Craftsman 12" "bandsaw-sander"

[Figment]

Hello all,

I just came into posession of a craftsman 12" throat bandsaw on a stand. It looks to be about 10 or 15 years old, and it looks like every other bandsaw I've ever used. The strange part is that the label that stares you in the face as you use it says "Craftsman 12" Bandsaw-Sander".

do any of you guys have one of these?

I stared at this thing from every angle for about 15 minutes, and I can't for the life of me imagine how one would use it as a SANDER. does it use some insanely long and narrow belt in place of the band blade, or is it supposed to have some other attachment or something?

it's the little things that drive me crazy.

[Figment]

Hello all,

I just came into posession of a craftsman 12" throat bandsaw on a stand. It looks to be about 10 or 15 years old, and it looks like every other bandsaw I've ever used. The strange part is that the label that stares you in the face as you use it says "Craftsman 12" Bandsaw-Sander".

do any of you guys have one of these?

I stared at this thing from every angle for about 15 minutes, and I can't for the life of me imagine how one would use it as a SANDER. does it use some insanely long and narrow belt in place of the band blade, or is it supposed to have some other attachment or something?

it's the little things that drive me crazy.

[Figment]

Hello all,

I just came into posession of a craftsman 12" throat bandsaw on a stand. It looks to be about 10 or 15 years old, and it looks like every other bandsaw I've ever used. The strange part is that the label that stares you in the face as you use it says "Craftsman 12" Bandsaw-Sander".

do any of you guys have one of these?

I stared at this thing from every angle for about 15 minutes, and I can't for the life of me imagine how one would use it as a SANDER. does it use some insanely long and narrow belt in place of the band blade, or is it supposed to have some other attachment or something?

it's the little things that drive me crazy.

[NormMessinger]

A long skinny sanding belt you say? Precisely. I have an Inca 10" band saw which uses a 73" blade. I replace the blade with a 1" wide sanding belt which is backed with either a flat or an oval piece of metal. I can send you some pictures if you want to see the rig. It sands very well and very agressively depending on the grit. Now, where to get the sanding belts? Why, Sears I betcha.

--Norm

[NormMessinger]

A long skinny sanding belt you say? Precisely. I have an Inca 10" band saw which uses a 73" blade. I replace the blade with a 1" wide sanding belt which is backed with either a flat or an oval piece of metal. I can send you some pictures if you want to see the rig. It sands very well and very agressively depending on the grit. Now, where to get the sanding belts? Why, Sears I betcha.

--Norm

[NormMessinger]

A long skinny sanding belt you say? Precisely. I have an Inca 10" band saw which uses a 73" blade. I replace the blade with a 1" wide sanding belt which is backed with either a flat or an oval piece of metal. I can send you some pictures if you want to see the rig. It sands very well and very agressively depending on the grit. Now, where to get the sanding belts? Why, Sears I betcha.

--Norm

[Todd Bradshaw]

It was originally shipped with pretty much what Norm said. The back-up thingy was a flat metal piece that hooked on and sat up against the back of the sanding belt in the area where you would normally be cutting the wood if the blade was in. I haven't used mine for decades but as I remember, the belt on the Craftsman model was more like 1/2"-5/8" wide. I never used it much. With a belt that narrow, it's real easy to wind-up cutting a lot of grooves in the piece with the belt's edges, plus there seem to be a lot of other sanders that seemed to do most jobs better. I suppose that for smoothing out scroll work it might be pretty good. On that saw it's also worth trying to rig some kind of dust shield over the motor. Mine has open vents that let dust in and then for some reason it has trouble getting the capacitor to start it. At that point, you have to clean out the motor so that it works again or start it manually by giving the belt a pull. It works in a pinch, but is a pretty good way to get your hand caught between the belt and pulley. I imagine that Sears still has the belts, they are 80" long. The back-up piece for mine was flat and maybe 6" long, 1/2" wide with a sort of "T"-shaped end - silver colored steel.

[Todd Bradshaw]

It was originally shipped with pretty much what Norm said. The back-up thingy was a flat metal piece that hooked on and sat up against the back of the sanding belt in the area where you would normally be cutting the wood if the blade was in. I haven't used mine for decades but as I remember, the belt on the Craftsman model was more like 1/2"-5/8" wide. I never used it much. With a belt that narrow, it's real easy to wind-up cutting a lot of grooves in the piece with the belt's edges, plus there seem to be a lot of other sanders that seemed to do most jobs better. I suppose that for smoothing out scroll work it might be pretty good. On that saw it's also worth trying to rig some kind of dust shield over the motor. Mine has open vents that let dust in and then for some reason it has trouble getting the capacitor to start it. At that point, you have to clean out the motor so that it works again or start it manually by giving the belt a pull. It works in a pinch, but is a pretty good way to get your hand caught between the belt and pulley. I imagine that Sears still has the belts, they are 80" long. The back-up piece for mine was flat and maybe 6" long, 1/2" wide with a sort of "T"-shaped end - silver colored steel.

[Todd Bradshaw]

It was originally shipped with pretty much what Norm said. The back-up thingy was a flat metal piece that hooked on and sat up against the back of the sanding belt in the area where you would normally be cutting the wood if the blade was in. I haven't used mine for decades but as I remember, the belt on the Craftsman model was more like 1/2"-5/8" wide. I never used it much. With a belt that narrow, it's real easy to wind-up cutting a lot of grooves in the piece with the belt's edges, plus there seem to be a lot of other sanders that seemed to do most jobs better. I suppose that for smoothing out scroll work it might be pretty good. On that saw it's also worth trying to rig some kind of dust shield over the motor. Mine has open vents that let dust in and then for some reason it has trouble getting the capacitor to start it. At that point, you have to clean out the motor so that it works again or start it manually by giving the belt a pull. It works in a pinch, but is a pretty good way to get your hand caught between the belt and pulley. I imagine that Sears still has the belts, they are 80" long. The back-up piece for mine was flat and maybe 6" long, 1/2" wide with a sort of "T"-shaped end - silver colored steel.

[Donn]

I found several Craftsman Band Saw/Sanders listed for sale on the web, and a 14" Sprunger. I checked Sears' website, and the longest sanding belts they list are 48"x 6".

One of the listings for the Craftsman gave model # 113.24350, searching the parts section of their site, I found this sanding belt:

BELT, SANDING, 1/2 X 80 69037 SANDER

[Donn]

I found several Craftsman Band Saw/Sanders listed for sale on the web, and a 14" Sprunger. I checked Sears' website, and the longest sanding belts they list are 48"x 6".

One of the listings for the Craftsman gave model # 113.24350, searching the parts section of their site, I found this sanding belt:

BELT, SANDING, 1/2 X 80 69037 SANDER

[Donn]

I found several Craftsman Band Saw/Sanders listed for sale on the web, and a 14" Sprunger. I checked Sears' website, and the longest sanding belts they list are 48"x 6".

One of the listings for the Craftsman gave model # 113.24350, searching the parts section of their site, I found this sanding belt:

BELT, SANDING, 1/2 X 80 69037 SANDER