Sanding belts

Out of curiosity, has anyone had problems with new but relatively old sanding belts failing at the seam? I hadn't used my 4x24 belt sander in quite some time but I had a stock of belts on hand. I had 4 Klingspor belts come apart at the seam within minutes... the belts were barely warm and the grit was not clogged. The joint strip separated from the belt itself. I have some Sungold belts of the same vintage and they stayed together.

Anyhow, anyone else run in to this problem?

John

Reply to
John Grossbohlin
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There was a thread on this exact thing last Nov. Subject: Klingspor Sanding Belts / $29 for 30 belts (!?) Art

Reply to
Artemus

Just went back and found that thread... ignored it at the time as I don't do much sanding of wood and it had probably been 10-11 years since I used the belt sander! I'm a plane/scraper guy with wood and only use the belt sander for things like taking finish/paint off flat surfaces like cabinet doors and sections of floors... Wish I knew about the CA glue trick before now!

John

Reply to
John Grossbohlin

YES!!!! I bought several 'packs' of belts from them and hardly used my belt sander. When I did they seperated at the seam right away after only several minutes of use. I sent them back and complained. They sent me 1 new one to replace the 6 I sent in and told me it was "out of courtesy" and that the belts were over 8 years old. i didn't realize that they had a shelf life. So now I just buy em retail if I need some. Mail order isn't worth the hassle for something I don't use much.

"John Grossbohlin" wrote in news:da2dnetAK79_Ld3QnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.com:

Reply to
garage woodworker

------------------------------------------- Belts definitely have a shelf life.

Have experienced the same problem with some old belts given to me.

I only use 3x24, 24 grit belts since I'm using the B/S as an abrasive cutting tool.

Tried a few different brands, but not Klingspor, and finally found Pearl which worked well.

Bought 3 boxes/10/box (30 total) at a time which was a good price break.

About $10/box from memory.

Worked with a local hardware store.

They would use my order to make minimum orders with Pearl, a Canuck outfit with a warehouse here in Los angeles, so everybody was happy.

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

I was using the belt sander a lot in a renovation project when I bought the belts so I bought in bulk. I'll buy 'em a few at a time now that I know about the self life problem...

John

Reply to
John Grossbohlin

Funny, I've got some planes that are a good 60-70+ years old and they still work fine... wonder what the shelf life is on them? ;~)

John

Reply to
John Grossbohlin

I did and the answer made me blush. I hadn't noticed the arrow indicating proper belt direction. When I put another of the old ones on the -right- way, it is lasting well.

Some belts are bi-directional, others aren't. Remember to check!

-- Ask not what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive... then go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. -- Howard Thurman

Reply to
Larry Jaques

------------------------------- Depends on the attached power supply.

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

"John Grossbohlin" wrote in message news:da2dnetAK79_Ld3QnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.com...

JG:

I received a bounty of helpful answers re repairing broken belts on this newsgroup in the thread inaugurated on 7.16.10 under the heading "Belt Sander Belt Tape".

Thanks again to the very helpful folks in response.

Regards,

Edward Hennessey

Reply to
Edward Hennessey

New power supplies are a dime a dozen, but the planes sell for lots on eBay to nouveau Yuppies.

Plane lifetimes are measured in centuries...if kept dry.

-- Ask not what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive... then go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. -- Howard Thurman

Reply to
Larry Jaques

They were definitely mounted correctly.... I think I've only had one bi-directional belt and it was a freebie that the vendor included with the belt sander when I bought it. I'm conditioned to look for the arrow!

BTW, the Sungolds are holding up just fine despite being a good decade old...

John

Reply to
John Grossbohlin

I haven't got anything radically new to add to previous discussion. I have the same problem and attribute it to keeping new belts beyond their usefull shelf life. Manufacturers don't seem willing to alert their customers to this problem. I agree with Garage Woodworks. Buy them in small quantities on an as needed basis. Retail cost should be less than throwing away unused but failed belts.

Joe G

Reply to
GROVER

Why throw away unused belts when you can easily glue them back together, good as new?

Reply to
Jack Stein

My 6x48" belts are well over 20 years old and they do fail. I "temporarily" glued one together hoping I could get through a small job I was doing without running out to buy belts. That was 6 months to a year ago and the damned belt has many hours on it, and works good as new. It seems it will wear out before it breaks...

Super Glue Gel, sold everywhere.

Reply to
Jack Stein

What? It's much easier to just staple them.

-- Ask not what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive... then go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. -- Howard Thurman

Reply to
Larry Jaques

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