Luthier's Friend Sanding Station

I've struggled with this tool off and on for months and finally hung it on the wall. Then I read the review about the sliding vise not being square with itself.Mine too is way, way off. Also don't assume that the fence is 90 degrees to the table. I use paper shims to square it up.

I used to sand thickness and flatness small parts by passing the piece over sandpaper stuck to a flat plate. I would sand, measure, adjust sand, measure, again and again (I did get pretty good at it). I used this little gem of a tool in my Drill press to thickness sand a maple bridge plate blank to .090 thick. I was amazed; a few passes and it was within .001, length and width
Perfect tool for any shop

So far I have used the Luthier's Friend Sanding Station for nuts and saddles and it makes sizing much easier and saves me lots of time. This is a must have for all Luthiers as time and precision means money and perfection.

This tool was just OK for me. It's really just a mini drum sander on it's side. If you have the space, a real drum sander does a much better job. If you don't, it's a good set up to have.

I should have bought this sooner. I was undecided for several months trying to justify the cost verses the few times I might use it. A couple of StewMac gift certificates given to me as birthday presents finally made my mind up.
Truth is I have found so many more ways to use this sanding station than I could ever have imagined.
The quality of the tool was much higher than I anticipated from viewing the pictures. Great accuracy is easily achieved if you follow the instructions to ensure the fence is truly parallel to the sanding sleeve and don't try to sand too deeply at each pass.
I have sanded mahogany, maple, rosewood and ebony all with excellent results. I have also tried it to thickness ivoroid and by using the finest grade sanding sleeve with a small depth of cut managed to get a very consistent thickness tolerance.
This is now one of the most prized tools in my workshop.

This is such a great device for thicknessing the face of strat style headstocks and the like. However, there isn't enough sanding height for thicknessing the rear of headstocks that have wings/sides (e.g. PRS style among many others) which would be really helpful, especially for shaping a volute at the same time.

I put off buying this for a long while as I wasn't sure it would do what I wanted. I was looking for a method of bringing sheet and strip wood to size cleanly after cutting on a bandsaw. I think I will use it all the time now- immediately after preparing timber on my bandsaw. I can go straight to the Sanding Sation which is permanently installed on a pillar drill and sand to finish size.

The adjustable fence is very accurate and I find I'm finishing down to tenths of a millimeter measured with a vernier.
I hope it bears up to a lot of use; I've only had it a few weeks but I cant see much to go wrong.

This tool is awesome!
I HIGHLY recommend getting this sanding station.
Its great for pretty much any sanding jobs. Nuts, Saddles, dowels, pickguards... you name it!
I use it every day in my repair shop and couldn't go back!
Great investment. Thanks again Stew Mac.

This tool is truly amazing. After posting my review (the previous review made here) I was sent a replacement Sliding Vice free of charge (it was perfectly square this time).
What's right is right, and I'm just posting to give credit where credit is due. Hats off to you Stew Mac for following up with a loyal customer.
As for the tool; my idea for a sliding rail attached to the station for the vice would add stability AND consistency. But for the skilled Luthier this station is invaluable as is. Keep in mind I previously used sanding blocks to painstakingly make nuts/saddles. I feel as if it paid for itself after making 2 nuts and a saddle in record time.

The Sanding Station is a for sure a Luthier's friend however not so friendly without a shop vac attached:)

I used it for squaring up a piece of mahogany. I kept a close eye on the sander itself and noticed that it warped shape after I made several passes, but then again I was sanding mahogany and not the recommended nut/saddle materials. I plan on making bridges, nuts, and saddles with this station and see real potential for it's uses.

***I only wish there was a way that the Sliding Vise would lock into the station on some kind of rail system to ensure consistent results.

!!! The Sliding Vise was not square with itself (the 2 pieces of wood that were supposed to be parallel were sanded slightly to different sizes), that was an unpleasant surprise. I plan on calling up Stew Mac w/ my complaint(isolated incident?)!!! --If the Vice locked into the station then this issue would go away.