Sanding is an important investment to every professional carpenter or woodworker. Unfortunately, the sanding work needed in the home improvement industry is too big to be tackled with manual or handheld sanders.
Instead, professionals need heavy-duty sanders; and there is none better in the industry like a great oscillating spindle sander. But as good as these machines are; it can be overwhelming trying to find the best oscillating spindle sander for your woodshop. Read our oscillating spindle sander reviews therefore and get to compare the best products in the market this year.
If you have had a spindle sander before but got disappointed, this article is also meant for you. All the six sanders reviewed below are top-rated and quite popular in the market. But since you are probably looking for particular specs from your ideal sander, read keenly and find out if there is any machine that best suits your needs.
Table of Contents
Top 6 Best Oscillating Spindle Sanders Reviews
1. Wen 6510 Oscillating Spindle Sander
The Wen 6510 is a high-quality sander that smoothes curves, contours, and arcs with ease. It comes with a compact and lightweight design, but it is still powerful nevertheless. The machine’s motor, for instance, holds 3.5amp worth of power, ideally providing enough power to remove stocks and achieve finishes fast and efficiently. The machine also operates quietly, plus it leaves little dust at your working place. But that’s not all with this sander. Read below for more information.
Comes with 6 sanding throat plates, five rubber drums, and sleeve attachments for a more effective performance. The six sleeves come in measurements of ½, ¾, 1, 1-1/2, 2, and 3 inches to ensure that you can sand as wide a variety of materials as possible.
Powerful performance – The sander combines the power produced by its 3.5amp 2000 RPM motor with strong quality construction to deliver an ultimate sanding experience. Its powerful performance also makes the Wen model versatile and adequate for performing numerous sanding jobs. Still, the machine does not bog even when subjected to heavy-duty sanding jobs
Compact and Comfortable – The Wen 6510 takes a 35-pound compact design to enable to you sand with comfort and efficiency. It stands stable but has the convenience of a long power cord in case you need to tackle curves and hard to reach corners.
Comes with the ability to attach a dust port to minimize dust as you work.
Features a large 15*11.5 inches work tables to help you work huge projects just fine.
Features an onboard storage area – This helps you organize your working environment as you can easily store the spindles, sleeves, and table inserts in there and access them if a need arises.
Being a Wen product, the oscillating spindle is backed by a 2-year warranty as well as a countrywide accessible technical support.
2. Shop Fox W1831 Oscillating Spindle Sander
The Shop Fox W1831 is the ultimate sander for smoothing curves and edges after cutting your wood pieces with a band saw or scroll saw. With its ½ 3.5 amp motor and 58 oscillations per minute capability, the Shop Fox model certainly stands out as one of the best oscillating spindle sanders out there. It is also a convenient and versatile machine. It comes with 6 different sized sanding sleeves and has a dust port to help keep your working environment clean.
Versatile Machine-The Shop Fox model is one of the best-rated sanders in the market partly thanks to its versatility nature. With its 6 spindles with varying diameters, the sander is designed to help do plenty of smoothing jobs. Onboard Storage-The oscillating spindle sander ensures you keep your tools organized with its onboard storage feature. Here you can keep your spindles, table inserts and spindles and spindle washers organized and access them whenever
Onboard Storage-The oscillating spindle sander ensures you keep your tools organized with its onboard storage feature. Here you can keep your spindles, table inserts, and spindles and spindle washers organized and access them whenever the need arises. In addition to organization, the sander comes with a dust port to help keep your working environment neat. Powerful-As already stated, the sander has a ½ 3.5A motor, which facilitates 2000 RPM and 58 oscillations per minute. These figures when combined with the right sandpapers translate to an efficient performance irrespective of how tough the job seems. It is also worth noting that the
Powerful- As already stated, the sander has a ½ 3.5A motor, which facilitates 2000 RPM and 58 oscillations per minute. These figures when combined with the right sandpapers translate to an efficient performance irrespective of how tough the job seems. It is also worth noting that the
It is also worth noting that the sander pays special attention to detail in every possible way. Its various inserts, for instance, are designed to reduce the gap between the drum and table insert, thus reducing pinching.
Strong Construction-The Shop Fox model is designed to serve for many years with its strong construction. However, it is also designed to offer comfort and great convenience as you tackle any type of sanding job at your carpentry workshop.
3. POWERTEC OS1000 Benchtop Oscillating Spindle Sander
The Powertech OS100 is an ideal machine for the medium budget buyer. Design-wise, the sander features a spindle square to the table, a sanding sleeve at the center, and a large top to help you handle large projects with ease. The machine is also designed to enhance ease of use, especially when changing the sanding sleeves to handle different sanding jobs. The machine is also a silent operator and leaves little or no dust at your worksite thanks to its dust port.
Powerful motor – The sander comes with a 2/5 2.6Amp motor that facilitates a 1725 RPM for efficient sanding. Its spindle speed, on the other hand, is 30 SPM, which though not the fastest guarantees an efficient sanding experience.
Strong and Durable Construction – The Powertec model features a cast-iron 18-inch circular shaped table for both convenience and durability reasons. Overall, the sander takes an attracting circular design with an onboard storage and great stands for better stability. The onboard storage, however, helps keep your different tools organized for a better sanding experience.
