# Review ToolSelect.com …part 3 Jet Edge Sander



## Kjuly (May 29, 2009)

Part 2 concluded with links to two videos produced by ToolSelect.com. The reviews, Jet Drill Press -JDP-12 and the Jet Mortiser-JBM-5 were published shortly before I wrote part 1 & 2. The third tool review video, Jet Oscillating Edge Sander-JET 708447 OES-80CS, was not published at that time.
I found three issues with the operation of the edge sander. We, ToolSelect.com and I, felt it would be fair to share my findings with Jet and give them the opportunity to respond. Jet was contacted and they are sharing this information with their organization. I’ll keep you posted as new information develops.


http://www.toolselect.com/videos/vi...Inch-1-1-2-Horsepower-Oscillating-Edge-Sander


As you will see in the video, when a dust hose is attached to the edge sander’s dust hood, the added weight of the hose causes the hood to move away from the sander, reducing it’s efficiency. I replaced the locking knobs with a larger one to fix this problem.
In the contour sanding mode the dust hood has to be moved out of the way to allow the auxiliary table to be installed. The dust hood in this position reduces the dust collection to zero.
When changing from the horizontal to vertical sanding position, I found a problem with locking the sanding head at 90 degrees to the work platform. Without a positive stop to hold the head at 90 degrees, the user must look at the scale to determine if the sanding head is in the proper position. The scale is located where it can only be viewed from the end of the sander, which puts the locking mechanism out of reach.
In the video, I demonstrated how I fixed this issue by installing a indexing pin. The spring loaded pin locks into a hole drilled into the head, holding it at 90 degrees to the work surface.
On the positive side, I found the 1/2″ oscillations to do good job reducing scratches left by the sanding belt. This and the graphite platen do a great job of reducing heat build up and the chance of burning your work. Heat reduction also extends the life of the sanding belt.
The 1.5 hp motor gives this machine plenty of power for the 6″ belt. I quickly sanded several maple drawer boxes and enough parts to build six chairs.
I usually don’t give much consideration to storage space on a piece of equipment but this sander is the exception. The storage cabinet is large enough to store the auxiliary table and several sanding belts.

Keith


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## BWSmith (Aug 24, 2010)

This may seem to be nit-picking....it ain't.

Theres a huge design flaw in the dust hood.On edge sanders if you look at it from either end.........the hood simply cannot stick out past the belt/platten,plane.If it does....they either have it mounted wrong or original designer never used it in a shop environ.You have MANY instances where a long pce needs to be.....uhhh,edge sanded.If the hood sticks out you're severly limiting the tools usage.

Not pickin on your writeup,its all good in that respect.But will pick on poorly designed or executed,"industrial design".


Further,look at how theres no "transition" whatsoever on dust hood.They basically stuck a round port on a squre'ish hood.Thats one reason its losing edge suck for lack of better term.If you were to watch a slow motion vid of the dust inside hood you'd see its only runnin about 60% efficiency.....due mainly to "stalled" air.


Its no biggy here.....we fab up gauge metal,tig welded,sledgehammer proof hoods.Its price point engineering that frankly is wasting theirs and our(comsumers) time.And not picking on Pac rim equip.....I simply don't care where the bloomin thing comes from.

Nice writeup,thanks for sharing.BW


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## Kjuly (May 29, 2009)

Hello BW,
The dust collection issue was the first thing I noticed. I agree, it needs help. 
I like this machine because it has a small footprint and that works well in my shop. When I decide on it final destination, I'll fix the dust hood issue. 
Thanks for pointing out the "transition" concern in the hood. I'll pay close attention to that on the new hood.
Thanks for the comments.
Keith


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## BWSmith (Aug 24, 2010)

http://www.sheetmetalworld.com/shee...torials/5962-how-to-develop-a-square-to-round


Keith,I hear ya on the footprint thing.We have two edge sanders that sit at right angles to each other.....these are very similar to yours.They work very well for us.

If you look on E-Bay,theres a tremendous amt of "study" material.Especially on edge sanders and how each co. has their own ideas regarding not only dust management....but also where and how "nose sanding" is accomplished.Ritter,Crouch,Powermatic,ect.ect. all have tried different approaches to this.The one,not so minor point missin on this class of machine is they don't allow for custom nose blocks.I've had the fortune to tour some big azz furniture joints down in High Point NC.......when you look at aircraft carrier sized edge sanders(your's and mine are little "destroyer" sized,Ritter's are battleships)....they have built into they're adj's,the ability to run ho-made solid wood nose pcs.They'll swap out different blocks depending on required radius.

Its a deep subject to be sure.But gotta say,in almost every case these co's are dropping the dust ball......A different time period maybe?Its not like these big facility's aren't sitting on huge,gonzo DC's?

In the link above.....which ain't for the "math challenged",haha.It shows the basics for a sq to round transition.Somewhere in the universal Zen of things....WW'n equip builders/users never bother'd to consult with sheet metal "duct" guys?Most of the old school sheet metal,foundational layout work and how that's still used today....was around since the late 1800's.So why co's are having such a hard time understanding these principals beats the heck out of me?

Just some advice on your belts.....don't get to far ahead on your inventory.They only seem to be good for 1 or 2 years.They start to de-laminate after time.Also,you can get some 4" PVC pipe,cut stubs about 12" long or so.These get mounted on a wall,so you can hang your belts on them.The large diameter keeps the belts happier than stuffed in bxs or worse,hung on say a nail.BW


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## Kjuly (May 29, 2009)

Hi BW,
I think some manufactures are more concerned with cost over efficiency. 
I learned the hard way about buying more sanding belts than I need. 
Some time ago I ran across a good deal on belts for my belt sander, at least I thought it was a good deal. I bought a couple dozen boxes. After about 2 years ,( I think) after being used a short time the belts started coming apart at the seams. Then I opened a new box and found some of them were separating at the seams. No bargain there.
Thanks for the tip on hanging belts. I have some 4" PVC. 
Keith


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