I was wondering if one would be a good investment when building a Locost. I was thinking for taking off burrs on cut tubes and tidying up brackets ect.

They don't cost much..
Rescued attachment belt sander.jpg

The cheap ones are mainly intended for light use on wood. The first time I tried using my mates one it stopped the belt. You get what you pay for was never truer.

Now having said that, a cheap B&Q belt sander of the type that you hold, held upside down in a vice works a treat and will really shift metal with a coarse belt. Use blue zircon belts not the red garnet ones. HTH.

I've got a clarke/draper one, it's handy, but not essential, also where I have it sited I sometimes don't have room to use it, so use an angle grinder. which works just as well if I'm honest.
Mine was a gift, and I wouldn't get rid of it.

And don't forget to wear safety glasses. Preferably the wrap-around types with a good seal at the edges. I managed to get a metal splinter in my eye despite wearing safety glasses (non-sealing type). No-one in eye casualty believed that I was wearing glasses..... Pesky little flying metal fragments...

Flap discs on an angle grider do it for me and are long lasting - if money is tight an angle grider is the one tool you can't do without in my opinion, although a belt sander is useful for many tasks.

A disk sander would be way down in my order of priorities.

I got one from B&Q supertore with normal grinder on the left side and vertical belt on the other side.

Was under £40.

It's been one of the best things I've bought.

Pat..

Seconded, this is mine, I find it extremely usefull. I have had to replace the switch though.

Cheers

Fred W B

linish

[Edited on 5/9/07 by Fred W B]

[Edited on 5/9/07 by Fred W B]

I use the Machine Mart model to finish off all the angles on tube ends.

I bought a belt sander from Lidl. It came with brackets for bench mounting and it has been bolted to the bench since I got it. I wish I had it during the chassis build and I use it pretty much everytime I work on the car. cost £19.99 and was deffo a good buy!

Caber