Stationary belt sander

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Would appreciate your recommendations about models of stationary belt sanders (possibly belt/disk combo), primarily for installing recoil pads. Seems like dust collection would be a plus. Thanks, Fred in Lakewood, CO
 
Not a belt/disc sander, but this oscillating edge/belt sander did very well in heads up testing in some woodworker magazines.

I bought one, and have found it to be a great tool for many different sanding tasks. It should be the perfect sanding tool for what you wish to accomplish. When I bought mine, it came with a lifetime warranty, but now it has a 3 year warranty. It also has a dust collection feature.

http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hard...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053
 
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2" belt sander works well

I have a Kalamazoo 2" upright belt sander, and also a 6"x48" Taiwanese Belt/12" Disc combo machine. I never liked using the 12" disc; it is too easy to loose control when the disc grabs the pad jig out of your hands in my experience.

When the 6x12 broke down do to bearing failure, I had to use the 2" Kalamazoo with a plywood extension table I made for it. It works so well that I no longer use the 6x12 machine for pads.

I use a Pad Pal grinding jig with a 180 belt for roughing, then switch to a 240 grit or finer for finishing. It works great.

I also had a cheapo Sears 4 x36 upright years ago that I put a lot of pads on with. It worked OK, but the belt speed was awful slow.

I'd recommend the Kalamazoo 2" with a small plywood table attached. USA made. It's great for metal work too. Enco has them-http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PARTPG=INSRAR2&PMAKA=505-1370&PMPXNO=953354

Best of luck! Joe
 
The problem with the average 6x48 belt is that it tends to slop around and not run dead true and flat. If you don't want to go for the 2x48 sort of high speed belt then a disc is probably your best choice, as long as it runs true.
 
grinding pads is a money maker...

Fred,
Here is "pad grinding 101":

The best way to do it is on a radial arm saw with a 10" sanding disk. The disk rotates fast & will really take off the rubber quickly. A relatively coarse grit (120 at the finest) will give good results.

You can build a fixture to hold the butt stock & sand the butt flat & at the correct angle. With no effort, the edges of the wood will be sharp with no chips.

Then screw the pad to the stock. Wrap the wooden butt stock with a thickness of black electrician's tape and then put a layer of masking tape (regular or blue painter's tape) over it.

Carefully hold the stock so the surface is parallel to the sanding disk & sand carefully down to the blue tape all around. If you miss & nick the masking tape, the mistake will stand out but it won't go through to the wood.

When you're down as far as you're comfortable going with the sanding disk, then take off the masking tape and go carefully with a file down to the electrician's tape. After that it's sand paper wrapped on the file, or take the pad off & work it against sand paper on a flat surface, down to the final fit.

Anyway, that's how we do it. Putting on ebony fore end tips is much the same. After gluing on the ebony piece, it can be rounded to the shape of the fore end and the end rounded nicely with the sanding disk.

God bless those trap shooters. The pay $10K for a trap gun & then want you to change it! Putting on a new pad is the usual first step. And then next year, they do it all over again!
Regards, Ron
 
I like the 12" disk sander the best for pad installations having used one with a 5 hp motor for about 39 years. I have done pads with a belt sander, but it is a chore. Combo machines leave a lot to be desired. The biggest thing that will give you the most help with pad jobs is a vary powerful light directly above the working surface. I use a 250 watt spotlight when I do this work. You will need disks that are 60 and 100 grit adhesive backed to get the best service.

Where the belt sander really shines is for get a good surface on the butt before you screw and glue on the pad. Once you get used to a good disk sander, that is not a problem.:D
 
A hard grinding wheel made for plastic/rubber or a disk with abrasive on the edge works very well.

I often have trouble with a disk sander (what I use now) using the flat surface as I get confused with rotating the stock and maintaining the edge of disk to edge of wood. The edge you're following changes with the position of the stock on the disk.

The grinding wheel set up worked better for me because I didn't have to follow the curve presented by the disk while I moved the stock.

That little Kalamazoo looks mighty nice. I'd be inclined to try that.
 
The toe of the stock gives most folks their biggest problems. What you will eventually come to like is all that stock beyond the pad gives you lots more control. Stand the stock up for the hardest part of the toe to get your hardest angle, the outside of the toe. At least that how I learned what worked the best for me. It really helps to spot glue the pad in two places. My final sanding is done with scotch tape. For the customer that is willing to get the extra 5.00 worth of fit.:D
 
I have been installing pads,stock adjusters, aluminum and hard rubber spacers for 45+ years. Have tried most of the above methods and a few others.
For the past 15 years I have used a B&R pad fitting jig and would never return to anything else.
Avaliable from . brownells #610-100-000ac. $50.00
Gives the proper toe and heal angle in one shot.
Chuck Furniss
Guptons Gun Shop
Henderson,N,C.
 
2 x 48 belt sander is way to go

We have installed 1000's of pads here and originally used the disc type sander and as Ian noted, it is important for the disk to be flat or you will have problems. When we converted to the 2 x 48 belt sander 10 years ago--the finish of the pads and the blend with the stock significantly improved. Lyman and Pachmyr were the primary reasons for our change to the belt at high velocity. It results in a better surface finish on the pad (no pulls or tears) and it is easier to control the stock and get the shape you want.

Just take a look at the pictures of Jim Jr's pad fitting jobs on our website and you can see teh result--it looks like the pad grows out of the stock.

jim
 
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