Are there any significant differences between a cast iron base or a steel base for a 4" x 36" belt sander? I know that cast iron tends to be stronger but crack more instead of flexing like how steel does. I also know from some forging videos that cast iron doesn't conduct vibrations as well, which is why cast anvils tend to be worse for forging than a forged anvil. Are there any other differences? Does the better vibration control account for much when operating a belt sander for say, a small wood shop?
Differences Between a Cast Iron or Steel Base for a Belt Sander
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An advantage of the disk over the belt is that you can control how aggressive the sanding is by moving the point of contact between the edge of the disk (where the speed is highest) and the middle (where it is lowest). The downside of the disk sander (pun intended) is you can only safely use the half of the disk that is pushing the work down onto the table. This means the disk works well for fairing convex curves. (If you need to sand concave shapes, you need yet another machine, a spindle sander.)
For smoothing long edges, the belt sander is better since you can work the full width of the belt. It would depend on the machine, but generally belts should be easier to change than adhesive disks.
Finally, by having the dual purpose machine you can set up both a coarse grit on the disk sander, and a finer grit on the belt sander to avoid having to change belts on a belt-only sander.
The SDS chuck system was the original developed by Bosch.
SDS Plus is an improvement on the original SDS system, but remains compatible with SDS bits, and is now the most commonly seen on the market.
SDS Max is designed for the heaviest masonry work, and is incompatible with SDS/SDS+ bits.
(source: wikimedia.org)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drill_bit_shank#SDS_shank
It sounds like for your application, SDS Plus would be the way to go, given that they are generally less expensive, and you don't have really tough masonry work to do.
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Best Answer
I can't imagine you would be applying enough pressure on a belt sander to worry about cracking.
It is definitely true that a heavier sander will not vibrate at the high frequencies generated by normal sanding.
Steel is strong and light, so it might be better for a portable belt sander. But cast iron might be better for you in a workshop.
In the end, with light sanding, you might want to do some shopping and look at the features then find the best price to performance ratio to make your decision.