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The Robo-sander


MrMuckle

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I'm thinking about getting one of these for use on figured wood. My concern is that it's not like an oscillating sander. Does this thing heat up rather quickly? Is it slow going having to wait for it to cool down? Do you burn through (literally and figuratively) sanding sleeves? Who here shows them some lovin'?

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I just went in my garage and got my robo-sander out, took a pic-

this sleeve is a 120 grit sleeve- and I have done 2 necks with it.

001-11.jpg

The first neck was mahogany with pau ferro (bolivian rosewood)and the template was on TOP of the fingerboard- and the streak of dark oily wood closest to the bottom (template roller) is that pau ferro.

The other neck was mahogany with indian rosewood board- the template for that neck was placed on the back of the neck wood- you can see the indian rosewood streak towards the middle of the sleeve.

This (used side) of sleeve is toast. I will need to flip it on the robosander so the "top" is at the bottom and I can get full use out of it.

1)- I used this sleeve cause I ran out of my 50 or 60 grit sleeves. All I had was 120 left. Pain in the arse. Use low grit with robosander. 3 digits is too high if you are using templates- you will be finish sanding later anyway.

2)- clean your sleeve with a belt sander cleaning stick if you have it. I dont. :D I used some plastic to try and get the bolivian rosewood to not stick- as you can see by the uneven build up it was mostly unsuccessful.

3)- watch over tightening the washers at the bottom of the template roller guide- they will cause pressure on the rubber underneath the sleeve and you wont get a clean even sanding action- the bottom can "bulb" out and you will have issues.

4)- dont use this to "cut" with- but rather to clean up. If you cut your material really close to final dimension- the robosander is great, but dont expect it to hog thru material like a router or band saw will- I use this on all the "tips" of my guitar horns having blown out my fair share of tips and fingerboards. Trick is to cut close, then clean it up. If you cut within 1/8" on a neck for instance, this is a great tool with a low grit sanding sleeve. But if you cut within 1/8" on a maple top, mahogany body les paul for instance- you are going to be a while and you most likely will slow your drill press down to almost stopping. The closer you cut the less heat/buildup that will happen. sugary/oily woods like Maples and rosewood- they are going to build up- alder, mahogany, etc- less so.

I think its a great tool. If I had an Osc sander- I might never use it. I dont have an Osc sdr- so- this is next best thing.

Peace-

Scott

Edited by Mr Natural
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You can get an oscilating spindle sander with several sleeves in all different sizes at most places for around $100.I love mine.It's a very well thought out tool.

This is the one I have

http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/04/s/colu...pp/15/index.cfm

Be aware the guy writing that article is a bit of a wimp I guess...the "solid cast iron" top he talks about may or may not be cast iron,I don't know(it does not rust),but it is thin underneath and though it is very sturdy,the whole machine can't weigh more than 75 pounds tops...I carry mine around easily...no tougher than a bag of concrete

I have had mine for a few years now and it has seen enough use to create about 50 pounds of sawdust...so it seems reliable as hell

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If I had an Osc sander- I might never use it.

No,you would.You would use it for everything you use that robo thing for now.The oscilating spindle sander works much,much faster and is really just a better tool...it works as fast or as fine as you want it to.You can hog out 1/4" of material in seconds and you can completely shape a neck to rough dimensions in about 5 minutes.

I cut my neck out with the bandsaw and then sand to within a hair of the lines with the oscilating sander,then I get to within about 1/8" of final profile dimensions with it.I clean it up to final dimensions with a rasp,and then hand sand to remove the scratches.

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You can get an oscilating spindle sander with several sleeves in all different sizes at most places for around $100...

I wish we could get them for that sort of price in the UK. The cheapest oscillating spindle sander I've seen over here is £259, about $420! We seem to get ripped off with most things in the UK :D

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If I had an Osc sander- I might never use it.

No,you would.You would use it for everything you use that robo thing for now.The oscilating spindle sander works much,much faster and is really just a better tool...it works as fast or as fine as you want it to.You can hog out 1/4" of material in seconds and you can completely shape a neck to rough dimensions in about 5 minutes.

I cut my neck out with the bandsaw and then sand to within a hair of the lines with the oscilating sander,then I get to within about 1/8" of final profile dimensions with it.I clean it up to final dimensions with a rasp,and then hand sand to remove the scratches.

wes- what I meant (to say) was that if i had an osc sander- I might never use the robosander. I realize as others have pointed out that you can get one for about $100, but I find the table with those a little on the small side- and to me that table size would mean the difference between a really good tool and a tool I would have to struggle with. I get to use the drill press table I made (36" wide by 16" deep) and that table makes all the difference in the world- I also get to use that table with my safe-t-planer

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The table on my ryobi is 19" by 16",with 13" of the 19 being behind the spindle.It completely supports an entire guitar body or neck,and when sanding the neck I usually turn the neck side to side on the table so that the tilt back headstock doesn't interfere.

