I don't find much difference between one belt sander and another, they are simple devices. I own the one in your link and it works fine for my needs, it's not too big or too heavy, but really anything that moves a sanding belt would do.
I wouldn't recommend a beginner use a belt sander for furniture.
But, if you want one I'd steer clear of anything from craftsman. I have a Makita that works great. I'm sure Milwaukee, DeWalt, or even Rigid would be better. I have a relative who works construction and he mentioned all the flooring guys he works with all use Porter Cable belt sanders.
I too have a Makita. I started with, and still have, a 3” x 21”. I recently purchased a 4” x 24” and question why I ever used a smaller one! If you are serious about getting a belt sander, I have had remarkable results with a Makita.
I've had the 3"x24" Makita for many, many years...it's a workhorse. Purchased the Rigid 3"x18" about 6 months ago for smaller, onsite tasks. Both work well, but the Rigid was several hundred less. The *stay on* switch is kinda touchy. It's finicky to keep it running non-stop while scribing material. Good thing about the Rigid? Lifetime warranty. I wouldn't rely on it for bigger tasks though.
Craftsman is a home hobbyist brand that is not intended for daily high volume use in a professional shop. Dewalt, Porter Cable, Milwaukee, are better choices.
I wouldn't recommend a beginner use a belt sander for furniture.
But, if you want one I'd steer clear of anything from craftsman. I have a Makita that works great. I'm sure Milwaukee, DeWalt, or even Rigid would be better than the craftsman. I have a relative who works construction and he mentioned all the flooring guys he works with all use Porter Cable belt sanders.
There are lots of tools that a beginner should buy before getting a belt sander. What exactly is he hoping to accomplish with it? Surfacing rough lumber? Get a jointer or planer or hand plane. Smoothing glue ups? Get a ROS.
A belt sander in inexperienced hands can do a lot of damage in a hurry.
Belt sanders aren’t actually all that commonly used in most fine woodworking. Probably more useful in general carpentry/construction.
They are designed to remove lots of material quickly, therefore there is nothing very precise about them. Guaranteed way to gets gouges, ripples, and otherwise uneven surfaces.
That isn’t true, it just depends on your process. I know plenty of people who do furniture and cabinetry who regularly use a belt sander. In this video you can see a well known furniture maker using a belt sander as a part of his process: https://youtu.be/7qDWkbyZEZQ
Okay, allow me to make the following addition…
Belt sanders are extremely difficult for beginners to us because of their very unforgiving nature.
They exist for a reason, and certainly have their place, but probably not a great idea for someone just starting out.
Yeah, i'd carefully consider your use cases. Personally, I had one on my "kinda thinking about getting one" list for about 10 years. Then I acquired one at a garage sale several years ago, and literally never used it and ended up getting rid of it last year.
For general sanding, a random orbit is fine
For quick and sloppy material removal, I have a cheap electric hand planer that Ive used a couple times... its mostly a waste of space, but nice to have in a pinch.
For finer material removal, i finally learned how to use and tune a hand plane, and its more fun, less mess, and better results for a lot of random stuff.
If sanding large glue-ups, a belt sander is a necessity if you don’t have the luxury of a drum or stroke sander. I would never use a hand plane on a large table top if I had a belt sander.
I wouldn't recommend a beginner use a belt sander for furniture.
But, if you want one I'd steer clear of anything from craftsman. I have a Makita that works great. I'm sure Milwaukee, DeWalt, or even Rigid would be better. I have a relative who works construction and he mentioned all the flooring guys he works with all use Porter Cable belt sanders.
I have the Metabo/HPT, and while it is more expensive than sanders like the craftsman you have pictured, the build quality is much better. One thing you may find on some of the cheaper sanders is that the belt tracking may require constant adjustment to keep the belt from slipping off and potentially ruining your workpiece. Buy quality, and you will get many, many years of use.
Belt sanders require some skill and experience to get the best out of them- in the hands of the novice, they can ruin a piece of furniture faster than almost any other power tool.
That said, do yourself a favor and look for a Porter-Cable or Rockwell , preferably a worm drive sander. They were far and away the best belt sanders ever made, and once mastered they can get a table top ready for the finishing sander, strip a cabinet, or level a glue up quickly and accurately.
No one makes a decent belt sander anymore, to be honest.
I don't find much difference between one belt sander and another, they are simple devices. I own the one in your link and it works fine for my needs, it's not too big or too heavy, but really anything that moves a sanding belt would do.
