I got the Oscillating Spindle Sander blues...

[Kerry Krishna]

 Well, I am getting into template sanding small and eventually, large parts , and needed a non oscillating spindle sander. Starting about two weeks ago, I went looking online for a new non oscillating spindle sanders. I actually had it in my head that I could easily afford $500 for a REALLY great industrial one too....

 The problem was, that no one seems to make them anymore! Up till two years ago, there were companies still making them....

So the search continued... the brand name list was under 10 companies, and the Stores that may have been able to help was short (and incredibly confusing.... Canadian and US tool chain stores of the same franchise name do NOT mix!).

 

        So  I have two of these sanders already. An older KING sander that I bought at a pawn shop a few years ago, (underpowered, but does a good job a bit slower,) and a newer RIDGID spindle/ belt sander combo. 

  My KING sander is dedicated to a non removable jig that turned it into a small parts thickness sander, and was super accurate to the point of being able to even make bindings.

 The RIDGED is powerful enough at 5 amps, and does not slow down much, even under a load.

So after several shout outs on Forums and Facebook for help on this, I saw  a post on the RIDGED website that changed my little mind about how I was thinking about all of this.....

  It was from a new RIDGED owner that had unpackaged the machine, plugged it in, and the belt sander rotated up to speed, but no oscillating...,

Well, THAT was what I wanted to hear! I decided to sacrifice the RIDGED and take it apart and figure out how to stop the oscillating feature.  

(It comes into play at this point that I should be telling you all that I will be buying a industrial large belt Oscillating Sander in the next few weeks and I decided I could sacrifice the RIDGED if I could figure out how to stop the oscillating part.)

 I asked my  buddy Mike Heim if he would come down and help me do all this. We took the RIDGED apart, and after a really good1/2 hour look-see, Mike said that the integrated motor would never work for disabling the one section.

SO the KING came under scrutiny, and, Low and Behold, after another hour and a half in my shop,( and quite a few off colour jokes) I have a Non Oscillating spindle sander!

  I will either be ordering all the different ROBO Sanding  sander  things from Stew mac, or I will try my hand at making a few myself with some  bearings and other parts. I am absolutely thrilled at this point.  I  have bought a 4 by 4 foot sheet of acrylic  for making the templates for the stuff I will be building too.

 

[William F.Eden]

Sound's like you are one busy man Kerry.good luck Bill............

[Michael P. Lemieux]

What about a drill press.

Mike

[Kerry Krishna]

Mike, I thought about it and rejected the idea. This way, I will have a stand alone place were I can move large pieces around, and not have to worry about anything over the piece. 

[nick-p]

hi, i'm not much use to you over here in sunny [?] england UK but i know what you mean regarding cost and availability so i tend to make my own sanders and polishers. saves a fortune in the long run. fairly basic parts and build procedures. maybe you know a local engineer that can make to your requirements ?. nick

[nick-p]

more pics

[nick-p]

apologies for multiple uploads folks, this website only allows one or two pics per reply

[Kerry Krishna]

Great looking homemade tools Nick. That glass table on the large thickness sander is a great idea. Do you two way tape the piece to the table and slide it through?

     So how would you go about making a spindle sander?  If there was some way to REALLY slow down a router, I am sure it would do the job mounted under a table with a custom made spindle in the chuck. 

[Thomas James]

Kerry, what about mounting a drill press upside down?

[Kerry Krishna]

Thomas, the bearings on a drill press are not made for side loads...

[Thomas James]

Understood, but they are cheap. I have been using robo-sander with great results for years.

[nick-p]

hi kerry, the glass table is fixed to the table top [ the bolt heads you can see in picture 011.jpg stop the glass moving around ]. all i need do is set the height for the table as shown in the attached pic, and push the workpiece through [ drum direction spins towards the operator so that the workpiece doesn't get fired off at 90 mph towards my neighbours house ! ] . i guess if i were to make a spindle version i would simply mount a lower and upper bearing block making the drum upright instead of horizontal. if i was in the USA i would make you one but here in the uk i'm too far away to help much.  nick

[nick-p]

workpiece is simply pushed through