What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

Belt sander vs. disc sander

bp71k5

bp71k5

3/4 ton status
Joined
Mar 31, 2006
Posts
8,840
Reaction score
2,833
Location
Knoxville, TN 37922
I'm in the market for a sander to clean up edges of DOM tubing and flat plates. It looks like my budget can allow a 12" disc sander or a 6"x24" belt sander + 9" disc combo unit from harbor freight. Anyone with any experience on either of these tools to know which might be more durable?
 
I fab a bit .

I can say belt / disk combo or 1 or other is great for tube/flat clean up as it will rest on the flat plate / guard in front of the paper .

but I used a grinder 4.5" also just fine .

all up to you I guess.
 
I've been using a grinder for a while and it works for some stuff, but I'd like an easier way to straighten up edges on plates that I cut out with the 4.5" grinder. I want a machine powerful enough that wont bind up on 1/4" plate and steel tube. I don't need tons of power, just enough to clean up my angle grinder cuts.
 
bp71k5 said:
I've been using a grinder for a while and it works for some stuff, but I'd like an easier way to straighten up edges on plates that I cut out with the 4.5" grinder. I want a machine powerful enough that wont bind up on 1/4" plate and steel tube. I don't need tons of power, just enough to clean up my angle grinder cuts.
Click to expand...
You can stall the 6x24 HF jobs pretty easily. My Delta is the same way. Metal removal is better on a belt because the piece is seeing the same rate of removal all across the belt. With a disk the part on the outer edge sees a higher rate of removal than the inner portion because the surface feet speed of the outer part of the disc is much higher than closer to the center.
 
Shop around for a minimum 20" disc sander. You won't regret it.
 
Hmm, that's what I was afraid of. I'll see what kind of deals they have going this weekend, but I may have to wait for a more industrial sander on craigslist.
 
I'd love the 20" disc, but those things seem to cost more than all of my cars. (Except the k5 Haha!) I've been keeping my eyes out for one though.
 
I use the he!! out of my grizzley combo one... tho the disc is handy, I honestly never have it set up.. I use the belt ALL the time tho...
 
I bought a porter cable disc/belt a few years ago from Lowes. Its been fine so far would have definitely wanted something bigger. But for the price ,iirc around $200, its been good for what I do.
 
I went and got the HF combo unit over the weekend (black Friday sale). As expected, couldn't get much lower on the quality scale. Already found a stripped (maybe partly tapped) mounting screw hole, so I'm only on step 4 in the setup instructions. I'll finish setting it up and post a small review on how bad or tolerable it performs.
 
This is the best priced 20" SINGLE PHASE disc grinder I've found. Mine is a 3-phase. I would not want a single phase grinder just due to the fact that a single phase 20" grinder runs in clockwise direction ONLY. So you can't grind left and right parts near as easily. With my 3-phase, it has a "On/Off/On switch and can be flipped to reverse while running in the opposite direction. It won't hurt the electric motor at all. It rarely has to be flipped to the opposite direction so it see's very little high load like that. In fact almost never. I have done it to completely stop the disc faster for safety sake.

http://metal.baileighindustrial.com/disc-grinder-dg-500?gclid=CJOOndbBlbsCFVFefgodkzwAZw
 
That is the lowest cost new one I've seen. Right now it's out of my budget, but I can keep an eye out on Craigslist.
 
For cleaning up cuts on tube you cant beat the disc IMO. I have the hfreight combo and use both ends of it. The belt is great for pieces of plate a stock but IMO the disc rules the roost for burrs on tube.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom