For why you no tell me sanding belt?

[J Tiers]

do you know what kind of cubitron belt you got? (theres about 20 varieties.)

947A 80 grit.

EDIT: Web link https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-...3241510&rt=rud

[Bob Engelhardt]

Thanks Bob, I'm going to copy that page with pics to my drive. I likely won't follow it slavishly just for the simple reasons of adapting to suit material on hand. ...

Using what's on hand is a driving principle for most of what I do. And it's more fun incorporating your own ideas.

I'm also seeing a lot of decently approachable prices for large contact wheels on Amazon. I'll likely go for a couple of the rubber coated serrated wheels. There's a 200mm (8") and 100mm (4") and from there I'll make my own all aluminium 1.5" and 1" "rollers" for doing tighter inside details on curves where needed.

I would definitely buy a contact wheel(s). When I started I had no idea how hard it would be to put a tire on it. I must have gone through 5 or 6 failed variations.

A flaw in the design is that the belt is too close to the support column. When the belt drifts a little to the right it rubs the column & has actually cut a grove in it. 'Doesn't affect how it works, but looks bad & is embarrassing.

[BCRider]

…..Doesn't affect how it works, but looks bad & is embarrassing.

LOL! I read you loud and clear ! ! ! So much of our shop time is spent navigating the field of land mines just to avoid this one simple fact, eh?

Thanks for the extra closeup and warning. I'll keep that in mind and space the wheels to protect the paint ! ! ! !

[dian]

947A 80 grit.

EDIT: Web link https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-...3241510&rt=rud

that grade seems to be for light grinding. and removes stock so fast? a 984/967F would probably make it disappear. i bought some ceramic belts from an italian manufacturer, but even the 36 gritt is not exeptionally fast. maybe i should try glowes to give it more pressure. (unfortunately cubitron belts are not available here in small quantities.)

[Danl]

I have that same Delta 1"x30" belt sander and use it a LOT. I got it for $15 at a garage sale, and it needed a little tinkering, but it has been very useful. My homebuilt 2"x72" belt grinder has caused me to sell my 10 inch (40 year old) wheel grinder my F-I-L made for me in the '70's. I also have a 4"x 36" HF that took a lot of work to make dependable and flexible.

I do still have one bench grinder I got from my Dad years ago. I keep a wire wheel on it which I do still use occasionally.

This is a great thread. It did cause me to spend some $ on a couple conditioning belts, but I'm not griping!

Thanks, Jerry, for starting this thread.

Dan

[Sparky_NY]

I have that same Delta 1"x30" belt sander and use it a LOT. I got it for $15 at a garage sale, and it needed a little tinkering, but it has been very useful. My homebuilt 2"x72" belt grinder has caused me to sell my 10 inch (40 year old) wheel grinder my F-I-L made for me in the '70's. I also have a 4"x 36" HF that took a lot of work to make dependable and flexible.

I do still have one bench grinder I got from my Dad years ago. I keep a wire wheel on it which I do still use occasionally.

This is a great thread. It did cause me to spend some $ on a couple conditioning belts, but I'm not griping!

Thanks, Jerry, for starting this thread.

Dan

DO report back on the metal conditioning belts ! I wish I knew about them years ago.

[J Tiers]

I'm still using the original belt on the sander, and it is still eating metal when I want it to.

Just used it to round the corners on the pipes I put flattened ends on with the die I made. It did the whole lot of 12 ends fast enough for anyone. "Light grinding"....LOL.... does as heavy as that machine will take.

So no worries (as someone expressed above) about it wearing out fast. I'm starting to wonder if I will need to replace it before the adhesive join on the second one goes bad.

[JRouche]

The 6x48" or whatever it is called was a turning point with metal work for me.

I got the HF unit brand new and was amazed (1999). A sander can really be used on metal.

Its all in the belt. 3M Ha! I should own stock at this point. As good as it gets. JR



And Nonsense ensues. Sorry Not really..

I had been around woodworking my entire life. Jet, Delta and other home shop six inch sanders were only ever used on wood.

I used to make income running a 24" radial arm saw. The worst part of that summer job, yeah, I was a kid was it was Redwood. The entire place was redwood.

