RC_Fanatic

My Feedback: (1)

Anyone have any experience with this belt/disc sander from MicroMark?

http://www.micromark.com/allwin-benc...nder,9620.html.

I have a big 3"/10" one in my garage but this looks more suitable for use in my airplane shop.

JeffinTD

I don't have the sander, but their tilt arbor table saw is awesome.

Expensive, but my only regret is that I didn't buy one earlier. Angles are accurate, and you can easily take a couple thousandths off.

If the quality of the sander is similar to the saw, you will be more than pleased.

JeffinTD

I should add I do have a Home Depot disk/belt sander. Angles are off on both axis, work surface is way out of square (gap wise) with the disk, it is loud and it vibrates. For the money, and for the intended purpose (construction) it is fine. Now that I have a super accurate saw I don't use it much for modeling.

RC_Fanatic

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks for the input. The big sander I have is accurate enough for the use I make of it rounding end of boards & dowels, sharpening axes, breaking corners on boards for rough work and so on. The MicroMark one looks useful for similar, less than precise, tasks. I'm sure it is not as noisy as my big one and does not take up a lot of real estate. Guess I'll give it a shot.

JeffinTD

Please post back what you think of it once you've had a chance to use it.

RC_Fanatic

My Feedback: (1)

Will do. I was going to put it on my Christmas Wish List but not sure I can wait that long.

RC_Fanatic

My Feedback: (1)

Well, I couldn't wait! I've been using it for a week and, as promised, will share my findings. First of all, it is very well made and powerful for its size. I used it to round the ends of some pine 1 x 2's. It did not bog down when I fed the pine as fast as I could and still control the shape and curvature. There was an awful lot of sawdust! After that, I learned to always hook up the vacuum. The belt has a small platen behind it for support. The belt runs true and the tracking adjustment works well.

I've only had three issues with it, all resolved. First, the disk table would not come up to 90 degrees. It was 1 to 2 degrees short. A few passes with a round file to open the slots solved that problem. The second is that the slide for the miter gauge was very sloppy, almost 20 thou. I wrapped it with some aluminum tape but think I will epoxy a brass shim instead. Finally, they provide an insert for the dust port to fit standard vacuum nozzles. The ID was too large for my ShopVac so I put a layer of tape inside the adapter and it works great.

The bottom line - I am really happy with the tool and find I use it a lot more than I expected. Lowes carries belts and disks that will fit it.

JeffinTD

Thanks for the review!

airbusdrvr

This sander looks a lot like the one Harbor Freight sells for about half the price.

RC_Fanatic

My Feedback: (1)

Not the same. I looked at the HF one and it was a lot lighter construction and did not look as well finished. My experience with HF tools has not been very good. []

JollyPopper

My Feedback: (6)

I saw one at Harbor Freight just this week that had a four inch belt and six inch disc for $65.00. Can't speak to its' quality.

RC_Fanatic

My Feedback: (1)

I already had one like that but wanted something smaller that would be a better fit for airplane construction and not take up so much space and make so much noise in my shop. The dust control on the MicroMark is a lot better than on the big one.

dhal22

Try the Bryrnes disc sander. It is a fabulous tool. I want the saw next.

RC_Fanatic

My Feedback: (1)

Looks nice but $325 for a 5" disk sander is too steep for me.

Hydro Junkie

Nancy, are you talking about the HF sander dying on you or the Micromark?
I've never had good results with HF tools. Two 18 volt drill-drivers lasted a total of roughly 7 combined months between them(and that includes some "borrowed time" when I cannibalized them to make one that "somewhat" worked), other tools literally fell apart when I tried to take them out of their packaging. Only thing I have that I can still use is a bench top drill press. I'm guessing it's only still running because I don't use it very often and, when I do, it's only lite duty and short run times

buzzard bait

I still have no idea what anyone is talking about, including the OP. The MicroMark link didn't connect to a specific sander, so there are three possibilities. Harbor Freight has several. One is a 10 disk sander that is so simple it's hard to see how it would break down. I'm interested in a disk sander, probably could do without a belt sander, trying to figure out what to get. Anyone have anything specific? Thanks,
Jim

RC_Fanatic

My Feedback: (1)

Try this link. I have this one and love it. Had it for 4 years.

https://www.micromark.com/Allwin-Ben...sk-Belt-Sander

buzzard bait

Thank you! Glad to hear it worked out for you.

Jim

alicewfalls

It's belt and disc combo sander.