Anyone use 3M 'Regalite' sanding belts?

[John Loftis]

Hey folks, I was at Louis & Co. the other day buying some hardware and decided that while I was there I would grab some sanding belts for my 4X24 belt sander. In the past, I've always gotten traditional aluminum oxide belts from Industrial Abrasives for $1.50 each. They've worked fine, but I'm receptive if there's better stuff out there. So the guy at the counter tells me he's got purple 3M Regalite belts that come in a 5-pack, for $10. I decide to give them a shot. After he printed my invoice, I realized he meant $10 PER BELT, not $10 per box. I asked him if the sand paper sang love songs or made coffee. Too rich for my blood, so I returned them. (I've since gone online and found them for 'as little' as $5-6 per belt on Amazon)

I've also noticed that the demo rooms for some industrial tool sellers use the purple belts in their wide belt sanders.

So... I'm wondering if there are those of you out there who have used these Regalite belts. I'm not sure which adage applies better here: "You get what you pay for," or P.T. Barnum's, "There's a sucker born every minute."

Any thoughts?

BTW, I'm belt sanding end grain and face grain hard maple, cherry, and walnut.

[Jim Andrew]

The problem with belt sander belts, is that the tape that holds the joint together doesn't last as long as the abrasive. The purple belts are long life belts, but they are taped like all the other belts. 3M went with the taped joints after using the overlapped joint for years, those overlapped joints were hard to break.

[John Loftis]

That's an interesting observation, Jim. I haven't tracked it, but I would guess I get maybe 10-15 minutes of good hardwood sanding out of a belt before it starts to lose its grit. I'm sure I could keep using (and I probably have) a belt beyond that, but there's definitely a point of diminishing return. On the Industrial Abrasives belts, I've probably had the tape line fail on 2-3 out of the last 100 belts.

[Mike Heidrick]

Could you add a strip of gorilla tape and reinforce the bonding tape?

[peter gagliardi]

3m are way, way overpriced. There are plenty of excellent brands out there for way less. I have used the product in the past , it came in a job lot at auction. 3m are premium in price only in my opinion. I buy a few thousand dollars worth of abrasives per year for my shop, so I've tried most of what's out there. Hermes, VSM, are good belt brands, but for my 4 x24 Milwaulkee I use Econ-Abrasives in Texas, and have for about 10-15 years.

[John Loftis]

How funny, Peter. Turns out Econ abrasives are 9 miles from my shop and I had never heard of them before. Thanks for the referral, I will give them a call some time.