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About
About
Any woodworker will tell you, they love it but HATE sanding, it takes forever and is super boring! The drum sander is one of those luxury items that cut your time in half. There are smaller versions on the market these days, but this tool is usually only found in professional workshops, not garages. Wide belt sanders excel at flattening or smoothing lumber. A planer can be used for the same purpose, but planers can cause tear out on difficult grain. A wide belt sander will never cause tear out. Special precautions must be taken with the wide belt sander because the machine is not as robust as the planer.
Safety
Safety
You must be checked out on this machine before using it. Check with the instructor for detailed instructions before using the abrasive sander.
The wide belt sander is for finish smoothing only. It should not be used for removing more than 1/16” of material TOTAL, by making several light passes through the sander. Each pass should be about the thickness of a piece of notebook paper. If you must remove more than 1/16” of material, use the planer first.
Follow the setup instructions on the machine every time. If anything is out of adjustment, ask the instructor for assistance.
If the tracking is out of adjustment, the belt will not oscillate. It will move to one side of the machine and hit a limit switch, stopping the machine. If this happens, as the instructor for assistance in adjusting the tracking mechanism.
Always start with the coarsest grit available. Attempting to dimension lumber with finer grits will overwork and ruin the abrasive belt.
The depth of cut should be 1/16 of a turn of the wheel at a time.
Always leave the machine with the coarsest grit installed.
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