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Does anyone here get much use out of an oscillating edge/spindle sander? They're not expensive and seem like they may be useful. Anyone here use one?
Thanks

I bought a Ridgid model last year. I love it.

Here's a review-
http://www.newwoodworker.com/reviews/rgideb4424rvu.html

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

I bought the rigid combo, I really like it with the spindles. Not so much with the belt, as it has a bump where the edge wall or whatever you call it meats the drive shaft. Though I have used a friends delta edge sander I really like.

That's funny - I never use the spindles. I deal with the edge at the bottom issue by using a 1/2" piece of wood on the bottom plate.

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

I had a Ridgid. It was excellent, although I never found much use for the beltsander. Couldn't keep it tracking well. The bottom edge of the belt was always torn up. I sold it however and bought a dedicated one with 6" spindles and a cast iron table. A spindle sander is a very nice tool to have. Other tools will work for similar tasks, but nowhere near as easily or efficiently.

I've got the Ridgid as well and I'm real happy with it. My belt works fine but I don't use it much anymore since I got a Delta 6"x36" belt sander. So now I just use the spindles on the Ridgid. If I had more space I wouldn't mind having something a bit more industrial but, hey, it does the job in my small shop and it's hard to beat the price.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Thats not my problem steve. I bought it especially for shaping bolt on necks because of its small belt length, but have found using the belt for this a pain because of a hump at the drive shaft.

I have one it does come in handy especailly when making templates and molds. I also have some robo sander which i use in the drill press. They have a built in guide bushing that you can use with a template for sanding shapes. I put off buying them but at woodcraft one day i picked some up and realized they were a very handy thing to have around...Mike

Its funny how many of us have the Rigid. FWW rated it the best a few years back. That might be the reason. It also might be because for $200, you can hardly do better in the lutherie trade. It just does what it ought to do and is extremely flexible. I love mine and would not part with it, period.

Mike

Not as nice as the the Ridgid sander but for $80 with coupon and sale the HF sander has worked well for me.Very handy. Jeff

I have a spindle sander but went a different direction. I purchased a hand held Porter Cable oscillating spindle sander and router table plate converter (you can also build your own). When I need a spindle sander, I just swap out the router for the sander in the router table. It would be nice if the spindles were a bit longer but the added table space is a real plus.

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Don Atwood
Arlington, VA

I have plenty of uses for one. One of the best things about it is the fact that you can hook a vac to it. I have a cheapo "Menards" Performax one, it was like 80 bucks. It is pretty quiet, comes with 6 different sizes of paper. The Wilton brand has a 3 piece set of paper that fits, so I use those 3. I use it for thinning down sides. I clamp down a table saw fence and run them down to get them close. I also use it for fretboards and bridges. I use it for bracing, sanding saddles, and nuts too. I love the fact that it sucks dust very well, sands nice, and if you hit it with your finger, it won't tear it off.

Not to bust your bubble but is this the one you have below? If so it will probably break on you like mine did. The internal housing that hold the motor and spindle is all plastic. From the outside it looks like a fine machine but the inside tells another story. I couldn't believe how they design this things internals. the lowest quality all around.I fixed mine by using some 16gauge sheet steel and a lot of JB Weld epoxy and many small bolts and nuts but it wasn't easy. When it craps out the next time I'm getting a jet...Mike

I have the Rigid as well. I rarely use anything but the belt mode. I like it because the belt has two different size spindles. With my 6"x48" belt sander I have three differnt sized radii for inside curves. The shop vac works moderately well, with the Rigid, too.

Danny R. Little

Wow!
Thanks folks for all the replies! The main thing I want it for is for shaping the backs of necks before carving. Currently I rough it out using the drum of my big edge sander, but it always ends up a little ripply. Has anyone used it successfully for that? I think I'll get one regardless, it seems like there are so many things to use it for.
Thanks

Make me number 2 on the belt sander. I put a 60 grit belt on mine and use it for rough shaping. It hogs off material pretty fast considering its power. Before I got a Delta 6x36 sander I pretty much left the Ridgid set up with an 80 grit belt all the time. Never had any problems with it. I use it for squaring ends, initial profiling for braces, shaping the headstock.

Here's a shot of it in the old days acting as a thickness sander. The squared off piece of 4x4 was screwed to the piece of plywood on one end so I could set the thickness with the blue clamp. Worked pretty good. Did headstock overlays, material for rosettes, a fretboard, and some bridge blanks.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I love my ridgid - one of the top 2 or 3 tools I've ever bought. I'm new to this luthierie thing, but I double-stick taped my bridge blank for #1 to a longer stick (handle) and made one in about 10 minutes with the belt part. As another poster said, the spindles are different sizes which helped a lot.

Might be weird but it sure works for me.

Steve

I too have the Rigid. I already had a small belt/disc sander, but needed something to speed up making/shaping molds. It's been quite handy.

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Jim Hansen

Hmmm. The belt has two different spindle sizes? Are you refering to the the opposite ends of the belt?

Mike

Yep.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

yes i use one alot . i found it to be a great way to do many sanding projects that require a lighter touch and as u say they are not expensive

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Meddling Fool, here is a bucket of cold water for ya!

I have a really nice Jet model in white. It's a fine machine.

However, I wish I had my money back in my pocket as it's not needed in a guitar shop. If you hesitate while sanding and not moving your part evenly it will gouge sand.

I thought it would help building molds, but turns out the gouging issue doesn't work well there. Router is best for that job.

So, my two cents are get a nice room for a weekend and take your wife out for a nice time.

I use my bench sander way more, matter of fact this never made the leap from garage to shop.

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Mike,
Your HF sure looks a lot like my Triton from Woodcraft, uh- it is my Triton.
It should have told me something when it came right out of the box with a cracked base bolt hole.
I've not had any other issues, so far.

Rene