Drum Sander Cleaning Tip
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- Опубликовано: 29 авг 2024
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An abrasive cleaning stick can go a long way toward keeping your sandpaper clean and unclogged. Why is that a big deal? Clogged sandpaper won’t sand effectively, and will probably burn your stock. This is especially true on surface sanders. However, what can you do when a simple cleaning isn’t enough? Is it possible to get those tough clogs and burns out of the paper on your drum sander? Probably. The key is in using something a little more aggressive than an abrasive cleaning stick.
WHAT’S THE MAGIC INGREDIENT?
You’re probably wondering what the trick is. If a cleaning stick won’t do it, what will? You may not expect this answer, but a piece of polycarbonate is the answer. Available at home centers, polycarbonate can do an amazing job of getting tough spots out of paper on your drum sander. The only problem with the approach? It puts a gross smell in your shop at your cleaning the sandpaper.
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TIPS ON USING A CLEANING STICK
Abrasive cleaning sticks are really incredible and work great for cleaning surface sanding belts, but there are a few good tricks for using them. Especially when they start to get small, and you don’t want to get your pinkies too close to the sanding drum.
THE FINAL PUZZLE PIECE
Knowing how to clean the abrasive on your drum sander isn’t much good if you’re not familiar with wrapping sandpaper on a surface sander. Don’t sweat it, we’re here to help you with that.
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Awesome tip. Would never got the hard stuff off my drum sandpaper had you not posted this tip. thanks a million rolls of sandpaper, ha.
This is a great technique for light clogging, but it won't work for pitch and such.
I remove the belt, role it up tight, then drop it in a wide mouth quart mason jar. The roll will loosen after you get it in the jar. Then cover the belt with a liquid cleaner. A couple of people on here said mineral spirits but I use Krud Kutter Original. You can get a gallon of it at Walmart for $18 or so. Let soak over night. Then simply rinse the crud away in the sink. Let dry and put it back on your sander good as new.
When you are finished put the lid on the jar and label it. You can use it over and over. A gallon will last a lifetime.
Thank you for the tip!
I built a sideboard out of heart pine. Completely clogged the sand paper in one pass. Took the strip off and soaked it in Simple Green, rinsed it in the sink under running water, and brushed off the residue with a nylon brush. Got to be an Ace at changing belts. 90% fell off in the Simple Green. Now to check if I have some polycarbonate scraps. Thanks for posting.
Nice tip, but it looks like you'll need lots of polycarbonate scraps, given how quickly the sander grinds them down. Also, if you collect the sawdust for other uses (eg. composting, wood filler, etc.), it will be contaminated with polycarbonate dust. I've had great success with mineral spirits and a stiff bristled brush. The mineral spirits soften the resin build-up and I simply turn the drum by hand and scrub along the length of the drum. It takes no longer than the polycarbonate method and the mineral spirits evaporate quickly . Just turn on the extractor fan and run the machine for a minute or two. The centrifugal force of the spinning drum forces the mineral spirits to the surface of the sandpaper and the suction of the dust collector speeds up the evaporation. I've even run wood through before the paper is completely dry and, unlike moisture from water, mineral spirits won't cause sawdust to build up and impair sanding.
You can see in the video that most of the polycarbonate melts. The small amount that ends up as dust will not affect your compost one bit, as it is completely inert.
I use lasercuted sheets.....always too much useless small polycarbonate pieces and use vacuum to prevent dust.....
Very Cool!! This is as amazing to me as finding the block type uncloggers YEARS ago... Thank You, great tip... I am now subscribed. I came in looking at the post drill, I have one that I got for $17 at an auction a few years back.
Wow!!!Great Tips!!!!!!! Amazing to see the improvement!!!!
Thank You! I've cleared my bench disc sander with the cleaning stick but wasn't sure if it was the thing to use on my drum sander.
Also if you can smell the polycarbonate then you're likely inhaling it. I recommend wearing a dust mask.
I will have to give it a go
Thanks for the tip!
Great tip. Thank you
I wish I had known about this trick earlier. I've had lots of paper I ended of throwing away due to all that build up
We’ve been having a lot of issues with our drum sander. I’ve worked one for years and I have experienced that one wood that burns easily on the sander is purple heart. I was sanding a piece of fence cedar at a slow in a feed speed and this guy said, “slow speed burns the belt.” I think he’s confused. The reason a lot of belts are ruined is to much downward pressure no matter the speed. The other reason is wet glue. What is your opinion on speed?
On my wide belts I've used simple green for years
I would be interested to know exactly how you use simple green to clean the abrasive? Thanks!
Hey Chuck I just buy the concentrate in a gallon ...dilute it with water in to a spray bottle...then spray the belt but use a cheap scrub brush let it soak say 10 minutes and scrub away rinse with clean water and let air dry.
So you mean lexan. Plexiglass will not work?
Hi. I find this works best with polycarbonate products. Lexan is typically polycarbonate, but it would be good to double check. Thanks Paul-Woodworkers Guild of America
Not intuitive at all, how did you come up with that idea George?? Gotta try it.
Well now problem solved