Shank/bowl junction definition

[KurtHuhn]

I agree on the belt sander. I would love to have a nice stand-alone unit for that purpose but I'm not even sure where to start to get one together. I have a belt/disc combo right now, but I don't use the belt for much of anything. It seems to be too aggressive, whether that is because of the grit or the speed, I'm not sure.

Probably both, plus technique. My current belt grinder runs about 5000 SFPM, and I've found that 120 grit belt works great. Others might find that too aggressive. I tried 36-grit for while, but that created too much sanding work after rough shaping, and was far too aggressive at that speed. I even stepped up to 80 grit for while before stumbling upon 120 grit one day, and I haven't looked back.

It's all about developing the right technique for the way your brain and hands work.

[hazmat]

Yeah, technique is huge. I'm about half afraid of my belt sander due to my experiences with it so far, but I'm going to have to get over that at some point soon. To be honest, I'm not even sure what grit the belt on it is but I believe it's lower than 120. I went looking for 120/150 or so, but wasn't able to find anything at Lowes or HD.

[KurtHuhn]

None of the big-box store are likely to carry the right belts for the types of grinders we mostly use. 4x36 seems common there, but those are mostly made for belt sanders from Delta or Husky/Rigid. I get all mine from Jantz Supply:
http://www.jantzsupply.com

[hazmat]

My belt sander is a Delta. Those stores had belts, just not in 1 inch. They had everything else under the sun, though. I'll check Jantz out. Thanks!

[KurtHuhn]

Now that I think about it, I had to order my 1x42 belts for my Delta belt sander from Jantz as well. I recall being frustrated that Lowes had the belt sander, BUT NO BELTS!

[hazmat]

Yep.. that's how I felt, too.

[bscofield]

@Ben

Yeah, the backing disc for the pads I have is tapered, much the same as the pad on the pneumatic sander you posted. That's what I used to get into those little spots last night and it worked like a charm as noted above. Does Harbor Frieght sell just the sanding pads for those things? I can't seem to find them on their site.

You can't get into edges you need with that? Are they full bents or something? FYI, I can't find those on their website either but there is a harbor freight store 5-10 mins. from my house That's where I got mine.

[hazmat]

@Ben

Yeah, I got into those tight spots with my discs. I just like to keep my options open. There's a Harbor Freight about 10 minutes from me, too, but it's right next to a Woodcraft and being in the vicinity of that store scares me(and my credit card!) to death!!!

[Frank]

I get my belts from these guys: http://www.trugrit.com/
Not sure if they have your particular size, though.

[kkendall]

I made a sanding disc from a 5" random orbital sander replacement pad (from Home Depot), hook & loop.

Found center and drilled a hole. Then put a flat head screw through it with an over sized hole washer (to reduce the profile of the screw).

Put a nut and washer on the back side.

When it is tightened up, the screw head pulls down BELOW flush with the pad - Exactly what I wanted!

Then I just mount it in the drill chuck on the end of a motor.

[kbadkar]

Why not just mount a random orbit sander vertically? It works better than just a spinning pad, IMO.

[KurtHuhn]

A random orbit sander moves around on a random axis. The problem with that is that the edge can randomly come in to wherever you're trying to sand, and unpredictably sand with the edge. That can lead to gouges, uneven sanding in tight spots, and the stummel getting knocked out of your hands. Also, most DA sanders have guards molded into the body to prevent fingers from getting pinched and such - which prevents you from getting into tight areas on bent or oddly shaped pipes.

[kbadkar]

Granted, the RO sander isn't the best for the tight spots. On my Porter-Cable electric, the pad come out from the body so that's not a big problem as long as your shank/bowl angle isn't too acute. The orbit, although random, does have limited travel (maybe 3/16" lateral movement) and moves quickly enough that you can "see" it's edge. The problem there is that the 3/16" on the edge will be sanded somewhat less than the area constantly in contact with the pad. I use a dremel with burrs and files for the tight spots anyway. I haven't had any flying stummels with the RO sander... I prefer to toss my stummels with the buffing wheel.