Bench top sander

[ryan.s]

I was thinking my next tool purchase would be a bench top sander had a little trouble deciding if I should buy a belt/disc combo or something like the ridgid bench top osc sander. I know most would answer that I should probably buy something that will suite what I intend to do with it but to be completely honest I'm not exactly sure at this point what type of sanding I would be doing the most. I have all the other standard ww tools for the most part (TS, DP, BS, MS, Jointer, Planer...etc.) and thought it was time to buy sationary sander. Part of it is that I've been saving a HD coupon and it will be expiring in a couple of weeks and I'm planning the purchases I will be making. I guess I narrowed it down to the ryobi belt/disc combo sander or the ridgid osc/belt ander. I like the larger table with the ridigd but would I miss anything not having a disc sander? I wish HD would carry in store a larger belt/disc sander combo. Any suggestions would help. If you have any suggestions on what other tools I should buy to take advantage of the coupon before the end of the month I'd like to hear them as well. Thanks.

[LCHIEN]

i'm going to say it depends what you tend to make.
If you do a lot of curved and radius work then the osc belt sander will do you well.
If you straight and square stuff, and need to put a bevel on and edge, or radius a square corner or trim a circle the the disk sander is helpful because tof the little table and the ability to tilt the table at specific angles and use the bitty miter gage that comes with it.

They both can do other things in common.

[sacherjj]

I am going through the same decision. I purchased the Delta 8" disc and 1" belt sander with the Amazon $80 coupon fiasco. So this machine was $10. I'm not really finding a use for it, now that I have the Ridgid OS. To get those angles, I can set the table angle and sand into the flat of the belt. It also has a miter slot, which would work for jigs to get the right angles. The thing I like about the belt over the disc is that the sanding is uniform along a piece, rather than more aggressive at the faster edge and less aggressive at the slower center of the disc.

If I don't find a real good reason to keep the Delta belt/disc sander before then, I'll be taking it to the local woodworker's meeting swap meet to help out someone who needs a sander.

[tropicaffair]

I've been putting off this decision myself for a long time. Actually, I've decided on the Ridgid Belt/Spindle sander for quite some time but I keep missing it on sale. I know I'm just being "frugal" and when I finally decide that I "need it right this instant" I'll end up paying full price. Basically this sander will do everything I need it to do, with the exception of finding a home for it in my shop (yes, that means more re-arranging).

Russ

[newbie2wood]

My answer is to wait. Don't worry about the HD coupon. HD sends 10% coupons quite frequently if you are HD credit card holder. Like LCHIEN wrote, you need to determine the kind of wood working projects that you tend to make. For most projects, unless you are doing fine funiture woodworking, you can get by with a ROS and a few sanding blocks. You can also get a spindle sanding attachment for your DP and a sanding disk attachment for the table saw..
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[Whit]

HD sander

HD is having their graduated tool rebate going on now, starting at $199. So the oscillating spindle/belt unit at $199 should qualify for a $35 rebate. I plan to get one in the next day or so. The rebate deal is good thru early May(not sure of the exact day).
Whit