Should I even use this sander?

C

Calaustria

Joined
Sep 5, 2009
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23
I have this thing sitting around in my garage. I bought it a long time ago, but for sanding wood. If I can get some 60 grit belts, would it be worth using? http://www.toolmarts.com/hit_sb10y.html

I tried it today with an 80 grit belt, it did a little, but it seems like it would take a long time just to profile with.
 
That 6" wide belt isn't great to grind on. What I did wiith the one I had - eventually- was to extend it to make a 2" X 72" with a flat platen. It worked okay but I wanted to do hollow grinding. I gave it to my son in law who made several knives on it as well. Frank
 
There is no reason with the right belts that it could not be used. You may want to check with knife supply vendors to see what belts are available. The problem I see with those is you dont have full access to the edge of the belt, looks like you can track the belt to the side and grind on the upper part of the platen, but no reason it cannot be used.

The other consideration is it will throw steel dust into your face, be sure to wear eye protection and a resperator.
 
I have one of those. I rarely use the disc, but I find the belt handy for certain things. I use it to descale rough steel like 440c and to flatten out handle material mostly. It also works pretty well for squaring up handle material when fitting to a guard/bolster. I haven't had much luck finding SC belts in coarser grits, but there are some zirconia's available in 4x36. The machine specifically states that it is for use with wood only, but I suspect that has something to do with the dust collection bag vs. the sparks. I took mine off.
 
If it is anything like 4x36 Delta and 4x36 HF (Cental Machinery) that I have in the shop , the reason I seldom use it on steel anymore is the motor is open , and will allow steel dust to get inside , though I did use it before I got my Bader to grind a bunch of steel and titanium. Slower than I wanted , but it worked.

The down side is the platen area is not truely flat , so you would ideally want to come up with a way to fix that problem.
 
You can install a ceramic platen liner under the belt,that will raise the belt some and give you access to the edge of the belt.you can get 4" beltsfrom tru-grit in several different grits,it will work just slow.
Stan
 
You would be much better off with a 6 x 48, with a strong motor, but the 4 x 36 will work.
 
Well, I tried it with some 80 grit, actually worked pretty well. Need a respirator before I do much work. Covering my mouth and nose with my t shirt isnt gonna work too well, lol. The only problem I'm having is that the heat is leaving blue and brown marks in the steel, why is that, and how do I get rid of it?
 
I have made about 4 knives on the Ryobi 4x36 model from Home Depot, the ticket is to not let the sanding belt or the steel get too hot, you want to keep a bucket of water to dip the steel in regularly. Also watch your pressure, I just snapped the drive belt on mine a week ago because I applied too much pressure for just a second and SNAP, the replacement was $10 and I had to order it online. It will work but flat grinding on it is a real pain, as others have said the platen isnt truly flat and the edge is rounded so you cant really get a crisp line at the ricasso without some file work ahead of time and after, I LOVE it for handles though. Im working on a homemade 2x72 but this one will still be used for handles and wood work.
 
Also, I'm totally confused on how grinding it overheats it, and heat treating it to really high temps doesn't.
 
In fact, the heat marks that are happening won't hurt it. They are probably happening around 600 degres; the heat treating will be above 1450 .
Sorry I can't say much about the changes I made without that machine in front of me. I did that about 20 years ago. I cut through the alluminim casting and used a piece of 1/8 by 4" or 6" mild steal for the extension. I couldn't weld so I just bolted.Make sure you have a 2X72 belt to help and an extra set of hands as well as a few heavy clamps. I then attached a narrow platten overtop of the original and madev use it was raised about 1/4" I probably did this BEFORE I decided on the length needed on that support from top to bottom. It wasn't a tough thing to do and all done with hand tools and an electric drill. Frank
 
The hitachi is a good sander, but it has it's limitations. What I see are the specific uses that one excels in as opposed to another. It is like saying I have a dragster, how will it do on the road course? or How will my SUV do at the drags. Each has it's specialty. For blades a 2 inch seems to be best. But I am making a cleaver today and I am doing well with it's huge bevels on my 4x36. For handles I am liking the disc on the side of my sander or a small drum in my drill press. I thing an occillating drum would be great and if one falls off a truck I will have it as well. The high end 2x belt sanders with all the attachments are the gold standard as they can do almost everything you want and do their one thing best of all. just my opinion...
 
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