I don't know,but it seems to be the one tool I have that is the perfect size.If it had a larger table I think necks would be tougher to shape.

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Once I get another oscillating spindle sander, I'm making some new inserts for it, like how router bushings work. Invaluable tool. Would rather use that than a robosander. Good extraction might help keep temps down, but I never had any issues even when hogging heavy shapes into necks, like volutes or profiles.

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You can get an oscilating spindle sander with several sleeves in all different sizes at most places for around $100...

I wish we could get them for that sort of price in the UK. The cheapest oscillating spindle sander I've seen over here is £259, about $420! We seem to get ripped off with most things in the UK :D

What's the price of the VRS-1 from machine mart?

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You can get an oscilating spindle sander with several sleeves in all different sizes at most places for around $100...

I wish we could get them for that sort of price in the UK. The cheapest oscillating spindle sander I've seen over here is £259, about $420! We seem to get ripped off with most things in the UK :D

What's the price of the VRS-1 from machine mart?

That's a bit cheaper, but it's £211.48 including VAT, equivalent of $340.45 US so still a huge ripoff :D

EDIT: That one has been discontinued anyway according to Machine Mart.

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Ah balls. Well when I get space I'm going to try and go down the road of this:

http://www.axminster.co.uk/jet-jet-jovs-10...nder-prod21607/

rather than this:

http://www.axminster.co.uk/jet-jet-jbos-5-...nder-prod21290/

Despite Wes saying he finds the smaller tables more useful, I think that adding fences onto a large table along with offset inserts gives plenty of options. Plus I found the VRS-1 fairly easy to stall.

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Ah balls. Well when I get space I'm going to try and go down the road of this:

http://www.axminster.co.uk/jet-jet-jovs-10...nder-prod21607/

rather than this:

http://www.axminster.co.uk/jet-jet-jbos-5-...nder-prod21290/

Despite Wes saying he finds the smaller tables more useful, I think that adding fences onto a large table along with offset inserts gives plenty of options. Plus I found the VRS-1 fairly easy to stall.

Due to a serious lack of work space, I can only have a benchtop model. Also, due to an even more serious lack of money, I've just ordered the cheapest one available in the UK http://www.angliatoolcentre.co.uk/woodstar...k-pid23833.html

Obviously, it won't be as powerful as the more expensive ones, and the table is a bit small, but as I don't build a lot of guitars, it should last me quite a while, and I can always make an extension table to go round it :D

EDIT:

Well, it's arrived (ordered yesterday afternoon). As expected, the table is ground aluminium and it doesn't tilt, but that doesn't worry me. I've tried it with the 2 inch bobbin on a lump of oak, and I can't slow it down, and the finish is very good, so I think it was a useful bargain :D

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Awesome! As long as there isn't any play in the spindle you'll get more of use out of it than a robosander.

No play whatsoever. This thing is as solid as a rock. I'll let you know if it has stood up to the strain when I've contoured a dozen bodies and necks on it (which will probably take us into the year 2014) :D

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Despite Wes saying he finds the smaller tables more useful

Not exactly..I was just disagreeing that a 19" table is small.I think it is the right size.Any larger and you would have to lean way over to reach the spindle.I think it is the "right" size for guitar sized work,being oblong as it is really gives you alot of options on how to approach the spindle.

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  • 1 month later...
Just came across this: http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtop...it=+robo+sander

Check out the first pic. Offset your template by the distance of the outside of the ring to the sleeve.

That seems very interesting. Have they come up with a final design yet?

I spent a lot of time looking into oscilating spindle sanders, mostly for headstock shaping. Routering a headstock, expecially an angled one is 1) pretty scary and 2) prone to massive tearout, especially on intricate designs.

The Ridgid sander just seems like the best overall out there. The miter slot guide is a great feature. I'm working on a thicknessing jig for it using an Incra miter slot guide. I've used the machine a little since I got it 2 months ago and its a breeze to use and setup. The dust collection is great and the belt sander is a huge plus. I didn't think I'd use it but its actually very useful.

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No ridgid around here, but a similar-ish thing to that UK model is available. Cheap (100 bucks), cheerful (plastic casing, melamine top) but the spindle is solid enough and sturdy enough, takes plenty of sizes and has decently functional dust collection. If I had more space I would've spent about double on a big metal version, but honestly, even if I moved up to 6 guitars a year, I suspect the thing would last me many, many years. There's not much to go wrong there.

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  • 4 weeks later...

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