Sander conveyor dressing?

John Rutter

Member
Messages
59
Location
Pacific Northwest
OK, the sander was up and running today. We blasted 50 doors through in next to no time. Once the various belt samples arrive, I'll nail down my grit sequence and get things calibrated. The platen needs some new graphite due to a few small gouges, but we can work around those spots for now.

The other issue that I need to deal with QUICKLY is a stiff and slick conveyor belt. (There is no visible wear on the conveyor, but the top of the grid seems hardened by oxidation and/or light exposure.) Shorter parts tend to get hung up between the heads as the conveyor travels past below them.

I've heard that you can dress the feed belt using one of the contact drums. Raise the bed as far as possible, then lower the drum onto the belt as it runs.

Is this process more for compensating for wear, or can I get back to a more resilient rubber by removing the top layer?

Alternately, is there any chemical that will soften the rubber without leaving any surface residue?

Thanks,
JR
 
OK, the sander was up and running today. We blasted 50 doors through in next to no time. Once the various belt samples arrive, I'll nail down my grit sequence and get things calibrated. The platen needs some new graphite due to a few small gouges, but we can work around those spots for now.

The other issue that I need to deal with QUICKLY is a stiff and slick conveyor belt. (There is no visible wear on the conveyor, but the top of the grid seems hardened by oxidation and/or light exposure.) Shorter parts tend to get hung up between the heads as the conveyor travels past below them.

I've heard that you can dress the feed belt using one of the contact drums. Raise the bed as far as possible, then lower the drum onto the belt as it runs.

Is this process more for compensating for wear, or can I get back to a more resilient rubber by removing the top layer?

Alternately, is there any chemical that will soften the rubber without leaving any surface residue?

Thanks,
JR

John, you are right with saying that you can dress the conveyor belt with the contact drum. Shorter parts are always a problem, the distance between two pressure rollers (placed between the contact drums), tells you how short your parts can be.
 
jr,
for a quick fix turn on the conveyor and sand it with your r/o sander, don`t try to take off any just break the glaze.....but hitting it with the belt is the right way.
you`ll have to bypass the safety stops on the table in order to bring the belt into contact with the conveyor.
 
Well, my compromise was to throw some serious solvents at it by holding a roller brush on the underside of the belt at the outfeed (to keep it from filling the waffle holes), then hitting it with the ROS. It is now tacky enough to feed well unless I'm taking off too much. The stiffer belt may actually be more accurate for some tasks.

I finally had enough time with my head above water to dial in the drum and platen position for the combi head. I also calibrated the auto positioner to the new settings. It may be a gimmik, but being able to pull the contact points up via switch on the front panel is very cool. With a little creativity, it will let me run different grits for different processes and keep accuracy without adjusting anything.
 
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