A edge sander could be, at first glance, taken for a single-use woodworking machine and yet, it could easily prove to be one of the most useful and most utilized assets in your woodworking shop.
Since I've been a woodworker, I’ve told many associates that, next to the table saw, my edge sander has been the most used of all the woodworking tools in my shop. That may be because my cabinet designs always seem to have a lot of curved surfaces incorporated into them. While it is true that an edge sander can sand long, straight edges, I use it to sand inside and outside curves far more commonly than straight edges.
With an edge sander, I can even sand large, round table tops using a jig with a pivot pin in the center. My machine uses 6” x 108” sanding belts and has about a three-foot platen surface. Outside curves are sanded on the front table and inside curves on the end table using the round shape of the idler drum. My edge sander does not oscillate and neither the front table nor the platen can be tilted. Most machines being sold today are less limited than that.
My method is to mark the final contour to be sanded with a pencil line on the work piece and then cut just outside of that line by about one blade width with the band saw or a jig saw. If the work piece is too large to manage on the band saw, I use a jig saw (sabre saw) to make the cut. After that, I use the edge sander to bring the work piece down to its final measurements.
An oscillating edge sander keeps the sanding belts from loading up and burning by constantly moving the sanding belt up and down with reference to the work piece. An edge sander with a tilting front table or a tilting sanding head allows you to sand bevels and even compound angles.
If you’ve used edge sanders much, you know that, sooner or later, the sanding belt is going to expire, announcing its departure with some scary vibrations followed by a loud disintegration. I have never been hurt by this but I have always jumped away from the machine at the first sign of turmoil.
A prudent way to keep this from happening is to check that your sanding belts are less than 6 months old because the glue that holds the lap or butt joint together tends to dry out and weaken with exposure to the atmosphere. When purchasing sanding belts, keep this in mind. Acquiring sanding belts in large quantities may not a bargain in the end if you are buying more sanding belts than you can use up in 6 months. Butt jointed sanding belts will leave a smoother finish but lap joints are much stronger and less likely to come apart.
Another explosion-avoidance procedure is to, whenever possible, avoid sanding sharp, pointed edges that can tear into the sanding belt and puncture it. If your machine has a lubricated surface on the platen, such as graphite, that will help decrease the drag between the back of the belt and the platen which will moderate heat buildup that cuts the life of your sanding belts.
Dust collection on any edge sander is an absolute essential and the dust collector must be large enough to handle any production of sanding dust that might be made by your machine. If you don’t already own a dust collector that can suck up at least 600 cubic feet of air per minute (or more) you will have to add the cost of that machine onto the cost of the edge sander. So, when considering the true cost of an edge sander, make sure you are looking at the total cost, not just the price of the edge sander itself.
Bob GillespieWoodworker
EDGE SANDER REVIEWS:http://www.perfectwoodworking.com/edgesanderreviews2/
WOODWORKING TOOL REVIEWS:http://www.perfectwoodworking.com/woodworkingtoolreviews/
© 2010 Robert M. Gillespie, Jr.
Why Using a Proven Squeeze Page Template is Your Best Choice For More Traffic
Can you save money by designing your own squeeze page? Yes. But do you realize that by doing so, you will be shooting yourself in the foot? For just a little money you can buy squeeze page templates that are pre-tested and proven to convert and build your targeted email lists rapidly.
How to Automate the Process of Web Site Traffic Generation
If you have been in Internet marketing more than a short while, you must realize that you cannot succeed without bringing targeted internet traffic to your web site. Do you realize that trafic generation software is available to take all the long hours and hard work out of the process?
You Can Have Solar Electric Power For a Lot Less Than You Think
You may have heard how expensive it can be to add solar electric power to your home but did you know there's a way to do this for much less money? If you are willing to follow some clear instructions you can build you own solar electric system for far less than you might imagine.
