Shopsmith Forums

Several years ago I purchased a strip sander and all of the sharpening jig attachments. I must be a klutz as I had no luck at all using it for sharpening. I have it mounted to a power stand and am strong considering two options. First can anyone explain other uses for this tool. I hate having valuable tools going unused. My other option wuld be to advertize it on Craiglist for sale. I rather hate to part with good tools and am interested in ideas. Jim

That strip sander is junk. Send it to me and I'll take care of it for you.

Seriously, I have a standalone 5" disc sander and 1" strip sander. I use that machine a lot. I especially use the strip sander for shaping edges and initial sharpening. I also use the strip sander for small parts and rounding off edges.

I am told by pros that sharpen for a living (people that make a good living) that a strip sander is the only way to go. Everything else works and some things like the Tormex work well, but the strip sander is the tool to use.

That said I don't have a strip sander and I sharpen my things just fine. If I was a turner I would have strip sander set up on a tool stand to sharpen or hone as needed. If I was doing sharpening for living I would have a strip sander.

But for what I do I don't want my money and space tied up in one. A while back I really wanted one but Mayo didn't have one to sell so I sort of lost interest since.

When making little toy cars and trucks, my Strip Sander is invaluable. When not in use sanding, it just sits in it's storage place with a leather belt on it. From there it is very easy to mount on the shopsmith for stropping every blade in my shop. (Saw blades not counted.) chisels, plane blades, knives, lathe tools are all sharp because of my Strip Sander/Stropper.

fjimp wrote:Several years ago I purchased a strip sander and all of the sharpening jig attachments. I must be a klutz as I had no luck at all using it for sharpening. I have it mounted to a power stand and am strong considering two options. First can anyone explain other uses for this tool. I hate having valuable tools going unused. My other option wuld be to advertize it on Craiglist for sale. I rather hate to part with good tools and am interested in ideas. Jim

Hi Jim,

Are you referencing the Strip Sander Chisel Sharpening Attachment (555812)?

If you explain what issues you are having either myself or others might be able to get you on the right track with it.

One that I purchased used had the wrong parts where the attachment was to be mounted and I couldn't get alligned correctly, after a few post here it was more obovious to me what was wrong and I was able to fix the issue.

It is also possible to assemble it wrong. I spent a couple of hours on a super hot day strugging with it because it would not adjust to the angle I wanted.... turning out I came in and posted a few pictues and someone quickly spotted my error. Yea I should have spotted it myself but I was so hot and flustrated that my mental functions became dull I guess.

As to the second part of the question, I own two of these. One I leave set up with the jig on it and the second is used as a sander only. Since they are light and easy to move around it became my go to sander over my belt sander. No it is not a replacement for the belt sander but it works on smaller scale projects very well. It also does inside sanding, I don't do much of that but it is nice to have when I need it.

If you don't mind going to other sources you can get a lot of differnt belts for the sander, including as was mentioned leather ones. I've gotten a few from lee valley, which is my primary source now.

I have yet to make any table jigs for it but I can see them as future projects. A lot of the jigs shown for the belt sander or sanding disk could well be added to the strip sander. Don't recall if any exist in the books or manual but you could check.

Ed

I want a strip sander, I'm looking for a strip sander, and I'm gonna get a strip sander!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Shopsmith-Strip ... 3383a57d11

pieceseeker wrote:I want a strip sander, I'm looking for a strip sander, and I'm gonna get a strip sander!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Shopsmith-Strip ... 3383a57d11

That is a rare used version that includes all of the platens - usually they only have whatever platen is mounted and the other two are MIA. It also looks to be in nice condition. Strip Sanders are one of those SS things on E-Bay that usually fetch top dollar, often approaching at least the perdiodic sale price of a new one from SS. I got lucky and found one with a Buy It Now price of $100 that was in excellent condition, but usually they fetch much more than that. They also are not as large or heavy as most SPI's, so shipping is more practical/reasonable.

Can someone tell me why the strip sander above being sold from Conn. has a foreign language warning sticker on the right side. I do not see one in English. Makes me wonder.

Ed in Tampa wrote:Can someone tell me why the strip sander above being sold from Conn. has a foreign language warning sticker on the right side. I do not see one in English. Makes me wonder.

It's in French. Just speculation, but perhaps it was for export to Canada. In Quebec, everything is bilingual, by law if memory serves.

My college French is way too rusty to be certain, but I think that the 7 warnings on the right-side French label correspond to the 7 English warnings that are posted on the left side, on the horizontal sticker near the bottom.

someone said put a leather belt on it instead of a sanding belt and use it to strop your sharpening toos.
I think it is a good idea to try.