Bench grinder or belt sander?

[davidUK]

For a project, I've had 1,243 stainless steel discs between 13-51mm laser cut out of 0.5mm thick sheet.

They are held in the sheet by a small tag approx. 0.5mm wide and each disc is then twisted out of the sheet.

The separated discs have a tiny tag "stump" to one edge which I've been hand filing off in prototype stage (maybe 22 discs for one instrument) but for this larger quantity I need to remove the stumps more quickly.

What would be best... a bench grinder or a bench belt sander? I could buy a small machine which has both but I may be going down the wrong pat with either!

What would you suggest? If you have a type of machine in mind please post a link. Many thanks.

Something like this?...

 

[ChazzC]

I would use a Belt Sander ("Belt Grinder), with a decent sized table. I would not buy a grinder/sander as pictured: combo machines are always a compromise (and on that one something is probably not going to be running at the correct speed).

 

[davidUK]

Could you link to an example please?

I've also seen disc sanders where half the disc shows above the table.

 

[Vietti]

I agree with Chazz, I have a belt sander, a rotary stone grinder, and a disc sander. I find the 1 inch wide belt sander is used far more than the other two combined. The ability to quickly change cutting grits is very handy.

 

[davidUK]

Will a belt sander be OK coping with stainless steel, albeit a very small amount to remove?

Something like this?:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/VonHaus-Be...hvtargid=pla-1036030158160&psc=1&gad_source=1

 

[Scott_M]

Hi David
I use a similar Harbor Freight sander for a specific finishing operation. This is the unit I have Link to Harbor Freight it is just the belt sander, no disc. I have always felt that a disc sander is almost useless unless it is a large diameter. They eat up discs really quick ( limited surface feet and speed )
The job I use it for is on 1018 Steel ( not S.S. ) the job is a large corner bevel on 2 sides of part that is about about 10mm long on a 3mm thick part. I have been using this cheap 1x 30 belt sander for this operation for more than 10 years. And it works good ! The first thing to do when you get the sander is throw the cheap belts it came with away. Get some quality belts from a know good source ( like 3M ) The difference in performance is amazing. The worst thing about the cheap belts is the splice. ( like going over a really bad set of RR tracks ) A good belt you won't even notice the splice.
The next thing to do is make a nice fixture to position your parts so you can just pop one into the fixture turn it by hand and grind the nub off.
If you like I could take pics of my old setup t show the fixturing I used for my job.

Yes I think the belt sander will do nicely for your tabs on S.S. parts.

Scott