Oscillating spindle sander question

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Monty

Monty

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I have a Jet JBOS-5 oscillating spindle sander that I have not used in several years. It has been under a bench in my shop. I wanted to use it yesterday and I had to literally peal the old sandpaper off the rubber spindle. I tried for sometime to slide the new sandpaper on the tube but could not get it to go on more that 2/3 of the way. Tried several spindles with the same result. Could it be possible that while it has been setting in my non climate controlled shop that the rubber spindle has somehow absorbed moisture and expanded slightly?
 
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Do your spindles require you to tighten it on with a nut over a washer? I am not an expert on spindle sander brands but the ones I know (Grizzly and HF) use nuts and washers. These nuts do compress the rubber just a bit and that causes the rubber spindles to expand out and hold the sandpaper tubes tight.

I have two possible solutions: buy new rubber spindles or . . . not sure if this would work, but put them in hot water in a large pan, let them set for an hour or two at 150° F (no more) and then let them cool down with the water to room temp. My thoughts are that the temp in water MIGHT let them loosen up and expand vertically back to original and thereby decrease their diameter.

I do not know how rubber will react, and if anyone else knows more, please chime in.

By the way, I had a HF sander and had some parts that broke that made the spindle go up and down. By the time mine broke, it was discontinued and no parts available for it. For that particular model about 8 years ago, I found the almost exact model with Grizzly. I ordered the part for the Grizzly and it fixed the discontinued HF. Grizzly has been great (in the past) for being able to get parts.

SO, as far as the rubber spindles, go, if there is any way to tell the specific size, will another brand work?

EDIT IN: Just saw a pict of your model. Yes, it uses a nut an washer on the top. When tightened it compresses the rubber causing an expansion. But it should not have affected the other ones that were not under compression. I did see replacement rubber spindles available in a google search.
 
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As Hank said. spindle sanders always have a way to lock the belt to the tube and many are just that a nut and washer. Yours is that and remember it is a left hand nut so counterclock wise to loosen. now if you left the spindle with the roll on it and under tension, it is possible that it conformed to that pressure. If that be the case I would try to stick it in the freezer to see if it returns to form. also those rubber spindles build up dust under them so a cleaning with DNA should clean any residue. One other thing too is any belt sandpaper that has a seam can break down over time from heat and humidity conditions and they can fail and usually do. Look to see if your tubes are still round.
 
John and Hank, thank you for your thoughts on this. It got me wondering if I left the nut too tight on the spindle and it deformed the rubber on the spindle. I think I'll put the spindle in the freezer overnight and see if it shrinks enough to slide the new sandpaper over it.
 
You said you had to peel the old roll off. Maybe it left residue behind. Try cleaning with either acetone or DNA. Then maybe a bit of 220 or 400 grit sandpaper. Look inside the new rolls and see if there is any glue residue from where the seam is. Always start with the simple things and if all else fails then may need to buy a new spindle. May also try taking a rubber mallet and tapping on the end that is so called expanded to maybe loosen the rubber up some. Then try sliding on. Try sliding on from both ends.
 
jttheclockman said:
You said you had to peel the old roll off. Maybe it left residue behind. Try cleaning with either acetone or DNA. Then maybe a bit of 220 or 400 grit sandpaper. Look inside the new rolls and see if there is any glue residue from where the seam is. Always start with the simple things and if all else fails then may need to buy a new spindle. May also try taking a rubber mallet and tapping on the end that is so called expanded to maybe loosen the rubber up some. Then try sliding on. Try sliding on from both ends.
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John,
Tried all that except wiping down with acetone or alcohol and sanding with sandpaper. All the rubber mallet did was just bend the new sanding tube.
Guess I'll give the acetone try and see what happens What have I got to lose.
If that doesn't work, I guess I'll have to buy a new drum.
 
This made me think about my own sander. I went to the shop and loosened the retaining nut to take the pressure off of the spindle. I'll have to remember to make it a habit to reduce the risk of deforming the rubber roller on mine. - Dave
 
Monty said:
John,
Tried all that except wiping down with acetone or alcohol and sanding with sandpaper. All the rubber mallet did was just bend the new sanding tube.
Guess I'll give the acetone try and see what happens What have I got to lose.
If that doesn't work, I guess I'll have to buy a new drum.
Click to expand...
I was talking about using the rubber mallet on the rubber of the spindle. Not with any sleeves on it. Make sure that nut and washer are off the spindle so there is no pressure from them left on it. It might wake up the lower portion of rubber that you say is tough to get sleeve over.
 
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