Sand-flea

[cskipper]

Do any of you use this? Is it a worthwhile investment?
Cathy

[R.Edwards]

Cathy,
I haven't used one but have also been interested. I found a similar tool at a better price called a V drum sander. It is a build it yourself kit available thru www.stockroomsupply.com. I bought my sanding mops from them at a recent woodworking show at a better price than the Sand flee people sell theirs. The V drum sander can be had in up to 30" width. I'm wondering if anyone here has built or used one of these sanders. Just an alternative for your consideration. I have no affiliation with the stockroom folks and for all I know there sander may be junk or great.
Ralph

[PuzzledMoose]

Haven't used one but there was a thread on here last year expressing unhappiness with the product and the customer service afterwards .. Caveat Emptor!

[Forester21]

I have one.
It depends on what you want it to do for you whether it will work or not. I do a lot of ornaments and inlay, and for the small items I have it works well. It took awhile to figure out how to keep the sandpaper on the roller....

The customer service is not good....
Theresa

[jigsue]

I make my own sanding mops for sanding little bits. Is this the sort of thing you are talking of? They aren't as pretty as the ones you can buy, but they are a lot less expensive.

1 - Take smallest spindle from a cheapo drum sanding kit (about 1/8") and dismantled it

2 - cut up sanding cloth (we used Hermes J-Flex) and cut it into 4"x2" pieces, then fringed the two short sides in about 1/4" strips

3 - Lay the strips alternately on the spindle (we put about 7 or 8, but that would be up to you)

4 - Bolt it all up

You can see pictures of the finished article here:

http://jigsue.myphotoalbum.com/view_...umName=album04

Cheers

Sue

[Rolf]

I have had my Sand Flee for a couple of years and use it all the time.
I sand very delicate fretwork with it. It is well made and I have not had any problems with it. I also use it to flatten the back of my intarsia projects, it is great for that.
That said the thread regarding customer service was very interesting. I think the Sand Flee could not do what the customer wanted. And the return process turned a bit ugly, that should never happen.

I did alot of the same kind of sanding (for small items) using a variable speed random orbital. for bigger projects it is great. I have no regrets.

[Poppie]

Hi Cathy, I also bought a v drum sander at a woodworking show about two years ago. I found that it is a very good machine to use for what I use it for. The DVD they sell with instructions to build the base was very clear and was easy for me to follow and I am not the best one to follow instructions. I am very happy with mine and would say it is worth the investment. This is just my opinion of course but it is something to look into.

[Dave]

Haven't used the "Sand Flee", but own a Performax 16-32 drum sander. It works great Dave

[workin for wood]

Sand flee is not a drum sander, you do need to be aware of that. It's just for fine sanding, light passes for delicate things like fretwork. This is why most people get mad at it. People want it to surface plane lumber for goodness sakes. Customer service might be slow, it's a very small business, but it is an all american machine. You are investing in USA, and thus the higher price you pay.

[Mike Crosa]

I have one I got off of Ebay and have been very pleased with it.