In these days of not quite Belt Sander I wait. Where are you, little belt sander, come home?
Last week a spent a frenzied 40 hour work load examining the Sander issue.
I went to all the sites I could, manufacturers, distributors, forums, and retail outlets. Did you know that both Sears and Lowes market a little belt sander with their own names attached? And both have more horsepower than the Deltas I'm after, but enough questions and complaints remain that I passed them by.
The top end Deltas seem to be well respected. I examined a forum where many reviews were posted. I couldn't find my model number. Must be old reviews. But when I checked on the Delta site the numbers were valid. The two Deltas I wanted were entry level. I couldn't understand it. They were in the, "Shopmaster" series. The top rung didn't have a catchy title. "Shopmaster" was for all the Freds out there who wanted to feel important. How can you own a Shopmaster and not be on top? Out of my way; Shopmaster coming through.
I ordered the 1" by 42" from Tyler Tools, and that was the best net price I found. (Lowes has stopped carrying this model, so you may want to check the local Lowes and see if any are on closeout prices) I was going to order the 4 by 36 from them too, but found out Lowes had moved to Billings, only two hundred miles away, and I could buy one there a little cheaper.
12 bucks. That's it. Pay for Gas. My wife is going next weekend and will pick it up for me. I feel bad about it. She has a million other chores and for 12 bucks I loaded another on top.
I went into Chinook yesterday and saw my 4 X36 for 109. That's the best price on the net. For 12 bucks I could have grabbed it and saved my wife some rush hour grief. She has to load up on diapers, staple foods, return some pants to Sears, get new shocks installed on the truck, go to a Christian Women's conference, and try to get home after a overnight motel.
I remember doing this a lot in my life. Obsess about some topic, spend hours talking about it, calling friends on the phone, researching spec sheets, maybe even arrange for a commercial in the middle of one of my dreams when I'm asleep at night. It's better than drinking a quart of Vodka. Being sober is a license to act crazy. "HE's buying TWO belt sanders; why? Shouldn't that money go to the house?"
Looking at all the tools during my search I felt the need for a Sawzall. Always wanted one of those. If a couple of crooks wore white uniforms, had a panel van parked outside, they could sawzall their way into a home in broad daylight and no one would say a thing. Sawzall in, grab the goodies, and drive off. If two families were gone they could do two houses side by side in those tight Spanish Hacienda suburban housing tracks.
Not buying the Sawzall meant I'd saved some money- more than enough to pay for the other belt sander. I was ahead.
While waiting for the Sander I cut some trees with a Ganga Ram 22" and a WWll 16" There's a lot of trees knocked down or broken by the Big Wind we had last month. Three of them were on the mountain behind my house so I cut them down. The big Ganga went, "thunk, thunk, thunk". The little WWll went, crack crack crack crack crack, kind of like a duck. When a tree was ready to fall, I'd shout, "Tiii--mm- Ber," and the Male gobbler Turkey in a nearby tree would gobble an answer. It was funny. The boys thought it was hysterical. The Turkeys have been roosting behind the house.
I don't know how you guys without trees handle it. Some of you are fortunate in owning a home, and maybe once a year a branch will fall or the Wife will decide she wants a patio, so you get to cut something. There's wood everywhere here. The Pine Beetle has killed a bunch, dry now and for the taking. The Moon of the Popping Trees left dozens blown apart middle of the trunk, and all of those can come down. Now the Wind has provided another source. As if all of that were not enough, there's a tree in my yard with a trunk bigger than I can wrap my arms around. It's dead and we have to fell it before Mother Nature knocks it down on my Neighbors Historical Landmarks.....there's a couple old log cabins below our house on his immaculate green lawn. My big old ugly tree would not look good there.
So I've been hacking and swinging khuks. We've started to pick once more the wooden bulbs Pine grows in response to insect attack. I don't know what I'll do with them, but I'll sand and polish them until I can decide.
munk
Last week a spent a frenzied 40 hour work load examining the Sander issue.
