# Disc Sanders



## Cipcich (Aug 7, 2012)

Two part query:

1. What kind of disc sander do you use?

2. If you were to purchase a disc sander with the express purpose of making wa handles, what would you buy? What diameter? Which manufacturer?


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## Marko Tsourkan (Aug 7, 2012)

TruGrit TG-92. Get the table, disk and miter gauge, and buy the rest from Ebay and assemble it yourself. I will help you with that. This will save you $400 over retail price. 

http://www.trugrit.com/knife-tg-92.htm

9" diameter disk, so you can use sheets of sand paper on it.

Glad to see you moving in that direction and should you need any assistance, you know where to find me.

M


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## RRLOVER (Aug 7, 2012)

I am using a Jet 12" with a 1hp motor.It has a large and versatile bench.The price is not to bad. Good luck


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## Eamon Burke (Aug 7, 2012)

My disc is built on to my belt sander combo. 9", 3/4hp. I do love it, though it would be awesome if it were a little bigger, honestly, and changing papers is always a chore. I tend to use the disc for heavy shaping and then finish on the belt.

If I had to buy one just for making wa handles and had no budget, I'd get those Nielsen Interchangeable plates.


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## RRLOVER (Aug 7, 2012)

Be aware that a lot of belt/disc combo's the disc spins to fast for horn and some woods.


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## tgraypots (Aug 7, 2012)

I have one of Wayne Coe's grinders. It uses a 9" disk, has a vfd and 1hp 3 phase motor. I am very pleased with it. 9" x 11" paper is a whole lot cheaper than self sticking disks of sandpaper. Supergrit has good prices on paper.


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## apicius9 (Aug 7, 2012)

I have a 6x48"/9" Jet combo and a 12" crappy disc sander for the coarse work. I use them a lot for initial shaping, but as Mario has said, they can be too fast and powerful for some materials. I do much more by hand these days than I did when I got into this. Variable speed would be perfect but that will cost you. I use the smaller one mostly for squaring pieces, the 12" one for shaping. If money were no concern, I would try to get a variable speed 12" setup with exchangeable plates for coarse and fine grits. If I had to start over on a reasonable budget, I would probably get the 6x48"/12" combo from Jet. Unfortunately, 12" adhesive discs really are kind of pricy and I follow Dave's advice to use abrasives as if they didn't cost anything (much easier on the material to use fresh belts.)...

Stefan


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## Cipcich (Aug 8, 2012)

Thanks for the responses guys. I've actually been considering a Proxxon, as my needs are by no means industrial. I won't be going into production (ever), as I spend more time pondering than I do working. It's variable speed, a good thing I think, and I own a couple of their other devices; they're well made, and accurate. I'm assuming, hopefully correctly, 9" is large enough for my purposes.


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## Lawrence (Aug 8, 2012)

tgraypots said:


> I have one of Wayne Coe's grinders. It uses a 9" disk, has a vfd and 1hp 3 phase motor. I am very pleased with it. 9" x 11" paper is a whole lot cheaper than self sticking disks of sandpaper. Supergrit has good prices on paper.



The Wayne Coe grinder is very nice..and Wayne is very knowledgeable..


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## tgraypots (Aug 8, 2012)

I had never heard of Proxxon tools. Their disk sanders look promising.

As to Wayne Coe's system, he also sells the Neilsen magnetic/changeable disks. I have two disks with a 1 degree pitch that I do much of my grinding on. I've set it up so the disk is horizontal. Being a potter, this set up is what I'm most comfortable with. I have a Multitool attachment (with disk accessory) on my bench grinder, but that thing runs way too fast except for rough grinding and sanding.


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## JBroida (Aug 8, 2012)

my rotary tool is a proxxon and i've used their micro drill press before... i like their tools


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## JasonD (Aug 9, 2012)

Figured I'd ask here instead of a new thread, if I wanted to pick up a very inexpensive belt/disc sander for some amateur handle work, will the single-speed versions you find in most big box tool stores be too fast to rough out some of the more exotic woods? If I can't fine sand with the power tool, then that's fine but it would be nice for the rough shaping etc. But if it's gonna burn up my ironwood/cocobolo/etc then there's no point in buying one.


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## RRLOVER (Aug 9, 2012)

JasonD said:


> Figured I'd ask here instead of a new thread, if I wanted to pick up a very inexpensive belt/disc sander for some amateur handle work, will the single-speed versions you find in most big box tool stores be too fast to rough out some of the more exotic woods? If I can't fine sand with the power tool, then that's fine but it would be nice for the rough shaping etc. But if it's gonna burn up my ironwood/cocobolo/etc then there's no point in buying one.



I had the sears combo and the belt moved at 1/2 the speed of the disc.The belt worked great for me until I wore out the platen it was running on,I epoxied some glass on the worn platen and she was like new again.


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## SpikeC (Aug 9, 2012)

The secret is not to hurry. If you use a light touch, fresh abrasives and take it easy you will not burn the material.


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## Mike (Aug 14, 2012)

Back when I made handles... I used a 9" combo disc grinder which worked ok, then I bought a 20" grinder which worked GREAT. The biggest draw back to the huge grinder was the cost of upkeep as the discs are insanely expensive. After some "research," I find that the 9" with a 1° bevel works the best and allows you to use regular sheets of sandpaper which keeps the price down. Anyhow, that is what has worked best in my experience. Best of luck!

Regards,
M


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## Bill Burke (Aug 18, 2012)

For handles I prefer the flat disk. I would buy a table wih a mitre, a 1 1/2 horse 3 phase motor with VFD and i would buy a disk that has interchangeble face disks and at least three disks. I have both flat and bevaled disks and find that I cannot get a perfectly flat face on the disk with the bevel. interchangeable disk faces let you save a little more on paper. You don't know how many times I have cussed because I just put on a new piece of paper and after thirty seconds use I am tearing it off for the next finer grit.


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