I was wandering around Rockler a few weeks ago and noticed they had a spindle sander mounted in a router table. I thought that was a great space saving idea for a small shop. The more I looked into this oscillating spindle sander kit, the more I liked it.
The power behind this combo is the Triton TSPSP650 oscillating spindle sander. It is a corded handheld tool that can be mounted upside down on a table or bench and used like a stationary tool. It also has it’s own built-in dust extraction port.
The sander is powered by a 5.4A motor that has a variable no-load speed of 1800-3200 RPM, and oscillates 50-90 OPM with a 1/4″ stroke length.
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With the Rockler router table base plate, you can mount it in a router table to take advantage of a much larger table and presumably much better dust collection. You can also mount the spindle sander to a workbench and use it with just the base plate accessory.
The phenolic router table base plate measures 8-1/4″ x 11-3/4″ and is 3/8″ thick. This seems to be a standard size for Rockler and some other brands’ router tables, although other brands such as Woodpeckers use larger plates.
The spindle sander mounts to the router base plate using two clips held by two screws through the plate.
This sander kit comes with 1/2″, 3/4″, 1-1/32″, and 1-1/2″ sanding sleeves, edge guide, 2 bench mounting clamps, bench mounting mat, dust extraction port adapter, router table plate, and router plate mounting hardware. Rockler has it priced at $169 and it’s available online and in stores.
Price: $169
Buy Now via Rockler
Buy Now: Base Plate via Rockler
Compare: Sander via Amazon
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You might be able to save a little money if sourcing the parts separately, as Rockler’s combo kit looks just be the sander + the base plate.
Rockler also offers a smaller table baseplate to fit the Triton spindle sander.
See Also: Small Plate via Rockler
Discussion
If I already didn’t have Ridgid’s oscillating belt and spindle sander, I would probably pick this up in a heartbeat. I don’t use the spindle sander part very often, and this would free up space for a better disc and belt sander. I hope Rockler still sells the Triton router table plate when my Ridgid sander finally wears out .
One of the downsides to the Rockler and Triton spindle sander setup is there don’t seem to be any restrictor plates. When you are using the smallest sleeve, there will be a large gap between it and the base. This is a problem for sanding small pieces and frankly a little bit of a hazard to your fingers.
Another downside is that the stroke length is only 1/4″ and it doesn’t have a very powerful motor, so don’t expect it to be able to take off a half inch of maple like a big standalone oscillating spindle sander would.
But on the plus side, it and the baseplate are small enough to store in a router table drawer and not take up much space.
Ben V
Oh I like the look of this a lot! I have a Kreg router lift, I think this is the same hole size as the Rockler…
Koko The Talking Ape
Awesome idea, but those clips holding the sander to the plate look pretty wimpy, and there are only two of them. Every time you use the sander, it will both press laterally and twist against those clips. I’d wonder if they’d loosen or wear out the plastic grooves they clip into.
MM
Looks flimsy and underpowered. The lack of different inserts for the hole around the sanding drum is a serious flaw as well. It’s not only a safety issue, but it also makes it very difficult to work on small, delicate, workpieces and it can contribute to tearout in larger workpieces. And we can also see that there’s a pretty small limit on the size of drums the machine can be fitted with. The clamps to mount it table-top look very sketchy to me from a safety and stability perspective.
In my opinion this thing is a joke.
If you’re doing more than infrequent DIY or hobby use then I’d ignore anything short of a Grizzly G1071
Titleist917d3
You can’t seriously be suggesting people go for a 1300 dollar machine rather than maybe a midway point such as the very well regarded and widely available new and used ridgid that is mentioned in the article. That’s like jumping straight sugar cookies to crack cocaine.
Rob H
Mmmm. Cookies…
Peter
🤣
MM
I personally haven’t used the Rigid so perhaps that’s a hidden gem. But I have used many of these plastic-bodied tabletop oscillating sanders. My old business partner bought a string of them for a hobby project and they were all very disappointing. Why he kept buying these over and over again instead of springing for a nicer one I do not know but this was his personal project not anything to do with the business. I specifically recall Harbor Freight, WEN, Triton (though a different model than this one), and a lower-end Grizzly (tabletop model, plastic base). They all lacked power and had questionable stability unless you were working with very small parts, and I don’t consider $1200 to be out of line for a tool that one expects to use regularly.
Jared
I like it. Good idea.
fred
I bought (16 years ago) a Porter Cable 121 – portable oscillating spindle sander that I thought might also be useful inverted . So when Woodhaven came out with a mounting plate for it a few years later – I bought one.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41dDeP61BRL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
I used it on and off until I changed my router table and lift. It was bouncy and not as versatile as I had hoped for – but I do miss it a bit. I’ve thought about buying a stationary machine – looked at a Laguna model with a tilting spindle but never pulled the trigger.
Julian Tracy
I use my handheld PorterCable OSS spindle sander on a router table insert as well and find it’s an excellent alternative to a dedicated machine for the very sporadic use it gets in my shop. I’ve fastened a dust collector around it and really, the only drawback is the noise compared to the induction motor of the larger $450-600 benchtop machines.
Years ago – when I used to still make laminate countertops, the handheld oss sander was very handy for tweaking radius edges of countertop substrates prior to edge banding them for making the radius edges perfectly 90 degree so the edge banding didn’t twist up or down as it made the corner bend,
The fact that I had a full set of rubber drums and sanding sleeves from a previous Ridgid combo machine makes the Porter Cable unit a fully versatile machine,
fred
Probably like you – we had all kinds of tools from folks like Betterley and Virutex for work when laminate was still in vogue. Then we tooled up a bit to do solid surface countertops – which also turned out to be a bit of a fad. Now in my neck of the woods – natural granite seems to be on the decline in favor factory made quartz. The same was true for our custom cabinet shop where what was in demand for styles, woods, finishes and color/tone palettes would change every few years. We never exactly complained about this – but did get a chuckle out for some well-heeled customers who would ask us to change out kitchens as often as some folks get new cars. An even greater chuckle came from looking at some rip-outs that showed little evidence than the prior kitchen was much used.
Josh
I have a $55 Wen sander that looks identical to that Triton one, and it’s pretty decent. I got it specifically to safe space. If I recall correctly mine has mounting holes in the base plate (underneath a removable plastic shoe) specifically for this purpose.
Leonard
I have the Porter Cable spindle sander. Woodpeckers was making an adapter plate that fit into their router tables. I already had the router table and plates.
But when I finally got around to wanting to buy the plate, they weren’t making it anymore.
I called them and asked if they were planning on producing it again. The person I was talking to said let him check. He got back on the phone and said we have one that was a second. If i was interested they would give me a discount.
I bought it and couldn’t be happier.
Nathan
shear accident I noticed there is a WEN tool that is identical to the Triton handheld spindle sander.
not sure if it’s cheaper or easier to get but it appears to be the same.
Meanwhile I was looking at the Ridgid compound slider miter saw – their version of the ARM system from Delta and Bosch. and while there I also saw their new bench top spindle/belt sander device. looking at 269 for that made me think of this thread.