Efficient at smoothing curves arcs and contours – The Powertech model is particularly good at smoothing irregularly shaped materials. This is in part due to its wide range of spindles that measure ½ inch, ¾, 1, 1-1/2, 2, and 3 inches.
Clean working environment – The machine’s onboard storage area is simple and easy to access. You can place your sanding sleeves and other tools easily, access them and work with no difficulties. And since the sander also comes with a dust port, you can never complain about dust affecting your performance.
Features a safety power switch lock.
Light and quiet – The machine weighs 50 pounds, which ideally light for an oscillating spindle sander. Again, it is a quiet operator, which helps you have peace of mind all day long as you work.
4. Triton TSPS450 Top Oscillating Spindle Sander
The Triton TSPS450 is powerful, large, and efficient for smoothing different materials at your workplace. Its table measures 370*295mm for a wide material support. Again, this table is made out of a cast iron for stability and durability reasons. Efficiency wise, the Triton model is a machine that never disappoints. With a 3.5Amp motor, for instance, a design that eliminates risks of burning your wood materials and an onboard storage area, the machine is worth checking out.
Efficient Performance-The machine’s powerful machine when combined with its oscillating action translates to an efficient performance. The oscillating movements are especially helpful in eliminating static friction. The powerful motor, on the other hand, facilitates a fast spindle rotation and in the end precise finishing and excellent performance.
Versatile-The sander comes with a large table and multiple sanding sleeves to enhance versatility and flexibility. Its sanding sleeves also come with matching table inserts, rubber, and drums to ensure you sand different materials as fast as possible. The large table also supports great sanding for contoured materials, irregularly shaped materials, or carved wood pieces.
A clean working environment-The sander helps keep your working area clean with easy to access storage area. Here you can keep the different sanding sleeves and other tools when you don’t need them for organizational reasons. On the other hand, the sander features a dust port to minimize dust levels as you work.
Strong and Stable Machine-The Triton may have some parts made from plastic, but the most important parts are designed to last for as long as possible. Its table, for instance, is cast iron. On the lower end, the machine is constructed to stand stable on a typical bench and help do your job comfortably for many hours. The sander is also light at 32.2 pounds and supports easy transportation if need be.
5. Grizzly G1071 Oscillating Spindle Sander
The Grizzly sander with a big 25* 25-inch table is one of the top rated best oscillating spindle sanders out there. It comes with a powerful single phase 12A/6A heavy-duty motor and ten spindle sizes for the best convenience when handling different types of materials. Actually, the Grizzly model probably comes with every feature you may have seen from a top-rated sander, but then it is better performing and more reliable at its job.
Versatile and Flexible– One of the best aspects about the Grizzly model are flexibility and convenience in operation. Versatile comes in with the ten different spindles that also come with matching table inserts. These spindles also make both professionals and hobbyists able to handle multiple materials easily and conveniently. The fact that you can easily change sleeves with the machine further enhances the flexibility of use.
Powerful motor-The machine’s motor facilitates a spindle speed of 1725 RPM, which in turn enables a quick and efficient operation irrespective of the shape or roughness of the materials you have at hand. Besides the motor, the sander’s 25*25 cast iron table also enhances efficiency in performance. Its big size, for instance, facilitates a great working area while the fact that you can tilt the table on either left or right sides offer extra convenience. On the left, the table can be tilted 45 degrees while on the right you can adjust it to 15 degrees.
4 inch dust collection port– While you can expect a lot of dust to be produced from a 72 strokes-per minute machine, the Grizzly model comes with a large 4” dust port to help keep your working environment neat.
Stable and reliable– Although the Grizzly is quite heavy at 340 pounds, it stands stable with its durable ball bearings. The sander’s cast iron construction on the table and overall strong nature also guarantees a reliable performance for the many years it is designed to last.
6. Rockwell RK9011 Oscillating Spindle Sander
The Rockwell 9011 looks beautiful and strong in construction, but it is also an efficient sander. With its powerful 3.5Amp motor, bit albeit high-quality tabletop, and multiple sanding sleeves, you can do plenty of jobs in a single day. Compared to handheld or orbital finishers, the Rockwell model can work twice or triple faster while still great finishes without burning your wood pieces. It also comes with a 21 tools sander kit, which is a rare addition to such an affordable sander.
Powerful and Efficient Motor– Frankly speaking, the machine’s 3.5amp motor offers more than enough power for the average woodworker. The powerful motor also facilitates a spindle speed of 2000 RPM with a 5/8 inch spindle stroke. While this motor won’t do all the work, its power capabilities do play a big role in ensuring you get excellent sanding results.
Versatile and convenient– In addition to efficiency, the 58 oscillations per minute rotating speed does offer great convenience and versatility. Its 6 easy to change sanding sleeves also add convenience when handling different sized wood pieces. And not to forget, you spend minimal time swapping the spindles as they also come with matching table inserts and rubber sanding drums.
