Sander thickness The Hog

[AlainB]

Hello,

 

What do you think about this machine:

Thank you,

https://www.vanda-layindustries.com/html/the_hog_sander.html

[allanyed]

It looks similar to the Jim Byrnes sander.   I cannot speak for the Vanda Lay unit but my Byrnes unit is about 15 years old and runs like the day I bought it.  Thousands of board feet of wood have gone through it.  It is a bit more compact than the Vanda Lay unit with the motor built into the frame. No matter which unit you choose, DO NOT use it without a vacuum hose attached. If you do not have a shop vacuum set up, portable or otherwise, you will need one.  The amount of fine power sawdust created is immense and will cover everything, including you.    Wear a mask!!!!!  

 

Allan

[druxey]

Excellent advice from Allan. If you can afford it, the Byrnes unit is the way to go.

Edited August 7, 2023 by druxey

[Dziadeczek]

I have the Vanda Lay thickness sander for more than 20 years now. It still works like when it was new, I only from time-to-time exchange sandpaper. Mine is attached to a handheld drill, instead of a separate motor.

[AlainB]

Thank you. For a question of price, Hog is favorite. Allan, no worries, the machine will work in the garden!

[Tony Hunt]

I have a Vanda-Lay Hog sander too, it works fine. I bought a cheap Chinese-made hobby table saw at the local hardware chain, threw away the saw (it was terrible), and used the motor to power the sander. It's worked perfectly for many years. 

[Bob Cleek]

I have a Vanda-Lay Dremel-powered drill press. Vanda-Lay makes some interesting tools and their quality is probably second only to Jim Byrnes' Model Machines tools. That said, there is no question that the Byrnes thickness sander is the better tool and the better buy, as well. I see from checking Jim's website that they are not taking orders for machines at the moment because they took time off for summer vacation, but will be back shipping machines in mid-August. I suppose this is why they don't have the prices for the machines listed on their website at the moment! As I recall, the Byrnes sander is about the same, or even less money than the Vanda-Lay thickness sander with the motor. I have to say, owning a Byrnes thickness sander, that it is the "better buy," even if it costs a bit more than the Vanda-Lay. 

 

These sanders require some power to work effectively. I don't doubt that you can power one with a hand drill motor as Vanda-Lay suggests and a few have noted above, but I would think that would put some serious power demands on a hand drill motor, particularly if you are using it for a prolonged period. I also don't think there are any hand drill motors that put out anything like the RPMs that either the Byrnes motor or the power tool motor Vanda-Lay sells for somewhere around $300 do.

 

The fact that the Byrnes' integral motor takes up far less bench space than the Vanda-Lay, regardless of how the Vanda-Lay is powered, is no small consideration, not to mention that the integral motor on the Byrnes machine is far more "elegant" than the cobbled-together power options for the Vanda-Lay.

 

There are two big differences that put the Byrnes head and shoulders over the Vanda-Lay. The first, but not the greatest, difference is that the Byrnes is exceptionally accurate and is easier to adjust. It has an indexed adjustment knob that allow adjustments in increments of .002". The Vanda-Lay may be just as accurate but I expect it is more fiddily to set. The second, and biggest... huge... difference in the two machines is that the Vanda-Lay has a three-inch wide drum. It will only sand wood three inches wide or less. The Byrnes machine has a six-inch wide drum! The Byrnes sander will handle twice the width capacity of the Vanda-Lay and the Byrnes offers the option of loading its six inch wide drum with two different grits of abrasive sheet, each three inches wide, on the six inch drum. This allows you to use half of the drum for coarser sanding and the other for finer sanding, should you desire to do so.

 

So, for the same price, all else considered, the Byrnes is twice the machine in my estimation.  

 

I realize that price is often a serious issue for all of us. All I can say in that regard here is that the difference in price isn't much to get twice the machine in the Byrnes. It can't be said enough that the cheapest tool in the end is often the most expensive one. You could buy any one of the Byrnes Model Machines, use it for ten years, and if you didn't beat it up, probably sell it easily for half or two thirds of what you paid for it. Not so with the Vanda-Lay. If it's a difference of even a couple of hundred bucks, how long will it really take for you to forget the "pain" of that? These days, where I live, at least, that's maybe three half-way decent dinners out with the Missus. If you get the Byrnes, you won't be sorry.

 

 

 

Edited August 8, 2023 by Bob Cleek

[allanyed]

7 hours ago, AlainB said:

the machine will work in the garden!

I don't know where you are located in France, but if you are in Provence I would work in the garden every day that I could, surrounded by lavender,  and snacking on Charentais melons.   Allan

[AlainB]

The best melon is Cavaillon ( Vaucluse )

[Jaager]

9 hours ago, AlainB said:

the machine will work in the garden!

A mask is still pretty much a necessity.  The cloud of fine particles is impressive.  You still want a shop vac sucking up the dust.  At least in a garden, the vac will not make you deaf.

I think that the sweet spot is ~1700 RPM for the drum.  Faster will probably char and slower will make an already tedious operation last much longer.  It would probably take  a motor of 1/2 HP or greater to avoid it getting hot.