15" Grizzly wide belt sander

Larry · June 16, 2021, 09:39:11 PM

I would love to have something like a 30" or bigger Timesaver widebelt. Two problems, I don't have enough space or big nuff electrical service to run one. I'm looking at a 15" Grizzly wide belt with an open side so that one can sand a 30" slab. Anybody have one? Open to suggestions.

firefighter ontheside · June 16, 2021, 09:59:29 PM

I was never able to sand anything wider than my open end drum sander and be happy with the result. Even with the wide belt, I wonder how well it does with something wider than the belt. I assume you're talking about the sander on Grizzly site that's nearly $6000. Yikes! I do see that it has an extendable side support which may help the result.

Southside · June 16, 2021, 11:01:47 PM

WoodMaster has a 38" drum sander for $4K. Made right here in the USA

scsmith42 · June 17, 2021, 08:27:09 AM

Larry, I had that same sander in my old wood shop. It did acceptable work.

One thing to keep in mind is that with wide belt sanders horsepower really makes a difference.

With that model of Grizzly, you have .33 hp per 1" of belt width. (15" / 5 hp). With my old Pioneer (Laguna), it was almost 2X that at .59 hp per inch (37" / 22 hp). My current Timesavers has .77 hp / inch on the first head and .58 on the second and third head.

My conclusion was that the 15" Grizzly was a fine sander for personal (hobbyist) use, but too underpowered for commercial use.

On a side note, for finish work I really like a platen style sander. I also prefer a wide belt over a drum sander due to the ease of changing grits.

metalspinner · June 17, 2021, 08:43:15 AM

I'm looking into a belt sander, too. I currently have a performax drum sander. EVery project board goes through it as a first step towards finish sanding. But the drum style over heats and also plugs with "stuff" if you're not very careful with very light cuts.
My hope is that a belt sander will run cooler (?) at the wood and grit intersection leading to cleaner, longer lasting belts.

ronwood · June 17, 2021, 01:47:56 PM

Larry,

I have the grizzly wide belt sander for my shop. It does a good job with pieces narrow that the belt. If have pieces larger that the belt you can turn it around and run it thru. If you look closely you can see a bit of a ridge.

Since I have 3 phase in my shop I wish I would have purchased an used 36in sander but at the time I did not have the space.

Ron

scsmith42 · June 18, 2021, 08:10:26 AM

Quote from: metalspinner on June 17, 2021, 08:43:15 AM
I'm looking into a belt sander, too. I currently have a performax drum sander. EVery project board goes through it as a first step towards finish sanding. But the drum style over heats and also plugs with "stuff" if you're not very careful with very light cuts.
My hope is that a belt sander will run cooler (?) at the wood and grit intersection leading to cleaner, longer lasting belts.

Wide belt sanders do run cooler than drum. I've noticed that pine will gum up my belts but most hardwoods will not.

farmfromkansas · June 20, 2021, 09:13:23 PM

I have the Grizzly 15" widebelt model 9983 that was discontinued. Have had no problems with it, get the belts from Grizzly, buy the least expensive 5 packs. Amazed how long the belts last. For me, the sander is terrific. Compared to using a 4x24 belt sander, no comparison. Thing is, sanding with the wide belt helps flatten your panels. I do a lot of glue up panels, and I scrape the glue off very well. Glue ruins belts. My sander has a platen, and does a good job. I have not sanded a 30" wide panel with it, most of my stuff is about 20 to 22" wide.

Larry · July 20, 2021, 12:37:19 PM

Auction last night and I got it! An older model with very little use, you guys convinced me to buy it. This one has the combination of platen and drums. I'm stoked. My girlfriend has a bunch of charcuterie boards just waiting to be put through it. Can't wait to see how it performs.

ronwood · July 20, 2021, 02:09:46 PM

Larry,

Looks exactly like the one I have. Just make sure you have the compressor on for the air tension. Don't ask how I know. Makes a mess with the belt if you loss tension when it is running full speed. It works well for any piece that is narrower than the belts.

