Timesavers Speed Sander

Jim Hager

Member
Messages
374
Location
N.E. Arkansas
Winter shop shots 2008 009.jpgOver on the classified forum I have had posted my general international drum sander and I have been asked and reminded twice by Bruce Page and Joe Mouix that you guys would like to see and hear a little about my new Timesavers "Speedsander" Review of the Timesavers "Speedsander"
« on: January 12, 2008, 05:51:38 PM » Quote Modify

One of the most difficult things that we all have to deal with is sanding, seems like that is all I got to do for days when completing a kitchen or other large project. I have been through all of the drumsanders, we all know about that and I have finally come to the conclusion that I was gonna have to spend some serious $ to get what would work better for me. About 5 years ago Timesavers came out with their "Speedsander" a widebelt machine designed for the small shop. Perfect I thought but probably not in the budget. I contacted Warren at Timesavers and he gave me the speal on the machine and I pondered my situation only to have my LOML to decide she wanted a Timewaster instead (camper) so on to saving $ again until this fall I finally decided on purchasing one of the "Speedsander".

Large commercial shops would chuckle at this little machine weighing in at a light 1500#'s but for me it's the largest and most expensive machine that I have. The first machine arrived damaged and I had to wait more than a week to recieve another machine and fire it up. Since I had never used a widebelt sander I acutally read the manual before firing the machine up for the first time. The machine runs on a 7 1/2 hp single phase belt motor and a 1hp variable feed motor controlled by a simple dial on the front of the machine. It takes a 50 amp service to operate.


The first pic is of the machine open to the belt access. It is an A frame machine so it is a bit tight to get the belts on and off the machine however it is very doable.
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The second shot is just a wider perspective of the same side of the machine showing the location of the height adjustment handwheel which is very easy to operate. I expected something like a drum sander but this is one smooth operating handwheel. Each revolution of the wheel will move the table precisely .020
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This pic is of the operators side of the machine showing the controls and the wixey scale on the left. The red bar across the width of the sander right above the feed belt is the emergency shutoff and also prevents any possibility of double feeding. It's a sensitive little raskal too, I have set it off accidentally 2-3 times already. When it is activated the machine comes to a halt within 2-3 seconds, it has an electronic brake. The red button on the left serves as the off switch and the reset once the brake has been activated.Winter shop shots 2008 003.jpg






This is the backside of the machine. On the left is the air supply valve and another emergency stop button. The motor on the left is the feed belt motor.

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Inside the machine the bottom two rollers can be seen, the one on the right is the contact drum that applies the paper to the material when you don't have the platten in place. The platten is right in the middle between the drums and is easily removed by just sliding it out of place. The head lock device is what is seen just to the right of my hand, this has to be removed to take out or replace a belt. It is easily attached and removed.

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In this shot my hand is on the air valve that applies the pressure to the tracking mechanism that oscilates the belt side to side during a sanding operation. The belt moves side to side about 1 1/4" or so.


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This is what it looks like to slide a belt into the machine. There are a few obstacles to manuver around but the belt can be changed in about a minute.

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Here is how I'm storing belts now but I need to get a proper rack soon. Eighty grit used belt on right and 120 on left.

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A shot of the wixey ( not a wixey brand but nonetheless it works) device, I haven't gotten to appreciate it much yet but likely will.

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The platten used with 120 grit belt. It is the contact surface when in use and provides a bit more "cushion" than the contact drum.

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Glued up maple panel before sanding

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Glued up maple panel after several passes with the 80 grit, I removed .028 from the thickness

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I took this shot to show the flatness of the panel, sure is better than any drum sander I ever owned but then it should be now.

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This is a shot of the platen that is used instead of the contract drum when sanding with a finishing belt. I'm using 120 grit for a finishing belt and am having tremendous results. The platen simply slides in the machine without any sort of a fastener. It is covered with a graphite fabric that will have to be replaced somewhere down the road quite a ways

This is just a shot of the finished panel after sanding with the platen and 120 grit paper. I just laid the caliper there to give it some sort of scale
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Here is another shot of the same panel laying in a little different light. Again sanded with 120 paper.Winter shop shots 2008 016.jpg


A couple of oak doors finished with the sander stained minwax provential and shot with satin lacquer. Winter shop shots 2008 017.jpg




This door does not have any lacquer on it, just stain.Winter shop shots 2008 018.jpg
 
Jim, had you looked at any of the competing wide belt sanders?

Did you have to beef up your dust collection to run the wide belt? I assume you already had shop compressed air.
 
Dang, retirement must be good, you went with the Cadillac of widebelts!
You mention that the red emergency shutoff prevents any possibility of double feeding. What is double feeding?
I guess the real question is how does it sand and how much better than a drum sander?
Thanks for the pics, they were worth the wait.
 
