Shopsmith Forums

As part of my shop remodel I sold my drum sander with the intention of buying a wide belt sander. However current economic conditions do not support my decision and I have been considering something for the interim. I know that several of you have the Sand Flee. I did a search and found a few older post. I watched some videos from Nick and others. Now I would like some current feed back. My concern is how it would work with real world stock. You know the type that has a slight bow. I have gotten into the habit of crowning all rail and style stock and turning the bows outward. I have read that the Sand Flee is not a thickness sander and I do understand the difference. My question is how will it perform on stock of say 2 to 3 inches wide and 3 or 4 feet long for face frames or door styles/rails? Also how about flatting a glued up panel? It looks like it would do a good job on things like drawer fronts. The thing that really intrigues me with this tool is the ability to sand the edges of boards, however I don't want to buy a tool that will not serve my other purposes. All help will be appreciated.

Speaking of sanding. Will any sanding disk work on the SS sanding pad? Assuming of course it is the right size. Or does it have to be SS?

Good question(s) Mark! wish I had some certain answers. I'm also interested about how users of the Sand Flea will view their sanders for doing minor straightening and minor thickness issues. I have thought the Sand flea was really well suited for surface smoothing, but for shaping type sanding? Just don't know!

Navycop - Sorry - don't know what you are referring to re: the "Shopsmith sanding pad".

Mark, I don't have a Sand Flea but I do have a Flat Master. I ordered this at a wood working show in Sacramento a few months back. Took a while before it was delivered but it did arrive. The real unfortunate thing is I have not unboxed it. I have been very busy working with lawyers and tax people trying see if I can really retire. And then along came the government program, "Cash for Clunkers" This program has created extreme amonts of paperwork for my busness. So hoping to get back to some shop time before much longer. Anyway at the demo he was able to flatten a board with this machine. I wish I could tell you I have done this but I cannot, My laptop and I are not working well tonight, So I need to get off this. Will try to give more information later

charlese wrote:Navycop - Sorry - don't know what you are referring to re: the "Shopsmith sanding pad".

I am talking about the black thing that you attach to the headstock. It has the sticky back sandpaper on it. Can the sandpaper be purchased at any home improvement store? If so-I guess you can attach it w/any type of spray adhesive..

navycop wrote:I am talking about the black thing that you attach to the headstock. It has the sticky back sandpaper on it. Can the sandpaper be purchased at any home improvement store? If so-I guess you can attach it w/any type of spray adhesive..

the sawdust session on using the sanding disk with the sharpening jig shows Nick using regular sandpaper glued to the disk to get finer grits than otherwise available. he used a piece of chalk to draw a circle so he could tell where the edge of the paper was (he drew a circle showing the maximum radius of the disk that was always covered by sandpaper).

I don't know if anyone else makes 12" disks, but you can use it as smaller diameter with regular paper. just be careful to avoid running on and off the edges of the paper while it is spinning - not good for the project or the paper.

there have been lots of threads here about which 3M or other adhesive to use. searching for 3M should find a lot of them.

Ivan

Hi again Navy~ Ivan gave you an excellent answer. Can't improve on that!

So did the original question ever get answered? Sandflea good or sandflea bad? Will it do the same as a jointer, or beltsander?

mbcabinetmaker wrote:As part of my shop remodel I sold my drum sander with the intention of buying a wide belt sander. However current economic conditions do not support my decision and I have been considering something for the interim. I know that several of you have the Sand Flee. I did a search and found a few older post. I watched some videos from Nick and others. Now I would like some current feed back. My concern is how it would work with real world stock. You know the type that has a slight bow. I have gotten into the habit of crowning all rail and style stock and turning the bows outward. I have read that the Sand Flee is not a thickness sander and I do understand the difference. My question is how will it perform on stock of say 2 to 3 inches wide and 3 or 4 feet long for face frames or door styles/rails? Also how about flatting a glued up panel? It looks like it would do a good job on things like drawer fronts. The thing that really intrigues me with this tool is the ability to sand the edges of boards, however I don't want to buy a tool that will not serve my other purposes. All help will be appreciated.

I can't speak to this yet, but should be able to in a few days. I just purchased the 24" drum kit from Stockroom Supply and am in the process of building my sander. It is nearly complete and I just have to finish my top and do the electrical wiring. I should finish it today.

I was intrigued by the Sandflee videos and saw the home built version at the Atlanta woodworking show. I didn't buy one then but recently purchased my kit on eBay (sold directly by Stockroom Supply). I purchased mine about $40 cheaper than he sells them directly from his website.

Once I get it up and running I will report back.