Ron

farmfromkansas · July 20, 2021, 08:43:42 PM

Looks exactly like my G9983. When you change belts, make sure you get it on the rollers all the way back, and stop the belt even with the end of the roller. There is a air blower on the rear side of the belt, and you can easily slide the belt over the outside of that bracket, and then the belt will cut your air hoses off. Just reach in and make sure you get the belt between that bracket and the roller.

teakwood · July 24, 2021, 09:20:56 AM

Quote from: farmfromkansas on June 20, 2021, 09:13:23 PMI do a lot of glue up panels, and I scrape the glue off very well. Glue ruins belts.

that's all i do, glue up panels. for me what works best: need to do a 40mm thick panel, plane the loosen pieces to 41mm thickness, glue them together, scrap glue off on one side (doesn't have to be pretty, just that it won't stick out), pass the panel thru the planer taking 0.5mm off, do the other side with 0.5mm. done.
sand a little with the drum sander or handhold sander.
planer is a 20" spiralhead. if my panels are wider than that i do 2 halfs separate and then glue together and just have to sand one glue joint.

farmfromkansas · July 25, 2021, 09:02:14 AM

Don't know if you have experience with wide belt sanders, but when you want to start, begin by putting your board on the feed belt and check how tight the sander is between feed belt and sander belt, with the air pressure on. Adjust the sander down till you can still move the board between. Then start the sander, check the tracking, and run the board through. Tighten the sander slightly each pass till you start to see the dial of your amp gauge move up. Watch your amp gauge as you run the board through, it will tell you if you have the thickness adjusted right. Running it too tight will cause the amp gauge to go high, and you can tell when you need to tighten the sander by the amp gauge not reponding much as you run your board through. Hope that makes sense.

Larry · July 25, 2021, 08:28:22 PM

ffk, thanks for the tips. I probably would have missed the bracket and cut an air hose, but I checked just as you wrote.

I got some belts with the machine and knew they were old. Yes, two new ones broke at the joint and I was barely sanding. Before the belts broke, I was able to take a piece of figured walnut from 80 grit to 220 grit in just a couple of minutes. The machine worked perfect. Much better than the drum sanders I have used in the past and so easy to change grits.

I'm going to order some belts tomorrow. With grits do you suggest?

farmfromkansas · July 26, 2021, 05:39:48 PM

I use a 60 belt for rough panels, then switch to 120 to finish with the widebelt, then use a ROS to finish sand. Wide belt sanding does not seem to be finish sanded.

teakwood · July 27, 2021, 08:41:20 AM

Depend on the wide belt machine you have, there are wide belt sander who auxilate the band , have a angle on them and lots of other gismos, but you're talking 6 figures+ on the price

scsmith42 · July 27, 2021, 09:36:02 AM

Larry, I keep grits in stock from 24 grit on up to 220. Typically if I'm having to use the WBS to flatten I'll start with 24 and then step up as I go.

Typically we will finish out with 180 grit and the platten. When flattening, the platten is removed.

Klingspor provides an excellent product; if you want I can pm you the contact info for my sales rep. To get the best deal, you'll need to order a minimum of 10 belts (can be a mix of grits though).

Larry · July 27, 2021, 08:46:30 PM

SC, thanks. I've already ordered a few Klingspor belts from the retail store. Also ordered a few of the zirconia belts from Maverick Abrasives. Wanted to see how they work on end grain. I'll give em a try to see what I like best.

Don P · July 28, 2021, 07:31:51 AM

When I worked in a panel shop with a triple head WB we would start with a 24- 36, 50-60, 80 first pas and then an 80,100,120 second pass. My understanding was to keep successive grits within 40 of the previous, 20 is better.

Larry · August 03, 2021, 09:44:44 PM

I got an assortment of belts in today so had to play with the sander a bit. My friend is making charcuterie boards out of "character" walnut. She picks out short boards that nobody will buy, with lots of crotch figure, holes, and splits. When my Bryd Shellix planer head starts to dull it leaves a little of what I call fiber pull in the crotch figure, not tear out at all, but a little something that has to be addressed by heavy sanding.

Put on a Zirconia 100 grit with the platen up. Two passes and the fiber pull was gone. Switched to 150 and last was 220 grit with the platen down. The results were excellent as you can see in the picture. Wiped it with MS to show the figure. Still have to sand the edges so it will get hit quickly with 320 grit on the ROS for the final finish.

So far I'm impressed with the machine. Dust collection is good, 10 seconds to change belts, and not even a hint of snipe.