Jim, had you looked at any of the competing wide belt sanders?

Did you have to beef up your dust collection to run the wide belt? I assume you already had shop compressed air.


Well the only one I looked at was the Grizzly and this one just suited my needs much better and it was more well made for the buck. I haven't had very good luck with Grizzly tools either so they lost my confidence a good while back.

I didn't do anything to the DC except hook it up. The sander only requires 650CFM to operate the dust collection. Their setup is really slick and picks up the dust at the point where it is made.
 
Dang, retirement must be good, you went with the Cadillac of widebelts!
You mention that the red emergency shutoff prevents any possibility of double feeding. What is double feeding?
I guess the real question is how does it sand and how much better than a drum sander?
Thanks for the pics, they were worth the wait.


Well it's just Cadillacs smaller version, I'll assure you it is not one of the old fashioned Timesavers but is the Speedsander sold by Timesavers.

Double feeding is the accidental entry of two pieces of material, one on top of the other.

The answer to your question about it's performance is in the pics of the panels. With a drum sander I always got streaks produced by residues left on the paper. There is no residue build up on the belt at least not in a pattern like a regular drum will produce. The belt oscillates about 1 1/4" from side to side to produce a great surface. Even on cross grained parts like the oak door styles in the pic. Very little sanding with a random orbit has to be used to get the crossgrain marks out, probably less than a minute per door. How much better than a drum sander, 300-400 percent easily, it will truly pay for itself in very little time in labor saved hand sanding doors and faceframes.
 
Man, you don't just run down to the Borg and pick up an extension cord for a 50 amp machine, huh?

Looks like a great tool, Jim, and it sounds like it's gonna make you some money. Congrats. :thumb:
 
Hi Jim, Congratulations a very impressive machine, How are the costs for the belts and how long do they last? Is there a cleaning method for them?

The belts that I bought last week cost around 21.00 each, I had to buy a box of 5 of 120 and then another box of 5 80's. I don't know how long they last because I haven't worn one out yet. The cloth backed belts can be powerwashed but they HIGHLY recommend that you do not use the belt cleaning mats.
 
Wow Jim that is pretty reasonable for costs of the belts. It will be interesting to see how long they last as per the amount of use. I have been looking into the addition of a drum sander to my shop, now I have something else to look at. I wonder why they don't recomend the cleaning mats? besides figuring a way to get in to use them safely.
 
Question (sorry if it was asked and I missed it):

Do you have to joint one side of the panel or anything to account for the wood slipping a little while the glue dries? Wasn't sure how the sander made the board the same thickness, like if it needed a flat face similar to a planer.
 
Congrats Jim. I bet that, like me, you are wondering why you put up with drum sander fiddling for so long. You will never look back.

I have a completely different machine and use paper backed belts but they last a long time. The other day I spent 5 hours continuous running Iroko through on the same belt. I only use 80 grit so the 120 may be a bit less durable.

My one tip would be to watch for kickback. When I first got my sander I used to gang feed parts in. This allowed one to be in contact with the belt but lose contact with the rollers. The resulting high speed ejection cracked a bone in my thumb on the way to putting a dent into a sheet of 4mm steel. I now stand well clear of the emergency exit path at all times and don't gang feed. Lesson learned.:eek:
 
Question (sorry if it was asked and I missed it):

Do you have to joint one side of the panel or anything to account for the wood slipping a little while the glue dries? Wasn't sure how the sander made the board the same thickness, like if it needed a flat face similar to a planer.

I normally don't sand panels without planing the glue off first. The sander takes off only small amounts (.012) with 80 grit and even less with the 120 so it just simply takes too long to do anything but plane the board first. I was just fiddlin around the other night when I took the pics for the review.
 
Congrats Jim. I bet that, like me, you are wondering why you put up with drum sander fiddling for so long. You will never look back.

I have a completely different machine and use paper backed belts but they last a long time. The other day I spent 5 hours continuous running Iroko through on the same belt. I only use 80 grit so the 120 may be a bit less durable.

My one tip would be to watch for kickback. When I first got my sander I used to gang feed parts in. This allowed one to be in contact with the belt but lose contact with the rollers. The resulting high speed ejection cracked a bone in my thumb on the way to putting a dent into a sheet of 4mm steel. I now stand well clear of the emergency exit path at all times and don't gang feed. Lesson learned.:eek:

I have done some gang feeding too but have not had any problem with kickback yet. The way the machine is placed in my shop it is almost necessary to stand to the side anyway. Thanks for the warning. My normal process is to feed one piece and then follow it up with the next jogged over a little to take full advantage of the width of the belt.
 
... My normal process is to feed one piece and then follow it up with the next jogged over a little to take full advantage of the width of the belt.

Mine too - just make sure you don't let your hand linger after the workpiece has been taken up by the rollers:eek:
 
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