Can I use a woodworkers belt/disc sander for metal?

I found this Reliant DD79 belt/disc sander on craigslist. Apparently Reliant was a brand that some out of business woodworking store sold. I dont do much wood working but Ive been wanting a belt/disc sander for a while. Do you think I could use it to clean up my cuts and stuff when fabricating metal stuff or will it not handle it since its intended for wood?

Heres some specs.

Reliant
Model DD79
3/4 Horse
1 Phase
60 Cycles
110/220 volt

 

heres a woodworkers review of it

http://www.epinions.com/review/Reliant_DD79_Belt_Disc_Sander/content_44023844484

 

Yes, just buy the right shit........Klingspor.com is one. Not to be confused with the kilingons you have

 

I use belt & disc sanders designed for woodworking all the time. The sandpaper doesn't know the difference and the tool doesn't care.

 

awesome. Thanks guys.

 

I have one,and use it exclusively for metal. It works great.

 

Ha!

 

Here's the deal... try to buy one with the fewest plastic parts. The sparks tend to "reshape" them

 

Just thought I'd mention ,you will need to get abrasives designed for metal. D.I.Y stores do not stock much more than wood working belts and discs.

Good luck ........Jack

 

yes get the right sanding pads and belts...........

 

Norton seems to make the longest lasting belts for metal sanding out there. But if your thin in the wallet, harbor freight sells 'em cheap. I'm waiting for my HF belt to wear out to put the Norton one on, but it's still going strong.


My .02
Jay

 

My belt sander gets used about as much as anything on my rod project....

 

Buy a industrial one and then the question will be ""Can I use my industrial sander for wood too ??? >>>>.

 

I use a small Craftsman (Delta) 4" x 36" with a 9"disc.

The disc doesn't get used since I have a 12" disc sander.

What can happen with the woodworking sanders used on metal is the metal 'sawdust' will eventually short the motor out.
Even so, my first one lasted over ten years and now I'm on the second one.

The advice to buy metal oriented sanding belts is probably a good one, but the medium grit wood belts last a long time with aluminum and do ok with metal.
Next time I'm at the Las Vegas HF store, I'll grab some sanding belts for metal.

Dunno if this will help the LV guys, but the HF store down Sunset from the airport discounts stuff pretty good since they have a competitor not too far away.

Got some killer prices on some of their special sale stuff when it was discounted even more....

 

I have often asked myself the same question. I'm glad you posted this and appreciate the answers given. How does the disc mount to the motor on a disc sander? Arbor hole or countersunk screw?

 

that thing would be hard to hold on a quarter panel,,,,,,your arms would give out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

The aluminum disc slides onto the motor shaft that has a flat ground - sorta like DD on a steering shaft, but only one side - onto the shaft and is then retained by a headless cup point allen bolt.

Sometimes the allen bolt comes loose due to vibration.
An old trick is to add a 2nd allen bolt right on top of the properly torqued one.
Works well and no hassle during removal.

The sanding disc proper uses contact cement or nowadays modern replacement sanding discs just stick on kinda like a post-it note.

Remove protective paper and press in place.

Check before use each time.
If part of the disc pulls up it may come off during the initial spin-up to full rpm.

Nothing quite like getting your arm 'sanded' by a runaway disc....

 

I was thinking that. The units that my local sears carries look like ALOT of plastic and kind of cheesy for my needs.

This is the 2nd one I found on craigslist and the 2nd one that sold before I could get it. I guess I have to jump on these deals faster.

Thanks for the help guys!

 

me too.

 

I always did. I figured the sandpaper didn't know the diff.

 

Speedtool,sandpaper doesn't know the diff.,it just wears out about 5 times as fast as discs or belts designed for metal.


......Jack

 

I posted this in another thread which I can not find. Fine Homebuilding magazine had a warning article a while back about using the same sander for different materials. Sure you can sand metal or wood with most sanders but when you combine aluminum oxides, aluminum, dirty steel and iron oxide you can in effect create THERMITE on the belt. That is an incendiary component used in bombs. I think back to how many times I have done just this and glad something did not ignite! So, yes you can but use different abrasives dedicated to ONE material only.

 

I know if you use a grinding stone for alluminum it can combust. I wasnt sure about sanding discs and belts. I guess if you get it goin fast enough it can. I could be wrong but I thought that I read somewhere that the reason is because the alluminum melts into the grooves or valleys in your abrasive and just creates friction, if it gets hot enough from the friction it will combust. 53dodgekustom told me about this and I looked into it some more. Scary stuff.

 

No, it is the compounds together that create Thermite. It is the aluminum powder and Iron oxide powder that combine to create the accelerant Thermite! Now if you also add some wood sawdust it gets even worse, along the lines of a grain elevator explosion!