Cleaning a drum sander

Rennie Heuer

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Other than replacing the paper, does anyone know of a good way to clean off a drum sander belt so it does not burn the object being sanded?
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I use one of those big crepe rubber erasers.

Seems to work good on most things except when cherry gets burnt on it real good.
 
I have soaked some of my strips in Simple Green overnight and then scrubbed them clean in the sink or plastic tub with a good stiff brush. Gets most of the burned on residue off. Rinse well and hang them to dry. Seems to work out OK.
 
another note. if its not the glue and its burning the passes are too aggressive for the grit being used. If you need to take that much off go to the next or even 2 grits courser and take shallower passes I learned that the hard way with my woodmaster now I start at 80 and go from there. it actually takes less time than the way I originally used to do it and I get a long time out of each wrap. (pine and other resiny woods excepted they gum up just looking at them)
 
When I had my performax sander, the best solution I found was to lay the strips out on the driveway and power wash. Simple green if a solvent was required, then rinse and dry in the sun.

I gave up on the eraser game. It made the belts look pretty, taking off the light dust that didn't matter, but it didn't help the hard stuff that was causing the problem.
 
I use one of those big crepe rubber erasers.

Just about wore one of those out. Cleans the belt well except for the hard, glossy, crusty stuff.

Bingo. Pause in your sanding more often to clean and avoid the burned on stuff altogether. I know its tough to stop when you are really running through the steps but, its easier. I just lift the lid and lightly run the rubber over the surface end to end, close the lid and go back at it. The longer you run at a time, the hotter things get and the more often you should pause to clean. All that being of no help once you have what is shown in the pic; I pick at it with an awl and scrub with a fine wire brush. If it is stubborn, a soaking will often help. Prevention is easier but, we all let it get away from us now and again.
 
I've tried probably 4-5 methods of trying to recover just such a belt, and was never successful. the big crepe thing is good, and works if you use it often enough....but once it reaches the stage in your pic, it's pretty much there to stay. So other things i've tried is soaking them (once in Simple Green, aopther time in mineral spirits), that didn't work./ So I even tried to pick all the small pieces of glaze off with a dental pick, got it cleaned as good as I could, then it clogged right back up. I've given up on saving the belts...the best thing is prevention. For prevention, I've done the normal things: no more fine grits (150 is the finest I'll use, more often it's 120), no soft wood through the planer, very light cuts, and a slow feed rate. Still I manage to burn 'em every now and then.
 
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