Anyone ever replaced the velcro wrap on a Woodmaster drum sander?

[Jeremy Rayburn]

I goofed and ran a live edge slab through my Woodmaster without checking for any splits that may get loose in there, so then I made a nice groove in the velcro around the drum and shredded my sandpaper. Anyway, I ordered a new strap of velcro, and finally got around to replacing it. I swear it would be easier to drag this thing to my truck and drive it back to Woodmaster, than taking this old velcro off!! I am pulling as hard as I can to get this stuff off, but it is a SLOW process. Anyone had any success in doing this??

[Jerry Todd]

Have you contacted Woodmaster? Their customer service is outstanding. Bet their techs could help you.

[Jeremy Rayburn]

Okay so maybe 1/4 was a bit optimistic, it's more like 1/8 of the way done. And if this backing is so sticky, am I going to have just one shot on putting it on straight? I've never gotten the paper on perfectly the first try...

[David DeCristoforo]

It's easy to replace. WM can provide the velcro. It's "peel and stick". You can tape one end down and check the wrap before you peel the backing and stick it to the drum.

[Jeremy Rayburn]

I actually already have the velcro, and the Woodmaster tech guy said to try Goo Gone. Not sure how well that will work though since I'm pretty sure the Goo Gone won't seep through the velcro to loosen the goop underneath.

[Leigh Betsch]

I just replaced mine 2 weeks ago. It pretty much sucks. I used a heat gun to warm up the adhesive so I could get the Velcro off. The heat gun worked great but it left all the adhesive on the drum. Watch out and don't burn you shop down with all the dust in the same area. So now I had all the adhesive to get off. The manual says to use a paint stripper, I believe it's called Strip Ease. It works but it is very messy. I was worried that I would get it all over the rubber rollers and ruin them so I pulled them out of the machine, but left the drum installed cause I didn't want to have problems with the drum alignment if I pulled it out also. The problem was I couldn't get the pinch rollers reinstalled after I had put new Velcro on the drum. So I ended up loosening the drum anyway so I could get the pinch rollers back in. The drum actually located just fine and I didn't have any problems with drum alignment after I was all done.
Next time I would just go ahead and pull the drum out, use a heat gun to soften the adhesive so I could get the Velcro off, then use a paint stripper on the drum when it is out of the machine. The drum is actually pretty easy to get out. But first I would call Woodmaster and see what they recommend.
You might want to check your belts also. When I wrecked my Velcro I also caused the belts to stretch so they caused vibration. On my 38" they are a matched set so I just replaced them both, $24 if I remember correctly, from Woodmaster.

[David DeCristoforo]

"...than taking this old velcro off..."

OK... Sorry... spaced that part out! Lacquer thinner will make short work of the adhesive. Put some in a squeeze bottle and as you peel the velcro, dribble it right where the velcro is peeling off of the drum. It should come off pretty easily. Put some newspaper down on the conveyer to catch any drips.

[Jeremy Rayburn]

I do have lacquer thinner, so I think I'll try that tomorrow. Would rather not pull it all apart if I don't have too.

[Jim Tobias]

Dave is right on. I had to do this about a year ago and unless you use something (lacquer thinner) to loosen the adhesive, it would be a bear to get off. You will have a little clean up to do on the drum afterwards, but not too bad.

Jim

[Pete Shermet]

I don't know if this will work in this situation but in Aircraft modeling we use a slight misting of water when putting covering on covering (it's like trying to handle a large piece of packing tape and getting the two adhesive sides stuck to each other if you don't) the water allows us to slide the covering into position and once the water evaporates or dries off the covering is stuck like s*it to a baby's blanket.
Just a thought .
Best Regards
Pete

[Jeremy Rayburn]

FYI, the goo gone worked great. Had the velcro off in about 5 minutes with very little residue left on the drum itself.

[Steve Clardy]

I installed WM's velcro kit on my 24" grizzly when I had it.

Its a bugger to remove, I tell ya.

I used lacquer thinner to remove it. Peel ot back some then apply thinner and keep pulling. You'll be at it a while.

[Leigh Betsch]

Wish I had ask before using the heat gun, I had a real mess getting the glue off the drum.

[Jeremy Rayburn]

The goo gone loosened it enough to make the velcro come off easy, but the lacquer thinner cleaned the residue off the drum better. Hopefully I won't have to do this again for a LONG time.

[Robert LaPlaca]

Jeremy,

I contacted Woodmaster technical support, on exactly this question.

Woodmaster said the best way to remove the glue from the existing velco was to use a Methylene Chloride paint stripper! I decide that I would attempt to get some further mileage out of the orginal velco before undertaking the removal..

[Lewis Perry]

I just replaced mine on a 38 inch about a month ago. I found laquer thinner worked better than goo-gone for me.. Just took a lot of elbow grease to get the glue off the drum. The velcro went back on the drum without too much hassle. I love my woodmaster!

[Larry Menzel]

Looks like a long time since this was discussed. I, too, screwed up feeding my sander, tore the sandpaper and bunged up the velcro.

What a pain. That velcro is hard to remove, and the glue! THE GLUE! So damn sticky. Tried Xylene, Acetone, Mineral Spirits, 90% isopropyl alcohol, heat gun...nothing.

So I figured I'd get creative. Wear gloves...the kind that resist oils and solvents! I mixed 50/50 Acetone and Mineral Spirits...stirred it up a bit as they separate, and went at it. I soaked the glue with the mixture and left it alone for about 10 minutes. When I came back it was a starting to loosen a bit. So, continually dipping the rag, as well as swirling the mixture, and using a clean spot on the rag every time, I was able, in about 45 minutes, to get all than nasty glue off the roller and ready for a new velcro pad.

FWIW