I’ve been trying to write this article for a while, but it is not an easy one to write. My bias has always been toward the widebelt and I want to be sure to state my bias up front. You cannot write about these things unless you have opinions. Take them for what they are worth to you.
There is something that must be understood up front, and then you will understand my bias. A particular sandpaper grit can only remove a maximum amount of material without damaging the abrasive. When you exceed this maximum your abrasive life suffers, but more importantly your stain color consistency also suffers. Polishing or crushing the surface grain structure hurts stain penetration. Use enough grit to remove the material you need to flatten the surface without a lot of heat and pressure.
Short deep scratches are harder to remove than long shallow scratches. This can mean a lot more Random Orbital sanding, often starting with a pretty coarse grit. Oversanding with a RO has plenty of issues of it’s own. Less RO sanding time is a big deal all around.
Drum sander Pros:
Inexpensive
Small Foot Print
Easy to move around in a small shop
Simple to use and maintain
great for smaller piece because the hold down rollers are so close together
Drum sander Cons:
Sandpaper changes take longer
Design encourages using less grit steps because of paper change time
Short scratch pattern (greater depth)
Greater depth of scratch takes much more time to sand out with Random Orbital sander
Less sandpaper surface area means quicker sandpaper wear.
Widebelt sander Pros:
Much faster paper changes
Greater versatility because it is easier to use multiple grit changes per project
Much larger abrasive surface area for less loading and cooler cutting
Combination heads offer both drum and platen
Combination heads can be used as a drum alone, platen alone, or in combination
Platen is a larger surface area for less scratch depth
Less scratch depth means faster hand sanding with Random Orbital sander
Widebelt Cons:
More expensive
Larger footprint
Cannot be easily moved
Higher power requirements
Higher dust collection requirements
More complex
Longer distance between hold down rollers so smaller pieces must run end to end.
On the bright side, it’s pretty hard to make a single head widebelt sander that doesn’t work very well. The old green Timesaver single heads are everywhere and they were very decent machines. I recommend having the drum recovered or turned and balanced with new bearings before putting an old single head sander back into service. Make sure the drum diameter is close to the right diameter. These old machines can be as cheap as new drum sanders but with much more versatility and less cost per piece.
Grit Max stock removal
60 0.035”
80 0.024”
100 0.017”
120 0.010”
150 0.006”
180 0.004”
220 0.002”
Adam West
Techdude@surfprepsanding.com
