Official Luthiers Forum!

Any one owned/used a grizzly 18" wide belt sander?
I friend is looking at getting one but I noticed the specs said its minimum thickness was only 1/8".
I would want it to go lower if possible. Any thoughts?
Also how does it compare with drum sanders in the 2500 dollar range

I routinely sand down to 0.030" on this machine without problems - you may need to adjust the depth stops so that it doesn't cut off the motor -- the setup information will be explained in the manual.

As far as comparison goes -- drum sanders are great for finishing sanding; however, for stock removal, there is literally no comparison. The large belt keeps things cool and greatly prevents paper load up. I recently milled up 6 back/side sets of Cocobolo -- with a 80 grit belt - no load up whatsoever but I do have good dust collection. Also, I have been using this same 80 grit Zirconium belt for a long time and have thicknessed dozens of sets (mostly oily rosewoods) and there is still hardly any load up on the belt. In other words, massive performance gains over my previous drum sanders (Performax 22-44 and Woodmaster).

I also use one they are far better than any drum sander

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Does the grizzly oscillate at all?

I started out on a wood master drum sander and all I remember about it was how much I hated it. We upgraded to a time saver about ten years ago and haven't looked back.
But for new builders who are gonna make an investment time savers are out unless you can find a used one.
Sounds like most of you would recommend it so so will I.

Thanks for the info and if you have any tips or tricks for the grizzly I will relay them

We have one in our shop along with a Timesaver. The Grizzly does oscillate and will work fine but you must have really good dust collection. Also pay attention to the amp meter and avoid going into the red zone. Overloading the machine by trying to take off too much material is not good for that Taiwan motor. Ask me how I know.

_________________
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

Love mine. Has a few quirks, but nothing that can't be worked around. Main one is keeping the photoeye clear of dust, that controls the oscillation. When it blocks, the belt will track off the rollers, and and cause an emergency stop.

I've never had a problem with the "eye" ever getting blocked by dust although I have heard this issue raised by others -- and I use this machine a lot. My guess is this is do to inadequate dust collection. These machines require a massive amount of air movement for proper dust collection.

I have had one for a few years, and I've been happy with it. It's a huge step up from a drum sander. My only knock on it is that I've had problems with belt tracking -- the belts on mine tend to go past where they should and they trip the shut-off. I've adjusted everything there is to adjust, and I've spent hours on the phone with customer support. I've managed to make it better, but still far from perfect. It's an annoyance. But it's still miles better than a drum sander.

I ran a airline with a small shutoff valve and have it pointed to the eye. Every once in a while I give it a short burst of air.

_________________
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

Kelby- that sounds like the blocked eye problem. If it gets dusted over, it thinks that the dust is the belt, so it sends the belt the other way until it runs off the rollers. Bob's permanently mounted air blast on the eye is a good one, or in my case, I just open the door and blast it with an air wand every 5 or so passes. I have been thinking I'll clean the eye with some Novus No. 1, which is a plastic polish that repells dust. I do have a 2HP dust collector right beside the sander, so it is pulling huge air, more than what is reccomended, but the eye still dusts over. If you open the right side door, and look up in the top right corner, you will see the offending eye.

Right on Jason. The eye will send that belt to the far left side so fast that the belt is shred before you have a chance to stop it. Pretty expensive problem.

_________________
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, Bob and Jason. I'll take a look next time it happens to see whether that's the problem.

When I got mine I had all kinds of issues. I had to rebuild this till we found that my problem was a cracked circuit board. Also the wiring had a mistake and the eye control circuit was backwards.
In the first 2 years I had it , I replaced all the motors. It wasn't until we found the cracked board and wiring mistake that it worked. I use a dryer sheet and rub the eye to help with the static cling of the dust. I do like Bob's air idea. Also the dust collection is mandatory .
Bob pointed out about the load meter , so be aware of that. When I sand I use a coarse grit first to get things close then finer grits to finish. You must be aware of heat build up. If the wood is getting warm You may be using too fine a grit or taking too much off. I try and keep my meter under 30% load.
The tracking arm can be adjusted as can the open side stop. The hits the break as to keep from tearing up the belt. I set mine up to hit the break right off the free swing on the oscillation cycle. This is a machine that is well worth an investment. I was frustrated with mine at first but you won't get it out of my shop now.
I also use sandpaper from Industrial Abrasives out of Reading. You can get a number of styles. They have one they call no loading. It is white and it is the only belt I use. I use 36 60 and 80 grit.

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Wow. Is that machine $5300?? I haven't even bought my first bandsaw much less a 5K belt sander.

This could become a VERY expensive hobby.