# A new "must-have" in your shop



## Tiny (Aug 12, 2012)

What ever you are doing you need to sand. Shure there are technics that you don't have to but generally you need to sand. If you are doing it to your customer you rather not spend to mush time with it. I found this Austrian made Vario-pro Profile sander from Eurotec Oy | Puuntyöstö | Purunpoisto | Pakkauskoneet | Alumiinintyöstö | Muovintyöstö - Eurotec Oy. it's for ww-industry but some stuff they sell weight's less than 600kg like this Vario-pro. What do you think?
https://canadianwoodworking.com/vario-pro-profile-sander


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

Esko, that is a neat little sander but I think Porter Cable's 9444 is the best I have seen. It comes with many profiles, a diamond shaped pad sander and dust collection was an available option. In another astute move by Black & Decker this item was discontinued.


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

I couldn't tell anything from that first link, but the second link, well that is just plain neat, and I could see a small shop using something like that. With what I'm doing I don't need it, but I bet a lot of people on here could. And the price is not bad at all either. Nice link. Thanks.


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## Tiny (Aug 12, 2012)

For small sanding job's it would be good. It's an option to an electric machine. I have never seen that 9444 no'r new of the existing of such machine. I'm shure it's a very handy tool. If I have to give a light touch with sanding paper before painting a window this Vario-pro would be my choise.
Mike, did you mean that B&D produces this type of machine even now? What do you call this type of a machine?


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## MAFoElffen (Jun 8, 2012)

Esko-
Reminded me of something you said (previously) about your wife. By coincidence the best sander in my shop, that I couldn't do without is........ Sharon.

She actually asks me if I have anything to sand. I have to admit that as a blessing. To me sanding is monotonous. She loves it. I don't understand her enthusiasm over that, but I'm supportive to give her as much sanding opportunities as she wants. There's many other reasons she is indispensable around here (like she also loves to split wood...), but I'm glad she likes the things she does.


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

sounds like life and times are good at the MAFoElffen household


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## Tiny (Aug 12, 2012)

It's nice for you Mike that Sharon can help you in the shop with something you think is very dull. Unfortunently me and my wife sometimes are (in the shop or on the site of my new shop) like two positive or negative magnet's...


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

SWMBO stays _oughta_ my shop...fear of avalanches I presume.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

I agree with you Esko, at the price every shop can afford at least one. I'm about to look on eBay!


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Well now, I couldn't find one in Australia so emailed the US agents for info. on an Aussie agent. I received a reply from the Austrian makers, Merlin saying that there is an Aussie agent who would get in touch with me which they did. What they said was that they had been Merlin agents for many years but now no longer stocked the Vario-Pro sander because by the time shipping and other costs were added it had to sell for $75.00 PLUS 10% goods and services tax so at the last Sydney wood show, with great difficulty they managed to quit all remaining stock at below cost price. Whilst they used more polite terminology, they said that Aussie woodworkers have deep pockets but short arms!


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

Esko, sorry I missed your question until now. The sander is called a profile sander. It is useful for sanding into very tight corners or on dowels and tight curves. This tool was discontinued but many can be found on craigslist for $25 - $40.


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## Tiny (Aug 12, 2012)

Mike said:


> Esko, sorry I missed your question until now. The sander is called a profile sander. It is useful for sanding into very tight corners or on dowels and tight curves. This tool was discontinued but many can be found on craigslist for $25 - $40.


Didn't Dremel have a similar sander?


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## Tiny (Aug 12, 2012)

harrysin said:


> Well now, I couldn't find one in Australia so emailed the US agents for info. on an Aussie agent. I received a reply from the Austrian makers, Merlin saying that there is an Aussie agent who would get in touch with me which they did. What they said was that they had been Merlin agents for many years but now no longer stocked the Vario-Pro sander because by the time shipping and other costs were added it had to sell for $75.00 PLUS 10% goods and services tax so at the last Sydney wood show, with great difficulty they managed to quit all remaining stock at below cost price. Whilst they used more polite terminology, they said that Aussie woodworkers have deep pockets but short arms!


Can't you order it from some other dealer?


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## Dejure (Jul 27, 2009)

*Multitools*

These can spoil you. When I bough my Fein Multitool, it was $350.00 for the kit. Since the patent went off, there are a lot of choices for much less. 

Below is the review I wrote for Amazon:

I had just completed an oak, over-the-post stair railing system. It turned out beautifully, but because of construction methods required by the home owner, the fillets between balusters varied in height and sometimes raised as much as an eight of an inch above the two long pieces of oak sandwiching them and the balusters.

Sanding them by hand would have involved rasps, several grits of paper and a week of hard work. Seeking a better way, I looked at other well known detail sanders, such as offerings from Ryobi, B&D and Porter Cable. Their construction or design made clear they would likely not last to finish the job, or were just not practical for the application.

I happened into Western Tool, of Olympia, to see its offerings. I told the salesman what I needed and what I had been looking at. He recommended and showed me a Multimaster. When I asked the price, he suggested I sit down. I sat down after he told me the price. The other detail sanders were a fraction of the price of the Multimaster. Now, hours of use later, I understand why.

Because I gambled and bought the Multimaster kit, I was able to finish all the sanding in one day. I even had time to use another capability of the Multimaster, making plunge cuts, to mortise for a door latch.

Since its purchase, my Multimaster has seen hours and hours of work as a sander, scraper and a specialty saw. If it died tomorrow, and though there are many imitations selling for a faction of the price, I'd not hesitate to replace it with another Multimaster.

Fein Tool is keeping alive the saying "You get what you pay for."

SIDE NOTE: Can you guess which detail sander ALL the other companies copied for their knock offs, when the patent on the original ran out?


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## Tiny (Aug 12, 2012)

I have continualy thought of Fein and how could I use it in my business. I have to have more reasones than just on and it can't be that it is a powerfull tool for all professional woodworkers especially for clever carpenters like you. The cheapest model cost here about 300euro. I would like to find reasons to buy it because I don't belive in their advertisement. To pay 300e to get tight corners sanded, it's not gonna happen. I'm shure it is an exelent tool. Germans and Swiss tend to make such.


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## Dejure (Jul 27, 2009)

I haven't played with the offerings from other companies, now that the Fein Multi Tool patent ran out, but others indicate some of them are pretty good and worth looking at. Of course, they are far cheaper.

I'm thinking of upgrading mine and selling the old one, just for the advantage of tool-less accessory installations.

I found a local guy who resharpens the over priced Fein blades. Too, I make some of my own accessories. For example, when the full sized hook-and-loop sanding head gets damaged from overheating (melting some of the loops), I cut them down to allow me to use them as even smaller sanding detailers. I buy Dollar Store putty knives, knock the handles off and drill arbor holes in them and use them for scraping things (it makes quick work of floor tiles).


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