Opinion sought 2 x 42" belt grinder

[Johann Lederer]

I have been wanting to get a belt grinder for a while now, and did not have the cash to swing a Grizzly G1015. I looked a few and realized I had a bunch of bonus points from Sears, from buying appliances that I could get a bunch of money off the Craftsman 2 x42" grinder. It seems to be about as good as any other new power tool out there. I like pre 1970's tools if I can find them.

This wasn't bought specifically for armour, it was bought for a bunch of projects.

Any one have or had one?

[WendallVonDerEisenstein]

I've had one for about 7 years, the only complaint I have is the nearest sears to me has terrible sales people that make me want to boycott sears for the rest of my life. I used the disc sander part enough to wear out the original sand paper and never replaced it, so I don't know how useful it would be for you.

[Johann Lederer]

So far, it is very fast, I would say too fast. I need to slow it down. Out of the box, it did not want to run, it has a capacitor motor and my shop is cold. Once it got turning it ran fine. If there is an issue with it, I hope it happens in the warantee period.

I made a mistake a while back and bought a HF buffer, within 4 weeks I had 3 different ones, all of them burnt up. Finally gave up and got my $$ back.

[Morrisgunn]

I have the same sander, and i tried to slow it down with a router speed controller, which of course does not work with this type of motor.
They only stock one grit of the belts at my Sears.
I use the thing for everything, everything.
It goes through wood very quickly with the single grit i can get, and i am happy with the speed it works through metal bar stock for making stakes.
On sheet metal, I would like it to go slower. Its too easy to turn a corner of a freshly cut pattern into a knife edge. i usually avoid this by keeping the metal as perpendicular as possible to the belt surface.

[Sean Powell]

Hmm. do you mean this 2x42:
http://www.sears.com/craftsman-21513-1- ... 0P?prdNo=3
or this 2x48:
http://www.sears.com/kalamazoo-2fsm-2in ... 5?prdNo=16

The price jump from 1/3hp to 1/2hp seems pretty steep but I think the larger one might work better for slack sanding etc. Both designs make me wonder if the drive wheel and idler with tracking adjustment couldn't be retrofitted with a longer arm and spring tension to use 2x72 belts for slack sanding.

Sean

[Halberds]

I have one from sears and it worked fine until I got my grizzly 2" by 72".
I never use it anymore as the griz is the boss.

[Johann Lederer]

Hmm. do you mean this 2x42:
http://www.sears.com/craftsman-21513-1- ... 0P?prdNo=3
or this 2x48:
http://www.sears.com/kalamazoo-2fsm-2in ... 5?prdNo=16

The price jump from 1/3hp to 1/2hp seems pretty steep but I think the larger one might work better for slack sanding etc. Both designs make me wonder if the drive wheel and idler with tracking adjustment couldn't be retrofitted with a longer arm and spring tension to use 2x72 belts for slack sanding.

Sean

Sean,
it is the first one. i saw some mods on a knife making forum I may try if and when it goes wonky. I couldn't justify the Kalamazoo sander or a grizzly at this point. Even though Grizzly is 10 minutes from my daughters colllege and I would have no shipping costs.