Whatever you want to do the woodworking job for professional or occasional by yourself, you need a sander. Nowadays, it is one of the versatile and essential tools for different types of woodworking and polishing by using sandpaper.
So, we can see that a sanding power tool can perform mainly three tasks-Like shapings, smoothing, and removing woodwork. But there are so many models you can find in the market. It’s pretty severe for you to find the exact one. It is essential to identify the differences between different types of sanders and the uses of each product.
If you are visiting the market, you can see mainly four types of sander-
- Disc sander
- Bobbin sander
- Belt sander and
- Drum
Lets a short description of each of these sanders-
Contents
Disc Sander
This sander is the oldest among all the four categories. The disc sander, which is made up of circular abrasive paper and mounted on a circular plate, is ideal for shaping subtle round corners, end-grain work and can remove a large number of materials within a very short time. There is a supported flat table that sits in front of the abrasive disc—this sander is used for a large variety of smaller projects like sanding cupboard doors.
Bobbin Sander
Bobbin sander or spindle sander is perfect for smoothing a curve or straightening the edge. The bobbin sander consists of a tabletop with a sanding drum projecting through a hole in the top. This sanding drum which covered with a polishing sleeve, and also the drum rotates during use. This sander’s up and down motion eliminates the chance of any irregular surface. Generally, this feature is caused by a consistent scratch pattern along with the length of your working area. Ideal for handling curvy projects with ease, a bobbin sander should be the first choice if you’re sanding curved edges. If you are sanding the curved area and want to get a nice finishing touch, this sander will be the first choice for you.
Belt Sander
A belt sander can work horizontally, vertically, and on the extended surface area. Accessible for trading and commercial job. This tool is quite large than a bobbin or disc sander. The sender is ideal for leveling any large field. This device needs a small table for curved work.
Drum Sander
If you want to get an excellent finishing touch, a drum sander has a coarse polishing material that spirally works onto a rotating drum to make a good finishing. It can sand the materials accurately and adjust with the grit of the drum. The drum sander is mainly used for different types of enormous sanding tasks. Many furniture makers use this sander to provide finishing over the tabletop, windows, and doors. It can give an even finishing to make a joint framework, cabinet, and panels. You can get the desire to finish by using this sander.
Belt Sander vs. Disk Sander
To sand the rough edges, small area, or any curved area, you have to use multiple types of sanders. In the market, there you can find lots of variations to make your wooden work smooth. You can sand by using either the belt sander or the disk sander or with the combination of belt and disk sander.
But if you are a beginner, you may probably have lots of confusion, which sander is appropriate for your job. Most of the time, it’s not possible to buy all the types at the same time. So, let’s try to solve your problem. My article’s guidelines will help you choose the right sander to make your wooden work smooth and easy. You can also make the right decision on which one is suitable for your professional or personal wooden tasks. Each sander has different types of features. Which sander needs to buy and used is a question that can arise in your mind.
The belt sander and the disk sander both are power tools. Choosing the right sander largely depends on the task you need to do. Which one you need to use for a specific job depends on the type of job. You can decide by seeing the following differences-
Sanders and Its Uses
The other name of the belt sander is known as strip sander. The electric motor inside this sender makes a rhythmic movement of the pair of drums inside the device. These dumps contain some sandpaper loops inside them. The belt sander has two types. One is stationary that you can operate onto your wood slice, and then another one you have to move the slide of the wood onto the sanding belt.
The belt sander used for-.
- Rounding the wood logs
- Can trim the edge of the wood slice
- Shaping the wood logs
- Leveling the wood logs for making an even platform
- Sanding any types of rough wood
Do you think that what is disc sander? It’s moving in a circular direction based on an axis. Eventually, a disc sander is a high-powered sander that can be either electric or air power to rotate. An abrasive disc is present on the platter attached to the plate. This disc is suitable for removing any rust paint, or wood debris has from the wooden slice.
A disc sander is suitable for-.
