Official Luthiers Forum!

Your partially right. Emerson does make some of the Craftsman tools. They also own the Ridgid brand name but their Ridgid power tools are made under license by Techtronic who also makes Milwaukee.

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Another day, another dollar.

Not to long ago Metabo made some of the Rigid products in Switzerland. The 6" ROS from this time was/is a very nice tool.

I have one of these Jet spindle sanders and I love it. http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/200387 ... 08404.aspx. I've used it extensively for the past 1.5 years and still haven't needed to change the sand paper on the spindles. It's very smooth, quiet, and well made. Kind of pricey but you get what you pay for. It was $100 off a few weeks ago.

That Jet is a nice looking sander. I probably should just get one and stop farting around with Rigid. Every other tool I have is Jet. It's just that stupid belt sander part I like so much...

outside curves

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I use it for so many things. Fine tuning the kerfed lining length, fine tuning the side end cuts, outside curves as Steve said, head stock shaping... What is a pattern ring?

I have the "Canwood" model which looks almost identical to the Jet or the General International version. I used to have the Ridgid and it's a great tool for what it is and the price but not as robust as I would like. I also was never able to get the belt tracking properly. It would always move and fray the belt edges. I don't need it as I have a 6" x 48" floor model belt/disc sander fortunately. On the Canwood, I can also use magnetic fixtures which you can't do on the Ridgid. The Ridgid is good for the small shop or starting out IMO.

I use the belt sanding attachment far more than I ever use the spindle sander. For guitars, the belt sander works beautifully to remove the bulk excess from a neck blank.
I also use the spindle attachment with a homemade luthiers friend I made and it works great!

To be quite frank, this is one of my most used tools in the shop and I'd be lost without it. If I ever found out that they were discontinuing the tool, I'd go out tomorrow and buy a second as a backup. I have the original model (with the grey body) and it is still working flawlessly today. I give this tool two thumbs up!

Mike - would you mind letting me know what the issue was with yours in the event mine goes down as well?

Rob

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Rob Flindall
Flindall Guitars
http://www.flindallguitars.com
https://www.facebook.com/FlindallGuitars

I have both the Jet Goodin mentioned and the Ridgid. I find I turn to the Jet much more than
the Ridgid. I have a 48 x 9 disc/belt sander, so I don't find the oscillating belt feature of the Ridgid
enough of an attractant to stop using the Jet. I'll probably Craigslist the Ridgid to clear up the
space. Anybody in Central CA area want one?

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Gene

Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason- Mark Twain

The Rigid ain't no Jet. But for many hobby builders, it's a really good tool. That said, I want the Jet.

Mike

For those of you with the jet benchtop oscillating sander - is it tall enough to use to sand the waist on the box after binding? Or is that not a good idea?

Also wondering if the table is cast iron?

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

That Jet one seems nice but the table is pretty small looking. Nothing in the specs on how large the table is. I chose the Rigid partly because of the size of the table for resting jigs. Sanding the headstock on a mandolin for example.

Alan D.

Steve, I think I've tried this before. Not the greatest idea. But if you attempt it, you need small radius dishes for leveling (putting more height requirements on the spindle). These things can take a lot of material off in a hurry. They can also round your edges, something you might not want at this stage. I'm still using scraping, hand sanding, and my little mouse sander.

Mike

Good points - the waist area always seems to be more difficult than the rest of the sides to get cleaned up and level. Oh well, off to the next bright idea

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Steve, between hand sanding, scraping, and my little mouse sander, I tend to have few issues. I even can use my mouse sander on ukes. With a spindle sander, you can put a gouge in your side in nothing flat. And THAT will take a miracle to fix!

Mike

I understand how easy it is to destroy things with a spindle sander - makes sense. What mouse sander are you referring to?

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I've had the Ridgid oscillating sander for about 6 years now, use it all the time, never had a problem. I use the belt mostly. When I first got it I thought it felt lightweight and cheap but it's been a real workhorse for me.

For power sanding waists and cutaways, there's no better tool than the rolling pin-type pneumatic sanders in a good drill IMO.

I remember seeing folks talk about these in the past. Do you have a specific brand in mind?

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Yeah, I remember Chris' rolling pin device he built. Guess I'll think about it a bit more. I did use the Rigid with the large sanding sleeve to clean up some bubinga but that stuff is ridiculously tough and not as much risk of messing it up.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

http://www.grizzly.com/products/h2881
http://www.grizzly.com/products/H2882

I briefly tried to make a DIY one in the past and it was a disaster. These are easily worth every penny IMO.

They aren't cheap but I may have to order one to get through the bubinga on my challenge build.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"