Tapered or Conical Sanding Wheel

[baumgrenze]

My 1974 Sears Tool Catalog still shows the 9 GT 2274, an 8" sanding wheel with a 2=B0 taper on one face for use on a tilting arbor table saw. With the arbor tilted at 2=B0, the wheel only contacts wood as it passes by in a 'with the grain' sense. If you have difficulty envisioning this, think of a more profoundly conical wheel. In fact, a drum sander is the 90 degree equivalent of this product.

I searched Sears but did not find the product on their website.

Does anyone make a similar product today? It seems to me that a 10" wheel would be even more desirable. I can see no reason why both faces should not be tapered. That way one could have a coarser grit on one face and a finer on the second.

I can accept that the linear speed at the outer periphery of a 10" wheel (running at standard cutting rpm on a table saw) might be so high that the wood (and the paper) might 'burn' very readily. This could be overcome via a pulley change to slow the wheel.

Thanks for any insights.

baumgrenze

[scouter3]

I have two of those wheels, inherited from both my father and father-in-law. They work well and have seen a lot of use.

I have not been able to find the original style PSA disks for them anymore, but I have been able to use regular 8 inch disks with some success.

I have had no problem with burning due to high speeds.

Sears now sells a 10 inch disk that is flat on both sides.

I believe shopsmith sells a 10 inch disk with a bevelled face.

[Dave Hall]

Shopsmith does sell a conical sanding disk. Unfortunately it isn't going to fit on anyone else's tablesaw. It is a 4 degree angle I believe. It does a great job of sharpening my jointer and planer blades and can smooth a straight edge nicely if one doesn't have a jointer (or a jointer plane), which I do. I haven't found much other use for it myself. I don't know if Shopsmith's paper would work on the sears disk or not (2 degree v. 4 degree).

Dave Hall

[rtandems]

I have this one:

works well; I've never had a problem with burning the wood.

I also wanted one that was tapered both sides, but after seeing this one, it's apparent that the disc would have to be twice as thick and then you'd need a new insert.

-Brian

[baumgrenze]

FWIW I did a quick AutoSketch drawing of a 10" wheel, otherwise like the Sears wheel, i.e., 5/8" arbor hole and a 3" circular flat at the center which carries no sandpaper. For a 2=B0 taper on one face along the remaining 3.5" of the periphery which carries the sandpaper, the thickness of the disk is reduced by half. Thus a 1/4" thick plate would end up at 1/8" at the periphery for one tapered side. If one started with a half inch thick disk at the arbor, and did a 2=B0 taper on both faces one would finish with a wheel plate 1/4" thick at the periphery.

Does any of you have the metals engineering skills that would suggest that a good quality 10" aircraft aluminum wheel, as described, would stand up to the forces it would experience at normal table saw arbor RPM?

For my saw, I find I can make a home-made zero clearance insert from

1/4" thick hardened Masonite. Once the screen marks are removed from that face of the Masonite, the insert is exactly as thick as is required for the opening milled for the insert.

I'd make a starter slot using a 10" cross-cut blade and then bring the sanding wheel up through the slot carefully to enlarge it to working size.

It would be nice if someone like Klingspor would just come along a produce such a wheel for a reasonable price. I sent them a note suggesting as much. If others of you would do likewise, perhaps we could all get one for Christmas 2007?

baumgrenze

baumgrenze wrote: