Sanders advice

[Shane1978]

I currently own:
Wilko detail sander
Parkside belt sander

I don’t love either of them.
I got the parkside because it was bench mountable (comes with the clamps etc). And it does the job, but it doesn’t have a table or fence and it’s ridiculously loud. I could still return it to Lidl, but for £25 I’m thinking it might be worth holding on to in case I need a portable belt sander at some point..
The wilko one was bought years ago by my wife and is now ‘the sander’ in our house. Used for everything, not quite right for anything we use it for.

My plan was to complete the set with this:
Triton portable oscillating spindle sander
Which would theoretically give me all the functionality I need. All three would be portable and 2 of them bench-able as well. This would save me space and cost at least half the price of the alternative.

The alternative is this:
Triton Dream sander
For £200.

it’s big, but much quieter and probably easier to use. I’d probably return the parkside, just to avoid too much duplication and help a bit with space/cost (a bit!).

does anyone have any experience with the tritons?
Any advice (you can tell the budgets I’m working with, so I can’t get a festool)?

what I need:
Spindle sanding
Belt sanding
Benched or benchable
Not TOO loud

 

[Ollie78]

I think out of those two the bench mounted one with belt and spindle is the best bet.
More versatile and it is often easier to control the work if bringing the material to the sander especially on small components.

Ollie

 

[petermillard]

I bought that Triton belt/bobbin sander when it was on special at Amazon and it’s OK as a bobbin sander, but pretty useless as a belt sander because there’s no plate behind the belt for the workpiece to bear against, or if there is one it’s set too far back. Either way, you can’t bring a workpiece to bear against the belt and hope to keep the edge straight, in my experience. I bought a 12” disc sander which is altogether better for that kind of job.

Build quality on the Triton is OK for the money, and is light enough to chuck under a bench when not in use. Apparently it will take - but doesn’t come with - the biggest bobbin that the Triton dedicated bobbin sander has as standard, so be prepared to factor in that additional cost if that’s something you need. HTH. P

 

[TRITON]

Problem many of these cheaper belt sanders have is the gigantic weight they seem to love putting on it so its somewhat unstable and is prone to gouging. It's cheap for a reason
Makita 9911 you'll never go wrong with. Outside of something like a makita, it puts you off using belt sanders and they are very handy once use to them.

Easy to make a jig to hold it on its side.

That said the triton is oscillating and that makes a big difference when it comes to belt life and more importantly burning the workpiece.
But it is a cheap tool, and they always have associated problems of accuracy.

 

[Shane1978]

pretty useless as a belt sander because there’s no plate behind the belt for the workpiece to bear against, or if there is one it’s set too far back. Either way, you can’t bring a workpiece to bear against the belt and hope to keep the edge straight, in my experience

Thanks so much for the advice. I’m surprised nobody has mentioned that in any of the reviews I’ve seen. I assumed the belt attachment had a plate in it.. Maybe I wasn’t paying attention, but it seems pretty crucial.
This is what it’s for (hope you can see the lines):

I’m cutting this today. It’s for a plant stand. I’m a bit nervous, and I find thinking about bobbin sanders gives me the confidence to proceed.
Any advice on that?
so far I’m telling myself to take it slow and make relief cuts with the jigsaw (as I’ve got the option), then try for a nice smooth cut on the bandsaw.

 

[Phill05]

I would not do the relief cuts on the straight only near the small radius, cut in one line and the waste side will help to hold the blade from wandering.

Edit: added "small"

 

[Shane1978]

I would not do the relief cuts on the straight only near the small radius, cut in one line and the waste side will help to hold the blade from wandering.

Edit: added "small"

Thanks so much. I was totally going to do the relief cuts on the straight, so that helps a lot! I’ll probably put a curve of some sort on the right hand side (the top) but it’s less important so I will just free hand it after wards.

 

[Shane1978]

I think out of those two the bench mounted one with belt and spindle is the best bet.
More versatile and it is often easier to control the work if bringing the material to the sander especially on small components.

Ollie

Agreed. The tiny shelf on the portable one doesn’t look too supportive for longer pieces. I’m worried the weight would throw me off. But it’s half the price! And after ‘the’ Peter Millard has thrown in the belt-sanding curve ball.. I’m tempted to save money but trying out the portable. If I can make it work on this project I think I can make it work long term.. with a jig for it and the parkside, to improve functionality.

 

[Shane1978]

Easy to make a jig to hold it on its side.

Jigs! Yeah. That’s what I need to do.
you’re totally right. The parkside can lie flat and should be very easy to jig-up. Same with the portable triton actually. I think even I could manage a flat table extension for it. Omg.. I can see it. 2 upside down boxes. One big one with a hole in the middle for the triton and the other a bit smaller/lower set to one side for the parkside (or makita if the parksides tracking can’t be sorted!). It’s a (proper) belt and bobbin sander for half the price of the big triton, and I could store it all in the big box when not in use!

edit: spelling

 

[TRITON]

Thanks so much for the advice. I’m surprised nobody has mentioned that in any of the reviews I’ve seen. I assumed the belt attachment had a plate in it.. Maybe I wasn’t paying attention, but it seems pretty crucial.
This is what it’s for (hope you can see the lines):
View attachment 102836
I’m cutting this today. It’s for a plant stand. I’m a bit nervous, and I find thinking about bobbin sanders gives me the confidence to proceed.
Any advice on that?
so far I’m telling myself to take it slow and make relief cuts with the jigsaw (as I’ve got the option), then try for a nice smooth cut on the bandsaw.

Bobbin sanders arent that good for flat surfaces, they're more suited to curves.

 

[stevek]

I have to say, and I know its completely of no real relevance, but that Triton sander looks like a big bit of cheap plastic,,,and its £200,,,just the appearance of it puts me off.

 

[Shane1978]

I would not do the relief cuts on the straight only near the small radius, cut in one line and the waste side will help to hold the blade from wandering.

Edit: added "small"

My first time ever (making anything!). Make me think I should e started with a box! This is what happened. Need practice on curves!