Variable speed beltsander

[Beserkleyboy]

Ranald,
Mine does not get used for long periods, maybe 1-15 minutes several times a week. Bearings will probably outlast me! My only beef with the Abbott & Ashby grinder is the 2850 rpm fixed speed. you must be very careful when grinding chisels and such. I know I could put a speed controller on it, but it does the job nicely with a bit of care. It's most popular use is grinding countersunk screw heads down to 5mm diameter for making 'homemade' trim screws , that I use in my cabinetmaking hobby business. I can fasten adjacent carcasses through shelf pin holes or countersunk in 5 mm holes and filled with dowel. I use a LOT of screws. I have 10 sizes I buy in 1000 boxes. And I'm forever re-purposing steel and alum junk I have on hand for jigs and such. And I never throw a drill bit away, until it won't fit the General brand bit sharpener, about 1" long.....I guess I'm a pack rat, but not quite a hoarder....but then as a coworker frequently said in his own defence of pack ratism...., 'handy if you never need it...' Cheers

Jim

[ranald]

Hi Jim,
I guess, by using it mostly for screws, it should last a lifetime. The second one I bought for my personal use is a P.A. Multitool (NSW) & I have another one, a smaller version on my Metabo 115mm angle grinder. They are rated for continuous industrial use. I've never worried about using the disc sander as I have a 9" one with the 6" linisher. one day I will have used up all my 9" discs and use velcro ones as they are easier to change grits. Just curious, but If I understand it correctly; I'm surprised you can obtain 5mm dowels or do you use a steel block to resize as I do with larger dowels/square section-bit time consuming if assembling furniture. I have been tempted to make a larger disc sander for my Elu lathe that I seldom use as it has odd size threads (in Oz) for accessories but I have a large face plate, stainless, which would work a treat but time and chronic fatigue are my biggest issue at present.

Not sure about the newer speed controllers, but one had to be careful with older ones as they could cause damage to some types of motors. You wouldn't want to ruin an induction motor or a universal for that matter. I had one made for a small bandsaw around 1980 bu only used it ocassionally cause I didn't want to risk the little Itilian induction motor.

Thanks for posting
Cheers,

Ranald

[Beserkleyboy]

Ranald,
I get 5mm whitewood (harder than basswood, not ramen but surely a SE Asian timber) from Spotlight In their craft section...always a good thing to poke around for opportune purchases while she is shopping! I use 28 and 45mm 'assembly screws' from Lincoln Sentry (wholesale cabinet supplies). The have a duplex, hi-low thread, sharp point, posidrive head. The key advantage is the head, which looks like an 8 x 1.5mm disc on top of a 5mm cylinder, a top hat design for sinking flush with no countersinks. I use a small countersink over a 3.5mm pilot (screw is 4.2mm diameter).
For the hidden screw, I grind the top hat down to the 5mm cylinder head. This gets countersunk into a 5mm hole (or a hidden shelf pin hole), then filled with 5mm dowel, easy peasy! I'm happy to help you source the screws if you like. I'm in China on holidays till 12 Sept, can contact then. Cheers
Jim

[ranald]

thanks Jim,

I once sourced sized dowels from the US. Cost a bomb, but were perfect for wooden thread bolts.

cheers

[Beserkleyboy]

Are you in Aus?
Jim

[ranald]

Jim I'm at Black Mountain ; about 150k north of Bris in Noosa Hinterland.
Ranald

[Beserkleyboy]

Ronald, check your profile, have left my contact details. We're probably boring the thread readers...
Jim