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Makita 4" belt sander


PIL1
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21 minutes ago, PIL1 said:

To those that are in the know, which one do you recommend as being the best? 

I've got an oak porch / roof to start in the near future so was thinking this was the one? 

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pSZ1yPKLp82jQPFK_03tk5__xapkc2mS/view?usp=drivesdk

Makita or Hitachi built to last and good clearance on the front roller handy for radius work 

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After spending 30+ years in joinery I hate random orbit sanders. If you have large flat areas to sand then a belt sander is the way forward. That Makita one is the Rolls Royce of belt sanders and will last for many many years. With the right grade belts you can almost polish the timber and with care veneers can be sanded. Random orbit sanders leave swirls all over the grain and if you are going to oil finish the oak they will stand out like a sore thumb

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5 minutes ago, Diss4111 said:

After spending 30+ years in joinery I hate random orbit sanders. If you have large flat areas to sand then a belt sander is the way forward. That Makita one is the Rolls Royce of belt sanders and will last for many many years. With the right grade belts you can almost polish the timber and with care veneers can be sanded. Random orbit sanders leave swirls all over the grain and if you are going to oil finish the oak they will stand out like a sore thumb

I don’t agree with the swirl marks. I use one and know many who use them for finishing. Why do you think Festool, mirka RO ‘s are so popular. Much harder to get a nice finish with a belt in my opinion. 

Edited by winnie&bezza
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Just now, Diss4111 said:

After spending 30+ years in joinery I hate random orbit sanders. If you have large flat areas to sand then a belt sander is the way forward. That Makita one is the Rolls Royce of belt sanders and will last for many many years. With the right grade belts you can almost polish the timber and with care veneers can be sanded. Random orbit sanders leave swirls all over the grain and if you are going to oil finish the oak they will stand out like a sore thumb

I couldnt disagree with this more. Sorry

But if you want a fine finish free from marks  on any wood work up to 150 grit and you wont see any swirls. 

 

Agree with winnie  100 % 

Oh ive spent the last 15 years almost exclusively oil finishing oak .

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Thanks for all the replies fellas Just to be a little clearer, I've got a Bosch  industrial 150mm random orbital sander that works great, better than the Dewalt one that I had stolen. I've worked a couple of green oak porch jobs in the past and had the use of a makita belt sander back then as the client's wanted a smooth finish. For maximum stock material removal the one I used was smashing apart from the exhaust I found was too low down, hence why I thought the one pictured would be best. If it was only a small amount of oak then I would of just used the orbiter but by the sounds of things there's going to be a fair amount. Never thought of using angle grinder with flexidiscs, maybe one to try in the future. 

Steve 

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25 minutes ago, islandgun said:

Sorry bit off topic but what sander would be good for shaping a rubber stock butt pad

Belt sander. 

Belt sanders are great for removing lots of material. If used with the grain the finnish is great. If you have a lot of junctions in your work then i always finish with an orbital.  Horses for courses.

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I went for a Festool Rotex in 150mm flavour.

These have the best of both worlds because you can switch between random orbital and rotary sanding modes.

The rotary gives you your high material removal rate (comparable to a belt sander) and the RO gives you your fine finishing.

The are not cheap, but the quality is second to none and you are effectively getting two tools in one.

Bosch also do one, the Bosch GEX-150 Turbo, which is a fair bit cheaper, but still good quality.

Another benefit with the Festool (can’t comment on the Bosch) is, if you hook it up to dust extraction, you get virtually zero dust, so great for indoor work.

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2 hours ago, PIL1 said:

Thanks for all the replies fellas Just to be a little clearer, I've got a Bosch  industrial 150mm random orbital sander that works great, better than the Dewalt one that I had stolen. I've worked a couple of green oak porch jobs in the past and had the use of a makita belt sander back then as the client's wanted a smooth finish. For maximum stock material removal the one I used was smashing apart from the exhaust I found was too low down, hence why I thought the one pictured would be best. If it was only a small amount of oak then I would of just used the orbiter but by the sounds of things there's going to be a fair amount. Never thought of using angle grinder with flexidiscs, maybe one to try in the future. 

Steve 

If i have a lot of material to remove i use an electric plane then clean it up with the ro sander. 

 

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5 hours ago, Diss4111 said:

After spending 30+ years in joinery I hate random orbit sanders. If you have large flat areas to sand then a belt sander is the way forward. That Makita one is the Rolls Royce of belt sanders and will last for many many years. With the right grade belts you can almost polish the timber and with care veneers can be sanded. Random orbit sanders leave swirls all over the grain and if you are going to oil finish the oak they will stand out like a sore thumb

Our palm sanders leave swirl marks but the DA as we know it doesn’t. I think we all call things different names . 