I went to all the sites I could, manufacturers, distributors, forums, and retail outlets. Did you know that both Sears and Lowes market a little belt sander with their own names attached? And both have more horsepower than the Deltas I'm after, but enough questions and complaints remain that I passed them by.
The top end Deltas seem to be well respected. I examined a forum where many reviews were posted. I couldn't find my model number. Must be old reviews. But when I checked on the Delta site the numbers were valid. The two Deltas I wanted were entry level. I couldn't understand it. They were in the, "Shopmaster" series. The top rung didn't have a catchy title. "Shopmaster" was for all the Freds out there who wanted to feel important. How can you own a Shopmaster and not be on top? Out of my way; Shopmaster coming through.
I ordered the 1" by 42" from Tyler Tools, and that was the best net price I found. (Lowes has stopped carrying this model, so you may want to check the local Lowes and see if any are on closeout prices) I was going to order the 4 by 36 from them too, but found out Lowes had moved to Billings, only two hundred miles away, and I could buy one there a little cheaper.
12 bucks. That's it. Pay for Gas. My wife is going next weekend and will pick it up for me. I feel bad about it. She has a million other chores and for 12 bucks I loaded another on top.
I went into Chinook yesterday and saw my 4 X36 for 109. That's the best price on the net. For 12 bucks I could have grabbed it and saved my wife some rush hour grief. She has to load up on diapers, staple foods, return some pants to Sears, get new shocks installed on the truck, go to a Christian Women's conference, and try to get home after a overnight motel.
I remember doing this a lot in my life. Obsess about some topic, spend hours talking about it, calling friends on the phone, researching spec sheets, maybe even arrange for a commercial in the middle of one of my dreams when I'm asleep at night. It's better than drinking a quart of Vodka. Being sober is a license to act crazy. "HE's buying TWO belt sanders; why? Shouldn't that money go to the house?"
Looking at all the tools during my search I felt the need for a Sawzall. Always wanted one of those. If a couple of crooks wore white uniforms, had a panel van parked outside, they could sawzall their way into a home in broad daylight and no one would say a thing. Sawzall in, grab the goodies, and drive off. If two families were gone they could do two houses side by side in those tight Spanish Hacienda suburban housing tracks.
Not buying the Sawzall meant I'd saved some money- more than enough to pay for the other belt sander. I was ahead.
While waiting for the Sander I cut some trees with a Ganga Ram 22" and a WWll 16" There's a lot of trees knocked down or broken by the Big Wind we had last month. Three of them were on the mountain behind my house so I cut them down. The big Ganga went, "thunk, thunk, thunk". The little WWll went, crack crack crack crack crack, kind of like a duck. When a tree was ready to fall, I'd shout, "Tiii--mm- Ber," and the Male gobbler Turkey in a nearby tree would gobble an answer. It was funny. The boys thought it was hysterical. The Turkeys have been roosting behind the house.
I don't know how you guys without trees handle it. Some of you are fortunate in owning a home, and maybe once a year a branch will fall or the Wife will decide she wants a patio, so you get to cut something. There's wood everywhere here. The Pine Beetle has killed a bunch, dry now and for the taking. The Moon of the Popping Trees left dozens blown apart middle of the trunk, and all of those can come down. Now the Wind has provided another source. As if all of that were not enough, there's a tree in my yard with a trunk bigger than I can wrap my arms around. It's dead and we have to fell it before Mother Nature knocks it down on my Neighbors Historical Landmarks.....there's a couple old log cabins below our house on his immaculate green lawn. My big old ugly tree would not look good there.
So I've been hacking and swinging khuks. We've started to pick once more the wooden bulbs Pine grows in response to insect attack. I don't know what I'll do with them, but I'll sand and polish them until I can decide.
munk
For drills, hammer drills and Sawsalls, Milwaukee is hard to beat; Porter-cable for plunge routers. Still like Makita for cordless drills. Levels have got to be Stabila, just for the warranty. For detail sanders Dremel is the best, although the Ryobi is OK; for biscuit joiners, Porter Cable or Dewalt. Angle grinders, Dewalt again. RotoZip is still the best Spiral saw. The Craftsman 16" scroll saw is the best deal out there.