Cleaning drum sander belts HELP!!!

[Mike Wilkins]

Made the mistake of running some pine through my double drum sander as a first test of a new machine, and ended up with pine pitch on the drums. Most of the stuff came off using the eraser-type cleaners made for this. But there is some melted/baked/stuck material that just refuses to loosen with these type cleaners. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Jim Finn]

try using the eraser type cleaners in reverse. Have to do it by hand but it just may knock some of that gunk loose.

[jim mills]

I soaked some in simple green once and it cleaned 'em up nice.

[Bill Huber]

I am not sure it would work on a sander like yours but these are great for cleaning up sanding belts and pads.

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=5518&filter=sanding%20belt%20cleaner

[Jerome Hanby]

try using the eraser type cleaners in reverse. Have to do it by hand but it just may knock some of that gunk loose.

Would turning the belts around do the same thing, but not have to do it by hand?

[Mark Rakestraw]

I too have had good luck with the simple green. You'll either need a lot of it or poor some in a flat pan and work in section, soaking for a couple hours then a stiff bristle brush under the hose. Save what you have in a container that you can just drop your sawblades in from time to time to clean the pitch off of them also.
Mark

[Ira Matheny]

Although I have never tried to do so, I have been told 'Cloth-Backed' belts will clean using a pressure washer. 40o nozzel held back. Of course, the belts must be removed from the machine.
I will be trying this soon, as I have one belt on the drum sander that is getting bad and the eraser is not doing a good job of cleaning.

[Ed Labadie]

The pressure washer is the only thing I use for cleaning drum sander paper. Works great.

IMO, the eraser thingies are a waste of time on a large machine.

Ed

[jim mills]

The pressure washer is the only thing I use for cleaning drum sander paper. Works great.

IMO, the eraser thingies are a waste of time on a large machine.

Ed

+1
They don't seem to remove anything that a puff of air wouldn't remove for me.

[Kevin Gregoire]

Don't throw away those loaded, poly-cotton backed abrasive belts.
With J.E. Moser's® Abrasive Belt Cleaner you can remove built up pitch,
resin and wood fibers, so you can get more use out of every belt:
http://woodworker.com/abrasive-belt-cleaner-mssu-920-872.asp?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=IRW32D
on sale $14.25/gal


http://woodworker.com/images/ss/920-872.jpg