I want to sand my wood arrow tapers instead of using the pencil sharpener types. I am trying to decide between buying a wood chuck taper grinder and buying a combination disk sander / belt sander at Lowe's and then using one of those $10 guide blocks 3 Rivers sell.
Both would be about the same price, the sander could be used for other purposes. Would one make better tapers? Be easier to use? Any thoughts from your experience would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Chad
Chad, my problem with the block is mounting it in a good way. If someone has it figured out how to do it cleanly I would like to know as well. Thanks Flint
My choice is to get the disk sander. It's not hard to mount the block. I use a c-clamp, but a fancier setup wouldn't be that difficult. The belt can be used for other things like tapering the rear of the shaft, sharpening broadheads and bowmaking.
Space is at a premium for me. I went with the smaller footprint of the Woodchuck.
Guy
I sold my woodchuck and went with a disk sander and a homemade jig. Hap
A belt sander/disc sander is a more versatile tool. There are many jobs in bow and arrow building that you can use it for. Other than pointing arrows I can't think of another job for a wood chuck. Pat
I tried the block from 3 rivers first and it took quite a bit of monkeying around with the set up to get the taper right. It wasn't the best option for me so I bought a woodchuck and couldn't be happier now.
I have both, bought the Woodchuck first and bought the sander later for other purposes, both taper extremely well and I don't find the disc sander hard to set up. As stated before the sander is multi purpose. Unless your building many dozen arrows per year I would go with the sander.