Strip sander

Create a review for a woodworking tool that you are familiar with (Shopsmith brand or Non-Shopsmith) or just post your opinion on a specific tool. Head to head comparisons welcome too.

Moderators: HopefulSSer, admin

Post Reply
User avatar
Bruce
Platinum Member
Posts: 884
Joined: Sun Aug 27, 2006 10:31 pm
Location: Central MO

Strip sander

Post by Bruce »

For those of you that have one, are you happy with it? How often do you use it? I am considering getting one during the sanding sale.
paulmcohen
Platinum Member
Posts: 1577
Joined: Fri Dec 08, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Beaverton, Oregon
Contact:

Post by paulmcohen »

batg4 wrote:For those of you that have one, are you happy with it? How often do you use it? I am considering getting one during the sanding sale.

I have one am very happy with it but don't use it as often as I thought. I planned on using it for Sharpening (in addition to sanding) when I got it but ending up with a Tormek and use that instead. It does make a great sharpening tool with the accessories but does not have the precision/flexibility of a device costing much more. Overall it was well worth it.
rebus
Bronze Member
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2007 9:48 pm

Strip Sander

Post by rebus »

I bought one when they first came out. I use it all the time during the inter months as this is when I pretty much do most of my model making. It works great, I really like the curved platen as well as the 1/2" platen. For intricate sanding it works better than most other strip sanders. You can also use it to sharpen knives and your lather chisels, with the adaptor kit.

Rebus:D
User avatar
reible
Platinum Member
Posts: 11283
Joined: Thu Jul 20, 2006 12:08 pm
Location: Aurora, IL

Post by reible »

Hi,

I like mine so well I wish I had a second one. I got it to supplement another companies "hobby" grade one I had with a 1 x 30" belt. The motor is to weak to do much heavy sanding so now I used it mostly with a leather belt, despite haveing maybe 30 unused sanding belts.

I also have a bandsaw that uses sanding belts but it takes time to set that up and then back to the bandsaw function... it does how ever work very well. Now that attachment sets in a box and I leave it as a bandsaw all the time

The main reason I wanted another sander was I hate sanding so anything that makes that go faster and easier I'm a sucker for. As it turns out this is a nice piece of equipment and is easy to use and easy to change belts on. To be honest I have never used the "inside" sanding setting which requires some changes inside the cover. I'm sure it would work for that as well if you need it.

Having the option of belt widths/grits and haveing different plattens for flat and curved sanding is a real plus.

Last summer I went for the sharpening attachment and this is why I wish I had two of these. I can't compare it to any other tool I own, or for that mater any other makers fancy set up, but I think this is the ultimate sharpener for me. I have the belt set that shopsmith sells, the finest belt is 600 grit. Since this is a standard size belt I was able to ordered a 1000 grit one so you can get a very fine edge. I have yet to order the leather belt but it is on my list... sorry again not a shopsmith item.

The problem is now I want to leave it set up like this but then I don't have my sander to use or the other way round. To be honest it is not that hard to change from one or the other but it always seems it is setup as the "other" tool when I go to use it.

If I had a larger tool budget you can bet I would have two of them.

Ed
paulmcohen
Platinum Member
Posts: 1577
Joined: Fri Dec 08, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Beaverton, Oregon
Contact:

Post by paulmcohen »

reible wrote:If I had a larger tool budget you can bet I would have two of them.

Ed

Similar to my exterience with the sanding disk, I switched to velcro but when I get more money to spend on my Shopsmith I will be buying two more original PSA sanding disks. Of course they are on sale now, but see other "Weekend Blog" tread to see why this is a bad time.:(
User avatar
reible
Platinum Member
Posts: 11283
Joined: Thu Jul 20, 2006 12:08 pm
Location: Aurora, IL

Post by reible »

paulmcohen wrote:Similar to my exterience with the sanding disk, I switched to velcro but when I get more money to spend on my Shopsmith I will be buying two more original PSA sanding disks. Of course they are on sale now, but see other "Weekend Blog" tread to see why this is a bad time.:(
My refund check has been collecting interest for a while already....

Since this is a sort of sanding related post....... I have one conical sanding disk and 5 regular disks. Why 5??? Well I have one with fine, one with medium, one with coarse, one for sharpening and one with velcro. I should get a second conical for a fine paper... will have to see about that before the sale is over. (I tried the taking the paper off and putting it on the release paper then putting it back on...... it caught and did a nice job making my new 520 table top look old and used, so no more trying that).
See storage system I use:
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/elv60504@sb ... 31394043/0


The other thing on sale and treasure is the oscillating drum sander. If you do a lot of patterns for say router work these things are great. The other good thing about them is you only need one. They work with either the standard 2-1/4 drum sanders or the longer 6" one and you can also use the smaller dia. drums that shopsmith sells (1/2", 3/4", 1", and 1-1/2" dia) using the chuck. (The oscillating sander is just to the right of the top disks)

While we are at it yes it is nice to have 3 of the drum sanders too... same thing as before, one for each grit.

I have ordered the Inflatable sander... if it works like I hope it will then you might see a report on that sometime in the future. I have an up coming craft project that needs something like this. Besides I think this about does it for me owning every sanding thing shopsmith sells.... did I mention I hate sanding???

Ed
Post Reply