DELTA 31-260X burning boards.

[Jim E Powell]

DELTA 31-260X burning boards.</SPAN>

I just got the 260X and am having some problems with it. Before buying it, I read up on what other people had to say about the sander. One comment that stuck in my mind was “this is a sander not a planner”. So when I got the 260x setup and looked at the included sanding belts they are 80 grit and 120 grit. If you’re not going to use it as a planner what do you do with 80 grit sand paper? J

I’m using the machine as a sander to sand cherry wood. The 120 grit seemed a little to coarse for the first sanding. The 180 grit belts are about 1 inch to short! The box says Delta on it. So I am forced to go from a 120 to 220. The boards’ mic out at .780 on one side and .767 on the other after sanding with 120 sandpaper. After sanding with 220 sandpaper they are .775 and 766. This is after 3 passed through the sander. Do I need to spend more time adjusting the sander? I didn’t have the calibers when I ran the board through with the 120 and made some adjustments to the table during the process.

When I run the boards through with the 220 grit on the 1st pass I just let the board touch the wood to make sure that there are not any high spots. The next 2 passes I raise the sanding table about 1/8 of a crank. I’m still getting burn spots. Is it the sugar in the cherry wood? Should I just give up on the 220 grit and go to a 180 grit and finish them off with a orbital sander. How do I clean the sanding belts?

Has anyone used the 180 grit paper? Were they the right length? Where did you get them?

I’m going to be finishing them with tung oil.

Thanks,


Jim

[David DeCristoforo]

You hit the nail right on the head. Quit at 180 and finish "by hand" from there. Sanding woods like cherry or maple which are prone to burning anyway is tough with a small machine. You need a lot of power and a long belt to dissipate the heat. A small belt or drum sander will burn every time at the very fine grits regardless of your feed rate.

[Dave Cohen]

also when i sand end grain boards on the same machine, I only can go about 1/16 turn

[Jim E Powell]

Thanks for the replies David and Dave. I feel like I have been stumbling around with trying to learn how to use this sander and the cherry wood adds to the difficulty. I have had burn marks develop after a 1/16th of a turn. Finally gave up this weekend and ordered 150 and 180 grit abrasive strips (http://www.abrasivesales.com/quickord.asp) today. I hope I ordered the right stuff.

This morning I checked another store locally to see if their 180 strips were the correct length and they were short also—3/4 to 1 inch. Delta must have changed the clips that hold the strips from the 255 to the 260 models?

[Anthony Whitesell]

DELTA 31-260X burning boards.

I just got the 260X and am having some problems with it. Before buying it, I read up on what other people had to say about the sander. One comment that stuck in my mind was “this is a sander not a planner”. So when I got the 260x setup and looked at the included sanding belts they are 80 grit and 120 grit. If you’re not going to use it as a planner what do you do with 80 grit sand paper?

I can only figure the coarse grits are for cleaning rough cut wood. I tried 36G to clean a board that was too short for the jointer. One of the two reasons I purchased a drum sander was to be able to prep boards less than 14" long (the shortest that my Delta planer will accept). Even with the 36G, it only removes 1/8 to 1/4 of the material per pass that the planer can. Plus, you have to progress through all the grits to get to a usable board (ie., change the belt 5 or 6 times 36-80-120-150-180-220).


I’m using the machine as a sander to sand cherry wood. The 120 grit seemed a little to coarse for the first sanding. The 180 grit belts are about 1 inch to short! The box says Delta on it. So I am forced to go from a 120 to 220. The boards’ mic out at .780 on one side and .767 on the other after sanding with 120 sandpaper. After sanding with 220 sandpaper they are .775 and 766. This is after 3 passed through the sander. Do I need to spend more time adjusting the sander?
That depends. How wide are the boards? If they're 2" wide, then yes, If they are 16" wide, I might leave it.


I didn’t have the calibers when I ran the board through with the 120 and made some adjustments to the table during the process.

When I run the boards through with the 220 grit on the 1st pass I just let the board touch the wood to make sure that there are not any high spots. The next 2 passes I raise the sanding table about 1/8 of a crank. I’m still getting burn spots. Is it the sugar in the cherry wood? Should I just give up on the 220 grit and go to a 180 grit and finish them off with a orbital sander. How do I clean the sanding belts?
Rockler sells an abrasive cleaning stick for ~$9. A little steep for the size but they're often on sale which brings them to reasonable price or good deal range.


Has anyone used the 180 grit paper? Were they the right length? Where did you get them?
I don't have the Delta but I have the Jet/Performax, so I can't comment on the belt length or where to get them. On the Jet I have used most of the grits from 36 to 220. You need lots of good DC to run the sander, especially the finer grits. If you've used the belt a bunch, a cleaning may solve some of the burning problem by removing some of the sawdust that could burn. Once the belt has a burn stripe, it won't help to clean it. I've spent to the time to unclog one but it still leaves a brown mark on the wood.

I don't know what one turn of the Delta or Jet crank equates to in linear inches, but with 220G on the Jet my absolute max is 1/8 of a turn, usually more like 1/16" but I also tend to run a high feed rate (a little impatience I guess).


I’m going to be finishing them with tung oil.
Thanks,


Jim

[Anthony Whitesell]

I found an online copy of the this months sale flyer in my email. The cleaning stick are 2-for-1 at $8.99 until Jan 30, 2009.