Tight Turns or Sweeping Curves...RIDGID Smooths Them Out
Written: Mar 18 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Two Sanders in One: Oscillating Drum & Belt
Cons: None
The Bottom Line: It's pure genius! You get two power tools built into one space-saving unit and both functions perform beautifully! This sander would be a valuable addition to any workshop.
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| jubileeman's Full Review: Ridgid Oscillating Belt and Spindle Sander EB4424 |
Is this your dilemma... You just finished cutting out a piece of wood on your band saw and now you want to eliminate those tell-tale tooth marks and a couple of other mistakes before someone else comes around. Sanding will do the job, but how do you do it fast with accuracy? If you have an oscillating spindle, you can use it to smooth out the tight turns, but it wasn't designed to smooth out long sweeping curves. If you have a bench top belt sander, it will smooth out long sweeping curves, but forget about maintaining a square sanded edge or eliminating sanding marks. This is the problem scenario for which the Ridgid Oscillating Belt and Spindle Sander EB4424 was designed to eliminate, and it completes both tasks quite well.
The sander comes with an assortment of spindle diameters from 1/2" to 2" and a belt assembly. Switching your options from spindles to belts and back again is simple. One special (left-hand) nut holds your sanding option in place during sanding. Remove the nut, change your option, and replace the nut. That's all there is to it! The spindles use common sized preformed drums of various grits. The belts are your standard 4" x 24". Replacement sanding belts and drums can be purchased in a variety of grits at most hardware stores.
The sander has a split table allowing the user to drop the front for angle sanding. There are also a set of adjustable setscrews for squaring the worktop to the surface of the spindle and face of the belt.
Dust collection is accomplished through a 2-1/2" port on the back of the unit. Some dust still manages to reach the sander's worktop, but the majority of any airborne dust is quickly eliminated by attaching a ShopVac.
USER TIP: Make sure your replacement belts are the kind that don't overlap where the ends meet. The best belts use a thin strip of reinforced tape to keep the ends flat and secured, thus eliminating that annoying "bounce" caused by overlapping ends.
Operating the Ridgid Oscillating Belt and Spindle Sander is simple. For spindle sanding, select a diameter of rubber insert, slip it inside the drum you desire, slide them onto the oscillating motor-shaft, add a top washer and secure the assembly with the special nut. For belt sanding, remove the nut, spindle, and table insert. Slide the belt assembly onto the shaft and add the nut. A quick release lever makes belt changes a snap! A small knob on top of the belt assembly provides control for tracking adjustments.
For my sanding needs, I wouldn't be sanding at an angle and I required an oversized worktop. To accomplish this, I purchased a piece of 1/2" phenyl-coated plywood from the Woodcraft store and duplicated the sander's original cut out before attaching the oversized plywood to the original worktop. Now I have a larger, slick continuous work surface, squared to the motor's oscillating shaft.
I purchased my sander from Home Depot over two years ago and use its spindle and belt assemblies two or three times a week, an hour at a time. Recently, the steel "adjuster" spindle starting to drag from wear. I decided to replace its shaft and bearings by ordering them on the Internet. Ridgid.com has a nice website for identifying and ordering replacement parts. The site shows you an illustrated diagram of a requested assembly and its part numbers. I ordered spare parts and found their prices to be very reasonable and their delivery, quick.
I am currently using my sander in a production environment and plan to purchase a second EB4424 sander this year. One will be set up for spindles (2 grits), the other for belts (2 grits). My sole purpose here is to increase our production efficiency.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
jubileeman
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Member: Rick Woods
Location: Southern Indiana
Reviews written: 6
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
A self-employed craftsman and entrepreneur, married 30 years, two children, with faith in Christ.
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