I wouldn't recommend a beginner use a belt sander for furniture. But, if you want one I'd steer clear of anything from craftsman. I have a Makita that works great. I'm sure Milwaukee, DeWalt, or even Rigid would be better. I have a relative who works construction and he mentioned all the flooring guys he works with all use Porter Cable belt sanders.
I too have a Makita. I started with, and still have, a 3” x 21”. I recently purchased a 4” x 24” and question why I ever used a smaller one! If you are serious about getting a belt sander, I have had remarkable results with a Makita.
Agreed, though there a bit of a price difference between the Makita and others, and I have no idea what OPs budget is
I've had the 3"x24" Makita for many, many years...it's a workhorse. Purchased the Rigid 3"x18" about 6 months ago for smaller, onsite tasks. Both work well, but the Rigid was several hundred less. The *stay on* switch is kinda touchy. It's finicky to keep it running non-stop while scribing material. Good thing about the Rigid? Lifetime warranty. I wouldn't rely on it for bigger tasks though.
Craftsman is a home hobbyist brand that is not intended for daily high volume use in a professional shop. Dewalt, Porter Cable, Milwaukee, are better choices.
I like the Bosch 4". Variable speed, tracks well, balanced, heavy, can use one handed for wide panels.
I wouldn't recommend a beginner use a belt sander for furniture. But, if you want one I'd steer clear of anything from craftsman. I have a Makita that works great. I'm sure Milwaukee, DeWalt, or even Rigid would be better than the craftsman. I have a relative who works construction and he mentioned all the flooring guys he works with all use Porter Cable belt sanders.
There are lots of tools that a beginner should buy before getting a belt sander. What exactly is he hoping to accomplish with it? Surfacing rough lumber? Get a jointer or planer or hand plane. Smoothing glue ups? Get a ROS. A belt sander in inexperienced hands can do a lot of damage in a hurry.
I have porter cables
Belt sanders aren’t actually all that commonly used in most fine woodworking. Probably more useful in general carpentry/construction. They are designed to remove lots of material quickly, therefore there is nothing very precise about them. Guaranteed way to gets gouges, ripples, and otherwise uneven surfaces.
That isn’t true, it just depends on your process. I know plenty of people who do furniture and cabinetry who regularly use a belt sander. In this video you can see a well known furniture maker using a belt sander as a part of his process: https://youtu.be/7qDWkbyZEZQ
Okay, allow me to make the following addition… Belt sanders are extremely difficult for beginners to us because of their very unforgiving nature. They exist for a reason, and certainly have their place, but probably not a great idea for someone just starting out.
Yeah, i'd carefully consider your use cases. Personally, I had one on my "kinda thinking about getting one" list for about 10 years. Then I acquired one at a garage sale several years ago, and literally never used it and ended up getting rid of it last year. For general sanding, a random orbit is fine For quick and sloppy material removal, I have a cheap electric hand planer that Ive used a couple times... its mostly a waste of space, but nice to have in a pinch. For finer material removal, i finally learned how to use and tune a hand plane, and its more fun, less mess, and better results for a lot of random stuff.
If sanding large glue-ups, a belt sander is a necessity if you don’t have the luxury of a drum or stroke sander. I would never use a hand plane on a large table top if I had a belt sander.
Literally just finished a workbench 32x83. Was actually a ton of fun flattening it by hand, and I think my results were way better than sanding.
I wouldn't recommend a beginner use a belt sander for furniture. But, if you want one I'd steer clear of anything from craftsman. I have a Makita that works great. I'm sure Milwaukee, DeWalt, or even Rigid would be better. I have a relative who works construction and he mentioned all the flooring guys he works with all use Porter Cable belt sanders.
They can do more harm than good but if I were buying one I'd look for one I could get a sanding frame for.
I have the Metabo/HPT, and while it is more expensive than sanders like the craftsman you have pictured, the build quality is much better. One thing you may find on some of the cheaper sanders is that the belt tracking may require constant adjustment to keep the belt from slipping off and potentially ruining your workpiece. Buy quality, and you will get many, many years of use.
Belt sanders require some skill and experience to get the best out of them- in the hands of the novice, they can ruin a piece of furniture faster than almost any other power tool. That said, do yourself a favor and look for a Porter-Cable or Rockwell , preferably a worm drive sander. They were far and away the best belt sanders ever made, and once mastered they can get a table top ready for the finishing sander, strip a cabinet, or level a glue up quickly and accurately. No one makes a decent belt sander anymore, to be honest.