Sander & Jigs

After spending most of last evening and much of this morning researching belt/disk sanders, I came away more than somewhat discouraged.  In my price range whatever I was going to get would be made in China.  Even some of the higher end units are Chinese. 

After reading lots of reviews, I narrowed my choices down to a Skil belt/disk, a Port Cable belt/disk, a Master Mechanic belt/disk, or a Harbor Freight disk only sander.  But I wanted to look at whatever I was going to purchase. 

The Harbor Freight unit was on the list in desperation, as I could not find a local source for any of the others.  I like having the belt, but the disk is essential.

I had business in Belfair, so decided to head for Tacoma and the local Harbor Freight after finishing up with the business.  On the way, I decided to stop in at the Lowes in Port Orchard and see what they might have.

Weellll, they had both the Skil I had seen on line, and the Porter Cable.  Upon examining the Skil, I decided it was not satisfactory.  But the Porter Cable unit looked good.  The work tables were sturdy (a common failing for all the other Chinese tools), and most of the cover plates were stamped steel instead of plastic.  It also had a 3/4 HP motor as opposed to the 1/2 or 1/3 HP on most of the sanders in my price range.

So here it is, ensconced in my shop:

I have built a rib with it, and it works just fine.  I had to get used to doing things kind of turned around.  The disk and belt run opposite direction from the old Craftsman.  It also turns a lot faster.

It also has a dust collector that actually works. 

I have been a bit tricky on the power.  It seems the Chinese have not mastered the skill of manufacturing basic on/off switches.  Almost every unit had at least one review featuring power switch failure.  My old sander was powered by a 3/4HP motor mounted under the table with a powered outlet connected to hefty switch.  I plugged the Porter Cable into that outlet and turn it off and on there, just leaving its installed switch on. 

Speaking of being tricky...

What do we have here?  Well, that gusset with all the staples in it is a replacement for the first try.  As I pulled this rib off the jig, I discovered that this long gusset had cupped during the gluing process with little of it in contact with the capstrip or the plywood block.

I had designs on cutting and fitting the capstrip for another rib, so I didn't want to tie up the jig while fixing this one problem.

So, I nailed a piece of 1/4 plywood, the piece at 90 degrees from the rib, in place cramming the capstrip up against an alignment block on the jig, thus holding the capstrip on the offending rib firmly in place.  I then buttered up a new gusset and stapled it in place. 

Jigs don't need to be fancy, they just need to get the job done.