander, so at least has potential to be more rigid
Appears to have a crank activated lifting mechanism for the table - if this works well, it is a big plus.
Access to both sides of machine for sanding might allow a jig to be kept in place on one side, while having the other side open
A lot cheaper!

Potential Cons:
Plywood table - how stable is it? How easy is it to square up to the platen?
no easy way to square up end of table to roller for contour sanding (for me this is a minor issue - the Jets don't offer any way to do this either)
no miter slot, which I use for locating my jigs. However you can route your own slot if you need it.
The belt size is a bit less common than the 89". Probably not a big deal.
Does the cheap price imply shoddy quality?
Can the table be lowered enough to access almost all of the 6" width of the sanding belt? This is a problem with the Jet/Powermatic, so I am wondering if this Grizz does any better

On paper the Grizzly G0512 looks great, and I would like to recommend one as a better alternative to the Jet, but I just don't know.

NOTE: I just did some searching on this forum and it appears that Lance Kragenbrink might have one of these Grizzlys. Try sending him a PM and asking for his feedback.