Splinters? Hahaha. I was a sheetmetal worker, got cut lots. I would trade a year of that for a month sawing redwood with the 24" radial arm saw. Ooh, I got good with it cause the owner asked me back for the next year.

Redwood splinters need to come out and there is no hurry, no like cactus but they wont rot, think of a SS sliver vs a mild steel sliver. Let the mild get ate buy the body but the SS needs to come out. Same thing.

Love red wood, as a tree please If you dont take it out it will get real funky, easier to snatch.

P.S> Sorry laughing at myself.

The 24" saw took as much time to come up to sped as to slow down, it was a dino. I was15 years old and maybe 98lbs. Not kidding.

So I am over there at the saw table, they just pointed and said go. I chit you not. And dummy me got his first job, real job.

Stepped up, yes platform and looked at the 35 foot long table for this arm saw. Then saw the motor, then the arm and saw.

They pointed at a stack of new stuff, customer cut sheet with it.

Make a stop ten or so feet down the table and get to cross cutting. Big chunks and good ol 24 never bogged, less it was friday, had job 2 to get to. For real.

The new stuff never stopped coming. No breaks huh. For the entire summer. Then back to school.

Chop Saw peeps? This lil 24 radial Arm Saw was fun. JR

Sorry. My point. Doesn't seem like folks have the desire to thrive anymore.

I am not a poster child type of do this. Heck, I am not even schooled much less house broken..

I was part of this cult... young entrepreneurs. JR

[metalmagpie]

3M doesnt screw around with the Cubitron belts, theyre pretty expensive compared to other options but they really do eat metal. Nortons Blaze belts are the same way, they make your money disappear as fast as your metal!

I used Norton Blaze belts for some time, then moved to Cubitron. The Cubitrons last a fair amount longer.

[J Tiers]

I am still using the same cubitron belt now, and it is still doing the job.

I took a good deal of CI off the handles from the Benchmaster project.. They looked almost flame-cut originally, and they got smoothed down nicely in a fairly short time. I still had to hold back doing some parts, because the belt would cut a groove otherwise.

The belt seems smoother but is still cutting well. Given the amount of metal I was taking off, both from the sides, and in rounding the ends, I laid into it with some pressure, and the metal did get hot, but the belt still did more removing than I expected. More was removed than it looks like in the pics. The belt did pretty well smoothing as well, the larger diameter I worked on a bit to get a better finish, using the non-supported part of the belt. Worked well, especially for 80 grit.

Before


After


Painted, prime plus topcoat

[garyhlucas]

The non woven finishing belts are great. I worked at a shop with a busted 6x48 belt sander and we had no work. I had a machinist repair it and put a finishing belt on it. After that everything that was getting anodized went on that sander and saved a ton of hand finishing.

I have the aluminum foundry and I was thinking of casting a frame with a built in guard that would bolt on a bench grinder using the regular guard bolt holes. It would take a 1” x 30” belt but have way more power than the little HF unit.

[eKretz]

It is interesting to hear some say that 3M Cubitrons last longer than Norton Blaze belts. I have used both in the past quite a lot, and in my experience they are about equivalent. I have noticed that in certain grits one may have a very slight edge over the other, but they are both outstanding. Belt speed can make a big difference also. These abrasives stay sharp longer in terms of time in use when run slower, but they are meant to be pushed hard - both are intended to have their abrasive particles fracture away in use to provide a sort of self-sharpening mechanism. With lower belt speeds you have to use a lot more pressure to get this to happen.

[Sparky_NY]

The non woven finishing belts are great. I worked at a shop with a busted 6x48 belt sander and we had no work. I had a machinist repair it and put a finishing belt on it. After that everything that was getting anodized went on that sander and saved a ton of hand finishing.

I have the aluminum foundry and I was thinking of casting a frame with a built in guard that would bolt on a bench grinder using the regular guard bolt holes. It would take a 1” x 30” belt but have way more power than the little HF unit.

Might be talking about the same thing but a couple years ago I tried some "metal conditioning" belts. Wow ! Wish I knew about those years ago. They are sort of like scotch bite with abrasive embedded in them. I have 3 grits and they can bring a piece of metal to near mirror finish as well as being great for deburring etc.

Jerry..... Now that you tried and believe in Cubitron belts, try one of those metal conditioning belts, you won't believe what you have been missing out on.