Official Luthiers Forum!

Sorry for the tool gloat - couldn't help myself though......

I bit the bullet and ordered a G0527 a short while ago. It arrived mid-week and is now up and running nicely. I waited and saved for several years for this wide belt sanding machine. I'm very impressed with it so far - the build quality, accuracy, setup, everything, seems to be just spot on!

I know the specs say that it will only sand down to 1/8", but it works just fine way below this limit. The limit switch on mine was set at 0.165". I adjusted it to 0.070" which is about as low as I'll ever want to go on the thing I'm sure. There seems to be no issue with the belt contacting the conveyor belt at this setting - there's a good amount of daylight between the two, and the machine runs perfectly.

I'd read on other forums that people had difficulty getting it off the pallet and handling it in their workshop. It is pretty heavy at 890lbs, but I had no problems handling it all by myself (using a long steel bar as a lever, a 2.5 ton car jack, and several handy pieces of scrap wood). I had some heavy duty Wood River tool casters and decided I was going to put them on BEFORE taking it off the pallet. I found a couple of 22" long pieces of 3.5" x 0.25" steel bar in the shorts bin of a local metalworking company and got them for a few bucks. I mounted the casters on these (four small bolts each), then bolted them to the underside of the G0527 U-channels with 1/2" fixings in the holes that the machine was bolted to the pallet through. The casters worked out perfectly - I can push it around the workshop with relative ease if I want to.

Couple of pictures (click 'em to see the hi-res versions):





As a quick test, I sanded a Lutz spruce top from 0.170" to 0.110" in about 3 minutes - would have taken over a half-hour on my 16-32. I'm keeping the old Performax machine as it will be useful for short stock still.

Cheers,
Dave F.

_________________
Cambrian Guitars

"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"

WOW - VERY Impressive! And 900 pounds on wheels too! NICE!

_________________
P A U L B U R N E R
Burner Guitars

Man, that looks like a really nice machine.. Congratulations.

PZ

What a great way to get it off the pallet and be able to move it around. I'm impressed as I know I would have been scratching my head trying to figure out how I was going to get enough folks over to lift it or move it. Great idea and one that I will keep in mind.
Chuck

hmmm...Looks like you don't live too far from the Bay area. Would it be too much to ask: How much to use it?

_________________
"Preoccupation with an effect gives it power and enhances the error"
from "Your Owner's Manual" by Burt Hotchkiss.

Nice Dave. Make sure to keep the sensors for oscillation clean or the belt will tend to ride to far to one side. I ran an air line up to blow a shot of air on the sensors every couple of minutes. Good dust collection is a must.

_________________
Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

Thanks guys! I've been using it some more over the weekend and I'm very impressed with its performance.

Nick - I'm in Santa Clara (near 101 and De La Cruz). If you're up this way and you want to put a few tops or back/sides sets through, let me know....I'd be more than happy to oblige.

BobC - Thanks for the tip! I can see how dust on the sensor/reflector would do that. I already ran a BRW bridge blank through it without the dust connected (I forgot to move the pipe from my router table to the sander). I used a compressed air gun to clean out all the BRW dust that was everywhere inside the machine! Boy did it smell good though!! I have a Grizzly 2HP Cyclone dust collector that also does a great job (when it's actually connected!).

Cheers,
Dave F.

_________________
Cambrian Guitars

"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"

In my shop, it's called Operator Head Space!

_________________
Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

And this is just after investing in a UV cure finishing system. That's the spirit!

Pat

_________________
There are three kinds of people:

Those that make things happen,
those that watch things happen,
and those that wondered what happened.

Next up is a CNC router (ShopBot Buddy most likely).....but not for a while though....

Cheers,
Dave F.

_________________
Cambrian Guitars

"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"