A Little Bit About Max Machinery
Max Machinery started out in 1938 as the woodworking wing at Reliable Foundry’s San Jose plant. Max is an American company that produces all of its machinery within the United States.
What is a Disk Sander?
A disk sander is a machine that is used to remove small amounts of material at a time, shape material, and smooth material. The disk sander can either be a free standing unit that sits on its own pedestal or it can be a counter mounted machine that is more compact and sits atop a workbench or counter.
Disk sanders use a wheel, or a disk, that the sanding surface or sandpaper is attached to. In operation, the vertically positioned disk spins in a circular motion while the material is placed on the horizontally positioned table. The craftsman then carefully slides the material closer to the sanding disk until it makes contact. Ensuring he has a steady and controlled grasp on the material, he then holds it against the sanding disk until the desired amount of material has been removed.
Most disk sanders have an adjustable table that allows material to be sanded at an angle. With the right knowledge, skill set, and tools, any woodworker can use a disk sander to remove material, create a desired angle, and even create unique shapes using this machine.
Basic Parts of a Disk Sander
- Motor – The motor is what turns the sanding disk.
- Disk – The disk is the wheel shaped surface on which the sanding surface is located. This is what does the sanding.
- Table – The table supports the material being sanded.
- Base – The base supports the entire machine. It can be a tall pedestal that supports a free standing, floor machine, or it can be a short base that supports a machine that is mounted on a work bench.
Our Disk Sander
Our Max disk sander is used on a daily basis by of our craftsmen. It is a commercial disk sander that is mounted on a large, heavy column and sits on the floor. The tilting table allows our craftsmen to easily and precisely adjust the table to whatever angle our custom jobs might require. It also features a manual height adjustment that allows us to adjust the height at which the table sits.
The sanding disk is made of aluminum and is 16”, and the machine is American made. We use our disk sander to take off small amounts of wood on a range of materials and sizes, but we also use it to create unique or complex shapes in any given material.
We most commonly use our disk sander to make adjustments on small pieces of decorative trim. To do so, we utilize a miter fence that helps ensure our adjustments maintain the required shape. This disk sander finishes a better miter than other machines in our woodworking shop when adjusting small pieces of trim.
Tune into our blog each week for an inside look at the machines that power our Shell Lake woodworking shop.
For a closer look at the quality of our work, we invite you to view our recently completed pieces in our project gallery.