- Removing the wood debris has from the wooden slice
- Removing the paint from the wood
- Can sand the wood slice
- Capable of removing the wastage of plastic and wooden surface
Mechanism of Action
Balt sander can move over the polishing surface containing the drum pairs up and down regarding the rough surface of the wood slice.
On the other hand, the disc sander has circular-shaped adhesive sandpaper fixed with the wheel.
Perfect for
The belt sander is idle for sanding on the flat surface. At the same time, the disc sander is idle for sanding of the edge.
Specialty
The belt sander is a powerful tool and also a handheld wood sander. You can definitely run onto the wooden slice. The disc sander is originally a stationary type wood sander. You must run the wood slice onto the wooden sander.
Dust Extractor
The electric belt sander has a dust collecting system. The bag can collect the dust attached to the device. This bag sucks the dust from the tool. On the disc sander, a dust extractor is present here.
Prices
Different types of belt sander that you can see in the market. You can get different types of disc sander with varying types of technology and features. In my observation, I can see the price starts from $50 to $200. These prices may change if you get some extraordinary upgraded features and technologies. The minimum price of the belt sander will start from $5. You can also get a $50 to $300 disc sander in the market.
Types and Category of Sander
The belt sander is a heavy-duty sander. On the other hand, the disc sander can do light to medium sanding jobs. There are some ungraded models of disc sander that can do heavy-duty work.
Another type of sander is the combination of belt and disc sander, which is known as the combo of belt and disc sander. So, when do you need to use the combo of the belt and disc sander?
However, you can get this combo sander anywhere in the market. The belt side of the combo sander is used to level the platform as the structure, shape of the edge, and contours. This sander also can smooth the inside of the wooden structures. Here, the circular disk also presents to works nicely over the wavy corner. It also works excellent with fitting the joints of the meter at the outside turning curve area of the wooden pieces.
To see the overall view, you can tell the combo saw as an all-rounder player with all your other tools—no need to buy above separate sander. You can do both the sanding activities if you buy this combo sander. And the price of the sander varies by up to $500. A professional furniture maker or woodworker is very comfortable using this power tool. If you don’t want to buy the belt or disk sander alone, you can afford to buy this combo sander.
Among the belt and the disc sander, which sander should you buy? It depends on several issues like-
Size and Shape of the Wood
If you want to sand wood for making any ornaments is different if you’re going to make any wooden furniture. So, first, you have to think about the shape of the wooden pieces. A belt wood sander is for you when you want to buy a flat square shape wooden slice. But, if you’re going to sand any curve area or willing to sand any complex area, then you need to buy a disc sander for getting the perfect shape.
Condition of the Wood
Different types of wood need different types of sander. If you want to sand any hard type of wood, then a softwood sander is not perfect for you. No one can get an accurate sending result in these cases.
Sanding Types
From the beginning of the sanding job, you have to decide what type of sanding do you need? Don’t bias to see the outside design, because there are lots of sander in the market. You know, an electric sender can provide quality work, whereas the other sander cannot deliver quality work.
Budget
It is not always true that the sander has good quality if the price is high. Based on your work, you have to purchase the right one. If you are a beginner, please try to buy a low price disc sander. When you can gather some experiences, you can turn on the belt or high rated and good quality disc sander. There is no alternative to buying an electric belt sander for sanding any extensive work. For the woodworking shop, you can go to the disc sander.
Type of the Work
For doing heavy-duty work, a belt sander is for you. For any medium sanding work, you can also use a disk sander. And you cannot buy a good quality sander at a minimum cost.
Final Verdict
From the very ancient period, people were very used to doing manual wood sending tasks to get the exact finishing of the wooden slices. So, sanding is not a new topic for us. Due to the advanced technology, we can cope with the automatic sanding tools.
The question arises in our mind that, among the two sanders ( belt and disc), which one do we have to choose. I think from the above through discussion; you can get your necessary answers. You can also rely on my article at the same time.
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