Spindle sander sleeves....

R.Markus

R.Markus

Joined
Sep 17, 2000
Messages
279
I've been looking around the net for oscilating spindle sander sleeves that aren't AO. Does anyone that uses a spindle sander know where to get some ceramic or halfway decent sleeves?

I'm thinking of buying a spindle sander (the JET benchtop one) instead of the small wheel attachment for the Coote. They both have their drawbacks, but the spindle sander seems like it would fit the bill for getting into those tight spaces (but I'm guessing the sleeves don't last long at all) and keep the profiled edge square. The small wheel seems like a decent deal to profile, but would be a bigger chore to keep things squared up (and I'm not sure how easy it is to change the sindle sizes). Although using the belts on the small wheel attachment means they'd last a lot longer.

Next year I plan to build a horizontal grinder (hopefully, anyway), but that is a long way off. In the mean time, the spindle sander seems like it would work well and wouldn't quite be too redundant after I build the other grinder.
 
The issue is probably not so much one of AO vs some other abrasive, but finding sleeves in fine enough grit for our purposes. typically they top out at 120 or MAYBE 220. By the way, that Jet sander seems like a pretty pricey stopgap measure.
 
Thanks for the information. I appreciate it. The sander isn't as much a stop gap measure as just choosing which to get first of the two. I chose the JET because it seemed the nicer of the medium priced spindle sanders and it has a tilting table (which obviously won't matter for knife making), which would come in handy on other projects. I lke my tools to be as versatile as I can get them so I can work on other things around the house as well when I want to build something out of wood for the kids. Besides, with all the gift certificates I had, the sander wasn't much more than the cheaper plastic versions available.
 
I got a spindle sander from Harbor Freight which was cheap and works pretty well. The only sleeves I found are AO which are useless for anything but wood - they do make shaping scales easy and quick, however. I would love to find good metal working sleeves from 3M or someone which go up to about 600-800 grit.
 
Supergrit carries the sleeves up to 220. They were talking about a run in 400 grit but never heard back on it. These sleeves are in AO and are pretty cheap so buy a bunch. You can flip them to get more use out of them as it seems they wear all in the same area at least for me. They work fine on other materials besides wood including steel. I have both a spindle sander (actually two) and a small wheel attachment. If I could only have one, I'd go small wheel. In fact one of my spindle sanders is dying off from old age and I'm not sure I will replace it. I am contemplating another 2x72 to leave set up with the small wheel all the time. Having used both extensively, it seems easier for me to stay square with the small wheel.
 
Call Klingspor. I don't know what they offer i sleeves, but they will make up a lot of stuff that isn't available.
 
Not sure how well it will work in reality, but my plan for my spindle sander was to sacrifice some flexible belts in the grits I need and possibly epoxy and wrap them around some of my old and worn sleeves. Trim them up square and there ya go. Possibly make some of my own sleeves somehow out of belts.
 
I bought the selection of diameters for the small spindle on my Coote, I don't see a downside and you can use any belt. I was using a spindle sander and had the same problem with the sleves especially in the finer grits.
 
Thanks for the replies. I bought a bunch from Supergrit for now.

I may still get the small wheel attachment for the Coote since I just sold another rifle. It's good to have options.
 
Patrickknives said:
I bought the selection of diameters for the small spindle on my Coote, I don't see a downside and you can use any belt. I was using a spindle sander and had the same problem with the sleves especially in the finer grits.
Click to expand...
i think the thing you get with a spindle sander is true 180 sanding. You can only get that on a belt grinder with a "billy roll" setup r something similar
 
One of the reasons I got the spindle sander first is the ability to sand 180 degrees. I have a couple things profiled that I don't think the small wheel will get into, but I could be wrong.

Patrickknives said:
I bought the selection of diameters for the small spindle on my Coote, I don't see a downside and you can use any belt. I was using a spindle sander and had the same problem with the sleves especially in the finer grits.
Click to expand...

How easy is it to swap out those small wheels? I assume it's a little more time consuming than the KMG type small wheel attachment. I would guess you remove a nut/washer and slide out the sleeve and insert a new one?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top