Axminster 300 mm disc sander unboxing

[vaddoc]

Dear all

 

Before anything else, my condolences. I ve never had the pleasure of even seeing a machine made by Mr Byrnes but I can recognise their quality and his contribution to this and other hobbies and professions. 

 

I d like to share my recent addition to the shipyard, an Axminster 300 mm disc sander.

 

Now, a bit of background. The disc sander is the tool I use the most. I find far more accurate to cut the pieces close to the template line and then sand accurately to the line. I create bevels and even sand brass pieces. Closer to the outer part of the disc, it spins faster and takes off material fast. Closer to the center where it spins slower, allows more precision work. I really could not do without one. 

 

For years now I had a 200 mm disc sander I made myself with pieces of plywood and MDF, an old drill and a small voltage regulator. It worked very well and served faithfully (and noisily) for years with minimal maintenance. Overall cost was about £10...

 

However, I recently managed to destroy the flatness of the disc changing the sand paper so I took the plunge and decided to upgrade. 200 mm is the absolute minimum I think and 300 is much better for the 1:10 scale I like, considering that less than half of this sanding surface is available. There are many disc sanders on the market but I went with Axminster, mainly thinking I may have better customer support. A bit of discount on offer helped as well to pull the trigger.

 

First impressions: Well built, very heavy! Came in well boxed.

 

The legs are adjustable. The table is large enough, the gap to the disc is between 4 and 5 mm. It looks easy enough to add a bit of MDF to customise things a bit. There is a guide supplied which works well, the tolerances are tight enough and it does not wobble - it seems entirely usable. The angle of the table is adjustable and it was easy to set it to 90 degrees - or close enough.

The sander is very quiet. The speed seems ideal. It actually blows air out of the extraction port on operation so even without a vacuum the dust can be directed. The disc runs true. Overall very happy.

 

So out with the old and in with the new!

I think the sanding discs are proprietary or something similar but I did not really looked into it much, I am not too bothered.

I ll update after I ve used it a bit.

 

Vaddoc

[Morgan]

Hi Vaddoc,

 

I doubt you’ll go wrong with your sander.  Axminster customer service is excellent, ans are their products.  
 

As a specialised woodworking supplier they know their business and what customers want from them. 
 

The Admiral has to place time limits on my store browsing when I visit, I could spend all day in there.

 

Gary

Edited November 26, 2023 by Morgan

[No Idea]

I second what Morgan has said as Axminster products are very good.  Go in any Axminster shop and you will meet sales people that know exactly what they are selling and are honest about the tools capability too. 

[Roger Pellett]

It looks like a nice piece of equipment sold at a reasonable price.  I had not heard of Axminster and was surprised to learn that they sell/ship to the USA.  With the sad and untimely passing of Jim Byrnes and hopefully temporary closing of his business this particular tool might be a good alternative.

 

I agree that disc sanders are a valuable addition to the modelers workshop.  I have two; a 4” Jarmac used by professional model makers back before 3D CAD when industrial installations were physically modeled to check for piping, equipment , and structural steel interferences.  By today’s standards it’s a poor piece of equipment- very high speed, flimsy, and noisy.  It conveniently sits on my workbench doing what it is supposed to do on light weight stock.  My second tool is a 12” homemade tool that runs on the same shaft as my thickness sander.  Operating at much slower speed it works on much thicker material.  Like you both are useful for precise shaping of sawn materials.

 

Roger

[vaddoc]

Ok, I used it a bit today.

Really quiet, this is a massive advantage. Also the larger sanding area is very useful. However there are a couple of possible issues.

 

The table is secured in the horizontal by two screw on friction plates on either side, these seem to give in while working. I may be wrong though. Time will tell.

 

Also it does not spin true, there is a slight wobble. I am not sure whether it is the disc or the way the sand paper has been glued on. I guess I should not complain as this is not really intended to be a precision tool, like the Byrnes tools. On the other hand, I have a feeling it will not be a problem as I tried to sand to a line and it went fine. I ll do a bit more sanding. 

I need to change the paper though as it came with what looks like 80 grit, I need to swap to 120 grit.

 

Edited November 26, 2023 by vaddoc

[vaddoc]

Ok, so I ve used this sander a bit and these are my thoughts.

 

Really quiet, this is a massive advantage. Also the 150 mm usable disc is very useful. The guide is solid and totally usable.

 

Now, the negatives. There is a run out of about 1 mm at the very edge, this however is not a huge issue as the disc rotates fast and also nearer the centre this run out reduces a lot - overall, it would be nice to be dead flat but it is not an issue for me.

However, it comes with 80 grit paper which I changed to 120. Oh dear!

This took me 3 days and was a Herculean task. The disc it comes with is some kind of very high industrial quality disc, with a thick plastic backing. Unfortunately all of the glue was left stuck to the disc which is not smooth but rough. I destroyed my finger tips rolling off the glue. Heat did nothing. Isopropyl alcohol and methylated spirits also were ineffective. Acetone however did the job well. I used cheap toothbrushes and finally all the glue came off. I assume and hope the glue of the replacement paper discs will be less vicious. 

I put the new paper on which did not stick well and comes off if left unused. I may not have allowed enough time for the chemicals to evaporate or not degreased the disc well. As I am still traumatised I just press it it back and ignore it for now.

 

Overall, a good buy and a good tool, I do not regret getting it and I ve been using it a lot.

 

Regards

Vaddoc