Auto cleaning wide belt sanders?

IMHO, if a belt has started loading up, it's time to change the belt, not trying to screw around with an eraser to try to clean it.

Sanding materials are considered as disposable cutting tools, aren't they?

Lew

disposable, yes, but the operative word is cutting. dispose of them when they get dull, not when they get dirty. the OP's idea of tracking a rubber cleaner might be worth pursuing, but I think I see a curve of diminishing returns with horsepower going that route. what I do is not let them get glazed dirty- as soon as they get any buildup change out the belt. clean the dirty ones by a 10 minute soak in hot water with a little laundry soda followed by a quick scrub with a stiff nylon brush and hang to dry.

I used to sandblast them. Two minutes in the cab, and they were good as new.

So are X-Acto blades, but I always rehone and strop them when they go dull. Decent steel, easy to make sharper than new.

aren't

"Father Haskell" wrote :

Just curious, how do you resharpen sanding grit once the edge is gone?

Lew

Surely you nave used a belt cleaner, if not you need to buy one and extent the life of your belts, disks etc. many times over. Those rubber cleaners truly work very well and quickly.

Most of the time if the belt is loaded up it is not dull simply loaded up with sticky material.

sticky material. Run a cheap'n'nasty paintbrush onto the moving belt will also get most of the dust off, but for the resinous deposits you do need a crepe-rubber block.

I use crepe blocks and sticks on belts, disks and palm sander squares..

I think you have to use judgment on how often or many times you clean the paper before changing it again, though..

I remember Darrell Feltmate's sanding tutorial saying something like "you can clean sand paper, but you can't sharpen it"..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Never tried sandblasting them... How much did it change the grit of the paper? What medium where you using.

Right now I take the paper off and throw several of them in a bucket of hot water and then hang them on the side of my traier and pressure wash them.

The edge is as sharp as when you bought the abrasive. What "dulls" it is it's clogged.

Sand. No noticeable change.

Bought a couple of "erasers", tried one, found it to be a complete waste of time, threw them in the trash.

You can feel the grit with your finger and tell when the edge is gone.

Depending on what I'm doing, can totally destroy a belt or disk in less than 30 minutes.

Lew

When you can buy 6", H&L disks in the $0.21-$0.23 range, why would you bother?

Lew

Lew Hodgett wrote: | "HotRdd" wrote: | || Right now I take the paper off and throw several of them in a || bucket of hot water and then hang them on the side of my traier || and pressure wash them. | | When you can buy 6", H&L disks in the $0.21-$0.23 range, why would | you bother?

Eh? Do you use 6" H&L disks on your wide belt sander?

-- Morris Dovey DeSoto Solar DeSoto, Iowa USA

Actually, I use a commercial drum sander for such tasks.

They have a 75HP unit that handles 48" wide material.

Why try to reinvent the wheel?

Lew

Not automatic, but Highland has this big rubber slab:

Lew Hodgett wrote: | "Morris Dovey" wrote: | || Eh? Do you use 6" H&L disks on your wide belt sander? | | Actually, I use a commercial drum sander for such tasks. | | They have a 75HP unit that handles 48" wide material. | | Why try to reinvent the wheel?

I dunno - but I'm certainly glad we cleared that one up. :-D

-- Morris Dovey DeSoto Solar DeSoto, Iowa USA

Are you actually sanding wood, or epoxy and or fiber glass? That would make a difference is suppose.