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Which you can do with the edge sander on the rigid too BTW.

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http://www.birkonium.com CNC Products for Luthiers
http://banduramaker.blogspot.com

Does the Rigid have an edge stop? I seem to recall it did, but cannot find one in my shop. Must be imagining things.

Mike

Yeah I seem to remember a black piece of curved steel with a plate that bolts somewhere. I've probably still got it laying around. I usually just clamp a scrap of wood on the top wherever I need a stop.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

But you can't sand a whole F/B while it's on the neck. BTW, check out that 4-1/2" spindle on the end...

I started out with a cheap Crapsman 36 X 4 belt/6" disc combo that when it runs the bushings squealing reminds me of someone nagging at me..... But it's what I learned with and it works fine if you completely disregard the markings on it and set your angles manually with a square AND get out the old 3&1 oil too it becomes a more pleasurable experience to use....

A couple of years ago after someone here picked up the Rigid spindle sander I picked one up too and I like that tool just fine as well. It added capability to my shop and on all levels I am pleased with the Rigid.

But I do use them for different things even though there is overlapped capability here. For example the conventional belt sander with the same grit of paper is not as aggressive as the Rigid with the oscillating belt attachment installed. To me sanding is often a process of sneaking up on something and an overly aggressive approach can be problematic, again at least for me. So the belt sander, the Crapsman one, gets used 2 to 1 in my shop over the Rigid and if I had to have only one of these two tools it would be the belt sander.

OTOH the Rigid is superb for head stock curves and a plethora of other uses that I had when building my basement shop. It runs very smoothly, is quiet and the dust collection, once super-charged with the assistance of some strategically placed tape to plug up leaks is pretty good. The table is a little cheesy but I can live with that.

Anyway for me both a conventional belt/disk combo and the Rigid spindle sander are well worth having and if you are tooling up and have to purchase judiciously for now getting the conventional belt/disk first would be what I would do.

A photo of the strategically placed duct tape would be nice.

Thanks. I really hope my sister brings my Jet belt/disk with her on Thanksgiving. It's stuck in Charlotte, NC.

Mike

Not getting what you mean...

Meaning you can't do that with a spindle sander...
I do a lot of straightening right off the bandsaw with the belt. If I'm cutting a number of P/H veneers from a block, I can true up both sides of the block after a cut from each side, cut two more and sand flat again for another two cuts. I can true up anything with a belt. I can square up anything fast. I can edge sand top/back for joining, sand off epoxy from inlays, sand radiused F/B's...the list is endless...

Get the Rigid.

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The member formerly known as erikbojerik....

Hey Ed,

I agree with Haans. If you can afford/fit it then the full edge sander is the way to go I feel. I currently have a 4x36 6"disc sander and use it all the time. Anything that needs to get spindle sanded happens in the drill press with the robo sanders. I have never seriously considered purchasing a spindle sander. I do however use the full scope of the belt section of my belt sander often and regularly overhang things off of the sides. With the vertical style of the ridgid it doesn't seem like you could do that. Also, I use the end of the belt sander to shape the neck heel transition once the FB is glued on. Again, with the Ridgid the table looks like it would make that impossible. I think the Ridgid is an awesome tool, I am not knocking it. The oscillating function is really great but I don't find that I am really wishing the tools I have now had it. I do wish they did, just not a lot. I do wish that I had a larger belt surface though all of the time and in a perfect world I would have Haans' sander. If you do go with a belt/disc then consider the Rikon. It has a 10" disc and the disc falls below the surface of the belt, which is a great feature i think. If you can fit the full edge sander though I don't think you will ever regret it.

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

Burton,
Some good points here. I see that the 10"disc/6" belt Rikon is $350 delivered. The Rikon 6"disc/4" belt is only $120. I know nothing of Rikon. Are they well built regardless of size (i.e. the the big 6" belt vs small 4" belt)??

The Rigid is $200. I could buy the small Rikon ($120) AND Rigid for about the same (or less) as the big Rikon ($350) you mentioned. Instead of buying the Rigid now I could start with the small Rikon and add the Rigid later (I was going to buy the Rigid first initially).

Any thoughts in weighing these options?

-

I have news for you Tony, they are all asian...even the Powermatic. Don't know what you can get down there, but the Jet is a clone, probably made by the same factory. Girzzly makes a few, and C. Fox designed a wrap around table for one, although I'd probably go for the oscillating one if I had to do it again. It's always a matter of getting the best tool you can for as much $$$ as you dare spend before the wife

I have an edge sander similar to Haans', and it is probably my most used power tool.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Hanns, I see what MY problem was. I did not see that attached picture (my work computer has most pics removed)

Got it now!

I saw some plans for building a belt sander of that size. Love to find one like that.

You know what would be perfect? Some kind of shop built device that you could attach to a jointer (to take advantage of the bed and guide wall). I am going to ponder on this a bit.

Mike

I've been kind of looking for those.... let me know if you find them Mike.

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Dave
Milton, ON

I have them, but now I am thinking about how I can adapt them to use the 6" jointer bed. Yet another tool taking up minimal shop space is not an option.

Mike