Replacement Belt For Performax/Jet Sander

[Ken Krawford]

I have a Performax 16/32 sander and the belt just self-destructed. In searching older threads, I came upon a discussion of rubber belts. http://accuramachinetools.com/replacement-conveyor-belt-for-accuraryobiperformax-etc-1632-sa.html
My current belt lasted 13 yrs so I'm not too concerned about durability. Does the rubber offer any other advantages over the cloth ones?

[Curt Harms]

If a sandpaper wrap got loose and abraded the belt, I believe I'd sooner replace with a $35 conveyor belt from Supergrit than a $99 rubber belt.

[Jeff Duncan]

If your belt lasted 13 years I'm guessing your not doing a whole lot of sanding. In such a case I'd stick with the cheaper sandpaper belts. In the short time I owned that sander my belt lasted maybe a year at most. When I sold it, and I had it less than 18 months, the new belt was already starting to fray. Of course I was using it daily so if they had a rubber belt at the time it would have been an easy decision.;)

good luck,
JeffD

[Ken Krawford]

Thanks for the replies. I just ordered the cloth backed belt. It is 120 grit and I noticed that my old 3M belt is 100 grit. I wonder if that will make much of a difference?