Official Luthiers Forum!

Where the heck do you put the luthier?

_________________
Brad Tucker

I feel better already!

_________________
A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA

Any of you use this in place of Belt/Disc Sander?

Yup. But, then, I do not have one (belt/disk sander)

That's the other reason I don't have one. Where would I put it? I barely have room to move around in there. I wedge myself in and work in a 4 sq' area.

_________________
Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

That's just you being super efficient Waddy. Who needs 300+ sft of working space eh?

_________________
My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Thanks very much Rod. Anybody else check theirs?

_________________
Carlton Macksam
Muskegon, Michigan

In the lower right hand corner of Waddy's shop!!! Is that Jimmy Hoffa hiding in there! LOL!

_________________
Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

Could be! I can't find anything else, either!

_________________
Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

I just bought a Harbor Freight OSS a month or so ago. Although it is only a spindle sander and has a 1/2" stroke and tops out at 4" with the sleeve up a bit. But it's also a good buy if that will work for you and it's only $80 when it goes on sale and you can get a 15% off one item coupon if you sign up for their email coupons. I just used it to scoop the end of braces. I plan on making an adjustable fence for it that will bolt to the cast table for thickness sanding smaller items. I used it to thickness my braces with just a plywood strip for a fence and a couple of clamps.

Any one got any ideas on how to stabilize the belt tracking .. mine is all over the place (about 3 years old now) and is pretty much useless(needless to say latelyit has only had the drums on it) .... the belt either rises up until its ready to come off, or drops down and jams/stops the motor completely.

_________________
Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Tony, check the belt length. If your idler pully doesn't extend far enough in the "run" position to tighten the belt (belt is a hair long) the tracking will be flaky. I elongated the slot that the track adjust knob feeds through with a rattail file. An 1/8" was all it took to add the travel some very slightly oversize belts needed.

I'd buy this machine again.

_________________
Dan
http://www.acme-archtops.com

Anybody notice the chainsaw in the upper left of Waddy's shop? Good for rough cuts.

Mike

The Ridgid is a decent tool, especially the spindle part of it. I had the same problems as Tony with the belt tracking however. After I got a 6" x 48" belt/disc combo, I sold the Ridgid and bought a dedicated spindle sander with a taller spindle and cast iron table. It was about $100 more than the Ridgid combo machine though.

I was looking at the belt the other day and noticed it was uni-directional. Apparently you cannot turn the belt over... why is that so? (it has directional arrows on the inside).

Mike

Mike, since the belt that came with your machine may not last (this is just a guess, based on rumor) forever, you are free to buy a unidirectional belt, in a couple of years. Just look for the flush splice brfore you buy. The tipoff ones I'm used to seeing are clear-ish and shiny, kind of an eternal packing tape sort of thing.

New spindle sleeves are more of a problem, since after selling the machine, the local HD stopped carrying individual sleeves, reasoning that since I was likely to use up all the diameters in all the possible grits at exactly the same time, I would be pleased with the big grab-bag. The Sears carried what I needed, for the machine they sell. I bought a ton, so as not to be caught again.

_________________
Dan
http://www.acme-archtops.com

It turns out that HD nows stocks the sleeves.

Mike

I have thought about getting this sander also. My problem is space. My whole house would fit in Hesh’s basement. My garage workspace is essentially the top of my go bar deck that is sitting on the floor and a few inches either side of my drill press. All I really need is more time, money, skills, and space. The sander does look pretty good though.

Philip

_________________
aka konacat

If you think my playing is bad you should hear me sing!
Practice breeds confidence and confidence breeds competence. Unfortunately, I'm stuck in practice.