Stationary belt sander?

[GaryA]

Wondering what to buy - I've got a cheap HF handheld belt sander, a Bosch ROS...thinking of getting a stationary belt sander - my immediate need (not that I really NEED it), but justification is helping my son on his Pinewood car. I was looking at HD and they have the Ryobi $99 http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS...gln.0&MID=9876

and the Delta 1" & 8" disc for the same money
http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS...gln.0&MID=9876

Which do you guys think would be more useful. I like the idea of the wide belt on the Ryobi for wider stock, but the 1" seems like it would be better for sharpening, etc (even though I have a bench grinder). Thoughts?

[messmaker]

I think the wider belt is very handy. I use mine all the time. Keep dust collection in mind as you make your pick.

[JR]

Not at the same price, but the Ridgid Oscillating Belt/Spindle sander is a great tool. It's normally $200 at HD.

JR

[bthere]

Gary, I have that same Delta sander, and I got it for the kids to work on PWD cars. It was used quite a lot for that purpose, and it still gets used for a wide variety of tasks. For the derby cars, in retrospect, I think I would like the wider belt better. The car blank is wider than the 1" belt and we rarely needed to have power sanding done on small areas the the 1" belt would work on.

By the way, we would usually hold a PWD workshop for the entire Pack in our shop. The sanders that got the most play were the disk on the Delta, a couple of hand held belt sanders turned upside down and clamped in fixtures on a table, and a drum in a small drill press.

[LCHIEN]

i think the Ryobi is the BD4600 but your link just points to HD.
Anyway the 4" belt/6" disk is probably better for general purpose.
The 1" belt has some good uses for getting into small places and for
doing certain kinds of smoothing.

I got and still would get the 4" belt/6" disk first. much more useful.
I do have a Delta 1" I use, and I picked up the 1" belt/8" disk a while back but haven't unpacked it yet.

[GaryA]

thanks for the feedback guys...sounds like the Ryobi is the one to go with...

[drumpriest]

I'm with JR, I would take a look at the ridgid combo unit. Mine has done everything I would use a stationary belt sander to do, plus a bunch of other stuff.