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Which belt sander would you buy?

79bonanza

79bonanza

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Well I'm in the market for a belt sander for cleaning up tube notches and beveling steel plates for welding.

I've come down to two choices, a older Rockwell 6x48 or 6x32, or a new Dake model belt sander.

The older rockwells run around 800.00 on eBay all day long and are pretty easy to come by. The Dake model is 1300.00 before tax and shipping etc...

The Dake model has a narrower belt but an almost triple belt speed. But it also only comes in a 3 phase machine.

What do you fellas think

image.jpeg
 
I've been beating the snot out of my Grizzly for a decade now.. I'd be lost without it...





sander001.jpg
 
That dake unit is probably just foreign junk with a dake sticker and marked up 6000%. The other unit looks much beefier.
 
The vocational school I went too,had dozens of those Rockwell belt sanders,one in just about every trades shop..if high school kids cant wreck one,no one can...I do not recall ever seeing one needing anything other than new belts..

You might look online for local government auctions,often around here schools "dump" a lot of perfectly useable machines and other stuff so they wont lose funding for the next fiscal year..my friend was a custodian at the town's schools and I was surprised to see what they discarded each year--brand new desks,chairs,machinery (he got a sweet Ariens snowblower for free that was like new--I got dozens of 8 foot flourecent light fixtures and bulbs when they upgraded to "energy efficient" ones ,for my garage..).

I guess if the schools dont use up all the money budgeted to them,their funding gets cut the following year,so they often "upgrade" stuff that has nothing wrong with it..
 
79bonanza said:
Hmmph that doesn't paint a very good picture for the Dake
Click to expand...

After hearing the things Nate (Mr.Clean on here) had to say about the stuff they sell/make when he worked there, I don't think its as nice of stuff as they portray.

A lot of the stuff was made in house, but it mostly sounded like it was press parts. A lot of the machines they sell were just rebadged stuff they bring in. Not saying it is bad stuff, as I don't really know....
 
runamok151 said:
They're all made in China, usually in the same factories. All you're paying for is different paint and name plate.

Depending on how big you need, either this 4"
http://www.grizzly.com/products/Combo-Sander-4-x-36-Belt-6-Disc/G0547

or this 6"

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Com...paign=zPage&utm_medium=link&utm_source=direct
Click to expand...

3/4hp on that 6" grizzly sounds like a date to me. I friggen hate stalling out smaller belt sanders.

If Paul loves his, I think id go with that. $4xx brand new sounds like a win win.
 
I'm not gonna say Grizzly is some high-end tool, but considering 97.6% of things are import anyway, it's pretty good on that end... and the pricepoints are fair.. I built both my rigs using that thing EXTENSIVELY....


my Grizzly bandsaw kicks fuggin arse.. I've made like eleventy thousand cuts with that thing and it cut's like the day I bought it..... only thing that has failed is the degree # sticker unglued itself from coolant at one point, no big as it has hashmarks for them...
 
I think I'm just going to pick up one of the floor model rockwells.

The grizzly ones look nice but I like the older cast iron machines.
 
I have a thing for old iron, picked up an old dewalt radial arm saw and found those old guys knew how to build shit.
 
Yeah I love all the older equipment, heavy cast iron bases and zero vibration or rattles.

When I'm in the market for a new drill press this is what I'm going to get.

Walker turner radial arm drill press, 16 speeds from I think 120 rpm to 8600

image.jpeg
 
Where do you look to find this kind of equipment? I would love to find an old band saw and mill someday
 
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