 

We use palm sanders on windows frames etc ,

da on worktops etc 

5 hours ago, PIL1 said:

Thanks for all the replies fellas Just to be a little clearer, I've got a Bosch  industrial 150mm random orbital sander that works great, better than the Dewalt one that I had stolen. I've worked a couple of green oak porch jobs in the past and had the use of a makita belt sander back then as the client's wanted a smooth finish. For maximum stock material removal the one I used was smashing apart from the exhaust I found was too low down, hence why I thought the one pictured would be best. If it was only a small amount of oak then I would of just used the orbiter but by the sounds of things there's going to be a fair amount. Never thought of using angle grinder with flexidiscs, maybe one to try in the future. 

Steve 

It’s really fast and you can go down in grits to 200+ so it’s a good finish still ;)  . 

We make lots of oak buildings and using a belt sander isn’t always possible or required . 

I watch people try to get an amazing finish on green / air dried oak but it’s almost pointless once it’s outside. It moves way to much . 

 

Remember to stick to aluminum sanding disks not steel. It’ll turn black /purple 😂 we learnt that the hardway years ago lol

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2 hours ago, moondoggy said:

I went for a Festool Rotex in 150mm flavour.

These have the best of both worlds because you can switch between random orbital and rotary sanding modes.

The rotary gives you your high material removal rate (comparable to a belt sander) and the RO gives you your fine finishing.

The are not cheap, but the quality is second to none and you are effectively getting two tools in one.

Bosch also do one, the Bosch GEX-150 Turbo, which is a fair bit cheaper, but still good quality.

Another benefit with the Festool (can’t comment on the Bosch) is, if you hook it up to dust extraction, you get virtually zero dust, so great for indoor work.

I’ve got the Bosch for solid surface tops and it’s really good. I’d like festool but we’ve spent £120k in the last 2 years on tooling . I’m skint 

4 hours ago, winnie&bezza said:

Keep meaning to get some of those as have never used them. Would be good for roughing out stocks 

Dude it’s so cheap to set up .£5 I guess for bits from Toolstation. 

Be careful as you need to remove the guards to make it work properly. Watch for snatching too :) 

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1 hour ago, team tractor said:

I’ve got the Bosch for solid surface tops and it’s really good. I’d like festool but we’ve spent £120k in the last 2 years on tooling . I’m skint 

Dude it’s so cheap to set up .£5 I guess for bits from Toolstation. 

Be careful as you need to remove the guards to make it work properly. Watch for snatching too  

Price it in a couple of jobs 😉

The joiners I know priced in a domino 500 into a job and got it! 

Problem is, I want the rotex 150 and the R090 😩 

My mate who’s a french polisher bought their little delta but it had a slight wonky screw where the pad attaches. He complained and they sent him a new one but didn’t pick up faulty one. He gave it to me for nothing and works absolutely fine 😄

Edited by winnie&bezza
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5 hours ago, walshie said:

Anything should be an improvement. I've seen some of Pil's work first hand. Looked like he'd sanded it down with a lump hammer. :whistling:

Hardly, Stevie Wonder can see better than you. He wouldn't of missed that bunny that I had to shoot for you with the AA S510 sub 12 😜 Hope you've improved with that power burner 😁

Hope your keeping well, Dave

 

 

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3 hours ago, winnie&bezza said:

Price it in a couple of jobs 😉

The joiners I know priced in a domino 500 into a job and got it! 

Problem is, I want the rotex 150 and the R090 😩 

My mate who’s a french polisher bought their little delta but it had a slight wonky screw where the pad attaches. He complained and they sent him a new one but didn’t pick up faulty one. He gave it to me for nothing and works absolutely fine 😄

I’m already pricing everything in jobs ;) 

problem is we struggle to get over £220 a day if not 180 some days. Need £250-350 to break even . 

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belt sander to flat after planning / remove saw cuts belts from less than 40 grage down to 150 sanding with the grain will give excellent finish    orbital / da are finishing sanders 150/200 grade to 3000 + grade   rustic work you can use what you want to gain required finish  from adz to disc sanders if oiled or sealed will show up cross sanding scratches terribly  above eye level nobody sees   cabinet making you can use conventional hand tools hand sand or sand with a belt sander to keep flat ie sand a table top after being glued etc  then use cabinet scrapers to get a superior finish on hardwoods rather than an orbital sander  have been using belt sanders orbital sanders cabinet scrapers adz etc for nearly 40 years its all about the end product and  material    green oak sopping wet cannot sand to a high finish but can flat out saw cuts with a belt sander no problem as it dries will warp twist and split terribly  if making them look old then whip them with chain chop them with axe / adz  and burn /scorch then wire brush to lift grain etc     its all about the end result  and end finish that's required / character 

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