Belt Sander Poll: Still Used?

Do you still use a portable belt sander in your shop?

  • Yes: All the time, just try and pry it out of my hands!

    Votes: 33 35.9%
  • No: Belt Sanders, oh yes I remember them dinosaurs. Hard to control and left lots of gouges in the w

    Votes: 13 14.1%
  • Sometimes: For rounding over things, but little else!

    Votes: 45 48.9%
  • What are you talking about? Never heard of them.

    Votes: 1 1.1%

  • Total voters
    92
travis i think you could possibly refrase your answers... at least the soemtimes one if it read just sometimes then that would be a good answer but i use mine for more than just rounding off.. just my thoughts.. but if we look at it as just the sometimes only then you could get the votes your after.:thumb: mine does collect dust but i wont be selling it any time soon,, jist remebered that guy that made that confernce table that steve ash posted along time back well that was anded alot by one of the new little belt sanders by porter cable,, he was so impressed with that sander he went out and bought two more.. and told us to get one, i havnt yet but have looked many times..
 
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I work (as a junior employee - great job for a retired businessman :)) in a cabinet shop that does commercial cabinetry. The belt sander is an indispensable part of the tools selection that we have. It gets used for flushing gable joints on faces and tops, grinding filler strips down to the scribe line and many other services. We have three of them, one for each of us and the job would be much harder without them.

cheers

John
 
No. Threw one out I inherited. Actually, "threw" is not accurate. I lugged it to the trash and disposed of. Locomotive size and very old. Now, I wish I had it back. Am shopping for a good used one.
 
I've got a portable Belt sander and a Hand held planer.

Don't use either one very frequently, but when I do, they come in handy.

Used the planer for a mast for a small dingy sailboat I made.

I use my stationary belt sander all the time for things.

Like doing inlays on pen blanks, etc...

And I use my drum sander for leveling off the top of cutting boards and such.
 
Funny you should ask. I have one and I don't like it. But I do find times I need it and today was one of them. Cut out three egg shaped pieces that needed to be identical. Of course they were not. Clamped them together and started using my big rasp to even them out and realized this was to hard to do by hand.

Grabbed my very old metal belt sander, an 80 grit belt and within 10 minutes I had 3 matching pieces. Probably won't use it again for 3 months or more.

Last time I use it was with 50 grit paper to clean up a maple bench top I bought that was badly scared. That was the quickest way to get down to good wood.
 
I don't use one often and couldn't tell you the last time. :huh: I got the old B&D at a garage sale in about '87 for 5 bucks had a bad switch that I replaced for a few bucks more.;) But I'll be using it next week to scribe some baseboard material to a new tile floor I laid yesterday. Have to dig it out of storage and make sure the old mustard colored thing still works.:dunno: As often as I use it, I'd hate to have to buy another one.:eek:

Aloha:wave:
 
Yes, but not "all the time" as the poll suggests.
It's a crude, but handy tool we wouldn't be without and isn't really such a wild gouger if you pay attention and use a finer grit. Mind though, if you have some creative fitting to do on an old house, it's great with a 50 or 80 belt.
Mine's a twenty-year-old Craftsman, no dust bag or anything, so it's strictly an "outdoors, in the wind, on the Workmate or sawhorses" machine.
It's been doing some squealing lately, so a new Makita with dust pick-up is probably on the horizon.
Peter
 
Don't use mine often anymore, but when I do, it's just the ticket.

I heavily used (and eventually wore out) a Black & Decker "Dragster" belt sander making cutting boards a couple years ago. (Flattening...not rounding them over.) It's since been replaced by a Porter-Cable 352VSR (Thanks, Rob). The P-C is very aggressive, but (for me) it's more difficult to use with finesse than the B&D. Because of the small front wheel and lower center of gravity, the B&D has a larger platen and is easier to control. Dust collection on either of them is minimal.

If I were still doing a lot of cutting boards, I suspect I would have moved up to a drum sander by now.
 
Belt Sanders Big & Small

Hi Everyone,

I have 2 belt sanders. My first one: Sometime in the 1950s, 4" wide belt, Miller-Falls, metal, "Heavy man." This unit still works like a champ.
My second one: The small Porter Cable.

I don't have any trouble with gouges with either one. I do have a light touch---I better since I work around eyeballs. The Miller-Falls is a lot of weight. The PC is surprisingly heavy for its size. However, the PC is much easier to use on small things (like edges of boards). It is also much easier to use if working on a vertical surface---partially because of weight and partially because of size.

If I am doing a large flat surface I want the M-F. For anything else I use MasterCard (oops...that is the PC). I could live without them, however I would really miss them.

Enjoy,

Jim
 
I voted "Sometimes" because I have one and find an occasional use for it. I have an old Craftsman and the "automatic" tracking doesn't work very well. Even when holding it so the pressure is light, the belt moves and I can get gouges. :(

I rely on my two ROSs and come card scrapers for most smoothing.
 
I never liked belt sanders although I used to have them. One of things that I like best about my Festool Rotex sander is that it means I no longer need a belt sander. A week after the Rotex arrived in my shop four years ago, both my belt sanders (a large Mikita and a smaller Mastercraft) got donated to Habitat for Humanity. I certainly do not miss either one of them.

I should add something here. I am suprisaed that no one has mentioned a sanding frame. Sanding frames are available for most belt sanders and the use of one makes the machines much easier to control.
 
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Travis,

And exactly how does one use a belt sander on sheep? Some sort of new shearing "method"? They'll be running back to their old home in no time. I'm not sure how post traumatic stress disorder manifests itself in sheep, but i'll bet you're about to find out.

I don't use my belt sander very often, but it's a great way to scribe fit infil panels on cabinetry or molding at floors and ceilings. I also sometimes use it for sanding on large surfaces if there's some real flattening to be done - i attach a sled to it for this to maintain control and follow up with the random orbital. I find the sled is really helpful. I'm sure i'd have tons of gouges and irregularities to deal with if i didn't use it.

paulh
 
I have a hand portable one but I use it very seldom due to the characteristics of the projects I'm doing lately.

What about those big bench belt sanders that have a disc attached? Are them of any use at all??, We had one at school and the maing problem was trying to sand a piece 90º square, we always ended sanding more from one side or the other...:dunno:

Besides, I know that they make races with them in US...
 
I don't use mine a lot, but when I need it I want one so I would not part with mine. I dont have any problem with gouging or uneven surfaces as some have said. Mine is an old Craftsman 4 X 24 two speed that I have had since the 50's It still works great and I love it!
Chuck
 
I know I've already replied in this thread, but today I just happened to have the camera at work and I figured I'd post the picture. When I started at this shop I was just filling in for a fellow who was off ill for a few weeks. When he came back they asked if I could stay for a bit longer and I was having a pile of fun, so I agreed. They pointed at a corner of the shop and said I could work "there", but I'd have to build a bench and shelves etc...etc.. in other words, I should fix it up to suit myself. I found some 2x4's and some particle board and knocked out a quick bench (36" x 96" on the top), put up some shelves and pegboard for supplies and tools and went to work. That was a couple of months ago and I've enjoyed every day since!!

Anyway .. :D .. this a roundabout way to show you that on my bench the only tool plugged in is the Makita belt sander (on the shelf under the bench). It's always plugged in, ready to go!!

cheers eh?

(sorry for the thread hijack :eek:)

John
 
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