Large and strong table top- The machine’s cast iron can’t be ignored for obvious reasons. Thanks to its large size, you can place and sand your different sized materials conveniently and comfortably. Overall, the sander’s construction is meant to offer comfort and great stability even when handling tough jobs. It is also light at 35.6 pounds and has a compact design for better stability.
Comes with a vacuum cleaner connection and a safety switch.
What is an Oscillating Spindle Sander?
In its basic definition, an oscillating spindle sander is a table-mounted electric-powered tool that uses a vertically reciprocating motion and an oscillating sanding spindle to sand different materials. An oscillated spindle machine is particularly good at sanding curved, irregularly shaped wood pieces, materials with odd angles, or contoured materials. Other types of sanders to check out include belt disc sanders, belt sanders.
A typical oscillated spindle sander consists of a motor, a tabletop, sanding sleeves, and a few other parts. All the same, a good oscillating spindle sander achieves smooth finishes without burning wooden materials. This is mainly because of its oscillating and rotating motions which eliminate any instances of static friction. On the other hand, average oscillating sanders aren’t big in size.
In fact, these machines average 12-22 inches, which in turn helps save on space. A great sander however comes with a strong and large tabletop for strength and stability. Most modern machines feature a cast-iron tabletop, which ideally is strong enough to last for a decade while holding different sized materials.
An oscillating spindle sander’s efficiency is contributed by several factors. To start with is the speed of the spindles. The rotation and oscillation speeds in part determine how fast and efficiently you sand your materials. On average, a powerful sander comes with a rotational speed of between 1500 and 2000 RPM, with the oscillation speeds per minute varying from 30 and 70. Price-wise, oscillating spindle machines are a bit expensive when compared to handheld or random finishers. A good oscillating spindle machine costs between $100 and $500, with the more expensive machines having more powerful motors and offering greater convenience.
These sanders are however very efficient at their jobs. Their designs and power ensure you can sand wood or plastic materials with the exact precision and fineness you have in mind. They are also convenient to use as you simply place the stable sander on a bench and work with no disruptions.
Best Oscillating Spindle Sander Buying Guide
If you have ever seen an oscillating spindle sander smoothen a carved wood piece, you probably know why these tools deserve more attention. They are simply the best at sanding the odd-shaped materials for you. And because of their multiple sanding sleeves and drums, a typical oscillating sander can perform quite a variety of sanding jobs.
The sanders also offer more benefits, which is probably why you are convinced you deserve one for your workshop. In the next few minutes, we shall look at the factors that should guide you as you plan to buy a great oscillating sander, and hope you end up buying the most ideal machine.
Power
If you want the best sander for your workshop, buy one with the best power capabilities. Check the machine’s motor power and settle for one that has more than 2amp worth of power. If possible settle for a 3amp or above power of the machine. Such power, in turn, reflects in the oscillating and rotating speed produced by the sander.
Ideally, a good oscillating spindle sander will rotate at 1725 RPM and above and will have an oscillation speed of 50opm or higher. These figures are very important to check as they determine how fast and efficient your sander will sand and smooth different materials.
Convenience
As a professional, you certainly know why every tool at the workshop has to offer convenience. You probably are pressed on space; you want speed or general comfort while operating your sander. Whichever the case; settle for a convenient oscillating spindle sander. This you can check on the size of the tabletop which should be big to hold different materials and strong for durability reasons.
Again, the presence of an onboard storage area, matching sanding sleeves, and drums also indicate if the sander can offer convenience as you operate. Be especially keen at checking how many sleeves and drums the machine has, as they help you know how versatile the sander can get.
Design and Construction
Most oscillating spindle sanders don’t vary a lot in designs and construction. The tabletops, for instance, will mainly be made from cast iron, generally light and stable. However, confirm that your ideal sander is indeed stable by checking on the presence or absence of ball bearings on the lower end.
Check the weight and decide if it is convenient for you. Check the tabletop size and decide if it can handle the type of materials you have. But note all the same that the size and weight never reflect in a machine’s overall performance. However, a light machine with great performance details always feels better than an overly heavy machine that is probably efficient as well.
Impression Details
Like with other machines, the manufacturers of oscillating spindle sanders add impression details to make their models stand out. Be keen on such features. For instance, a sander may come with a safety switch lock, an accessory kit, or a tilting table. Such features can make a great difference in the value you get from the sander.
Other features like a dust port may feel unnecessary but are on the contrary very important. Great sanders come with a dust port to help keep your working environment neat.
Cost
These days there are cheap and medium-priced oscillating spindle sanders that are quite efficient at their work. Note to check out such machines before even considering the more expensive sanders.
At times you may find a top-rated sander that costs way below $200. However, you can also check the more expensive sanders especially if you want to tap on a more powerful, more convenient sander.
Conclusion
Although finding the best oscillating spindle sander may seem like a daunting task, it is always worth the effort. Nothing good ever comes from a mediocre machine. It is after all the reason why our oscillating spindle sander reviews only highlights the best performing sanders.
And as a professional, you also know why you should pay the high price but have the best machine at the end of it all. You will benefit from the speed and excellent efficiency that comes from such a machine anyway. Again, a good sander could serve you for many years with little on maintenance expenses.
