New Sanders 1st blush review

Oka

Casey
Corporate Member
Well, I had a Amazon credit, so I figured I would get a couple of bench top sanders with it..

1. Is a Wen Spindle sander
2. Is a Powertech 1" wide 30" belt sander.

The Wen spindle comes with a spindle set 1/2" to 3". The unit weighs around 35 lbs +/-. That tells me I ll need to bolt it down.
The unit does hold everything on the unit itself. That is a good thing, but we will see if it really stays there after using it. It has a 1/3 hp motor. Testing -I used the 1/2 " 1.5 and 3"
After using it my basic comment is this: I will not be using this unit but maybe 4-5 times a month so, I am glad I got it will come in handy... BUT...... it is really for detail and cleaning things up only since the motor just does not have the wampum to do much more. You can hog out with it but it is slow. I really got it just for the detailing aspect needs. So for me, it will be useful. The build is really not that bad considering the cost of the unit. I had a coupon on this so I got it for 105.00, All in all I would give it a B to B+ IT is a decent DYI type sander but only for light/med duty.

The 30" x 1" wide Powertech Sander was just an after thought, but this thing is actually not a bad little unit. I paid 58.00 bucks for it.
The only assembly was installing the table which the tightening handle bolt is a bit flaky but not a big deal.
The unit actually has some decent torque for a little unit. I sharpened one of my butcher chisels and sanded some Koa as a test.
IT performed very well, this will get a lot of use in my shop, I can see that now. The one thing I see that is a lame design is the vertical backing the sandpaper tracks over and is the thing that provided resistance to hold the belt to flat surface. Looks like 14 ga metal. Anyway, I already figured an easy way to install a reinforcement for this, so no biggie. Remember it is only 58 bucks after all.
No reason to do a video since there are bunch on the web, but Here are some photos for reference

Spindle Sander (6).jpg
 

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Oka

Casey
Corporate Member
Thanks, Bill, appreciate it. For me if there is something I do not like on a tool I will remake or modify. So, when I looked to make a 1" belt sander the parts (I already have 5 spare motors) were more than this Powertech unit. Probably replace the table it is kind of cheesy TBH, but then most of these entry units all are.

In order to make spindle sander, the only easy way is to have an extra motor to run the up n down motion. Making a one motor w/mechanical system would be pretty involved aka costly, so I got the WEN. If you did make one think of a car wiper motor or a BBQ spit motor to drive the up n down. If I do make one it will have variable speed driver with a 1.5 hp motor. That is the smallest motor I have.
I always recommend anyone to start trying to improve their tooling. Because, when I started doing that the quality of my "how to build" thinking went way up. You begin to think in terms of " I have this but if I could modify it to this+ then it would be better, faster, easier. Pretty soon you are looking at getting a Bridgeport mill and a engine lathe :oops: :p

Thanks Oka. I always appreciate seeing a good, fair tool review.
 
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