OE Sander Help Needed

[Halfathumb]

I have a Steel City 16 - 32 sander. I've gone through 4 strips of sand paper trying to use it. It seems I have a heck of a time getting the trailing end (right side of drum) good and tight. Eventually it breaks in the middle of a run. I'm being very conscious to not remove to much at one time. Any suggestions on this matter?

[handi]

How does the paper attach? Hook and loop or clips?

Hate to ask, but is the drum turning in the right direction and if yes, is the paper wound correctly? The "end" of the paper should be turning so that even if it comes loose, it will be forced back to the drum when contacting the wood. It would flap and shred the very end.

If your drum is hook and loop, Woodmaster recommends wrapping the very end of the paper with filament tape to keep it from catching. Works great.

Lastly, are you sure the drum is parallel to the table? If the right side were lower, that would add a lot more stress there.

Just a few thoughts,

Ralph

[Halfathumb]

handi said:

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How does the paper attach? Hook and loop or clips? Clips

Hate to ask, but is the drum turning in the right direction and if yes, is the paper wound correctly? The "end" of the paper should be turning so that even if it comes loose, it will be forced back to the drum when contacting the wood. It would flap and shred the very end.

If your drum is hook and loop, Woodmaster recommends wrapping the very end of the paper with filament tape to keep it from catching. Works great.

Lastly, are you sure the drum is parallel to the table? If the right side were lower, that would add a lot more stress there. I'll have to run some checks to make sure it's parallel.

Thanks. I've never used one before so this new to me.

Just a few thoughts,

Ralph

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[fredhargis]

Jim, I'm not familiar with that sander but I found a manual for it on line, the clip arrangement doesn't look all that different from the ones on the Delta I used to have. That said, I never (ever) had a belt break in the middle no matter what I screwed up on the installation...I'm wondering if the belts you have aren't very good ones? The manual did spend a paragraph or so on the final fastening, but mine were often not skin tight and still seemed to work OK other than occasionally one might come loose and flap around. It does look just like a Jet/early performax, is that who made them?

[Curlycherry]

Paper backed roll stock for a drum sander is pretty much worthless. You want cotton or poly backed roll stock. Some places sell the paper but I have never been able to get it to work and many manufacturers say to not use paper roll stock. The slightest tear and it falls apart.

[Halfathumb]

I bought mine at Grizzly, they are "Aluminum Oxide". I now have broke at least 5 belts with 80 & 100 grit paper. All the settings check out perfect according to the manual.
I've been running through 1 board that's 6" wide and another that's almost 17" wide. The belt brakes on the wide board. All walnut

[CARYinWA]

I would guess it is bad sandpaper also. I buy all my sandpaper from Industrial Abrasive. I hade a Grizzly 18/36 and now a SuperMax 25/50 and have never had the sandpaper break. Is the drum parallel with the Table? Maybe you are stressing one side of the drum more than the other?

[Steve N]

I get paper HERE Scroll down, you not only want cloth backed material, but you also want X weight. You will want 3" width, as 6" sounds good, but is a biotch to barberpole on. Look at the bottom of the page

Plus make sure the drum is level as suggested, but I think paper quality is your issue.

[Halfathumb]

Ok. Broke the bank on buying rolls of abrasive. I noticed with this last attempt it seems that the clamp at the end of the roll doesn't have very much grabbing power. I can slide the paper rather easily out of the slot. Is there a way to put more tension on the spring or are all of them that way?

[Halfathumb]

Does everyone else's OE have identical clips on both ends? The RH clip has almost a 1/4" space between the clip and the drum. That solves the mystery of the abrasive not staying in place. I've tried numerous fixes with no success.

darn thing!