Wide Belt question

[Rick Fisher]

I have a 25" Wide belt, it has a steel main roller.. Manufacturers offer a rubber roller at about 85 shore or a steel roller for no difference in price. My fear of a rubber roller would be damage. I have no idea how big a deal it would be to remove the main roller from a wide belt, maybe not that bad, but .. ugh ..

Does anyone have a rubber roller wide belt ? would it make that much difference in sanding quality ?

Also .. manufacturers offer pneumatic belt blowers .. wondering if these things actually work .. They appear to be a series of holes that slides side to side .. blowing compressed air against the abrasive .. I guess they would also lift up all the sediment inside the cabinet..

[Wayne Lomman]

I didn't know you could get a wide belt with a steel roller. I have used several at different shops over the years. Quality of finish was perfect. I have also spent a considerable amount of time in front of a linisher and you always have a rubber contact wheel. The odd time I have been desperate and used the steel roller on the end of the edge sander, I have had to do a lot of hand finishing. Cheers

[Rick Fisher]

I am going to order a new one .. sell the one I have.. All the MFG offer a 80 - 85 shore main roller.. or a Steel one at the same cost. I would like to go rubber.. but the one I have is steel.

I guess its a long term thinking thing.. but I bet the rubber would last 20 years .. I dunno ..

[Bill Orbine]

Does the new machine have a platen? The platen, when used on final pass, negates the marks left by the seams of the belts on a steel drum WBS. The rubber drums lasts a long time unless you knowingly or unknowingly abuse the machine.

[Rick Fisher]

It will definitely have a platen. The one I have now does .. Hmm. .. thinking ..

Steel roller is good for hogging off material .. Platen for smoothing.. If used properly .. the steel roller would rarely be a factor ..

[David Kumm]

A steel roller is common. It is better at calibration sanding and often used with a platen. Roller to make the stock completely flat and platen to change the scratch pattern. Dave

[Wayne Lomman]

The best wide belt I used was twin belt with twin contact rollers on the back belt with the platen between these. It had all rubber contact wheels. The boss's favorite trick to impress clients was to glue a piece of paper to a piece of glass and sand it off without scratching the glass. Worked every time. I used a similar machine a few years later at another shop where it had been abused and that one did a very average job. As with all machines, what you get out of them depends on how good you are at working within its limitations. Cheers

[J.R. Rutter]

I think that a lot depends on the abrasive and the machine setup. I have Steel > Rubber > Platen and use Sia paper belts. The finish off the first head alone is quite good, with just very faint shadows from the abrasive belt seam. Cannot feel them with fingers, but would need touched up with a hand sander before finishing for most applications. A platen only on the last head takes care of this...

For a single combi-head machine, the rubber drum will be softer than the first rubber drum of a multi-head machine and harder than the last rubber drum of the muti-head. It might be marginally better than the steel drum, but if you use the platen then I don't see a big advantage to switching, especially if the platen is down all the time. Maybe if you want to avoid the platen for a final pass, the rubber would be better. Or if you are mostly using finer abrasives past 120 or so, a rubber head might be better.

I've never seen a head that had a drum contact following the platen.

[Jeff Duncan]

It will definitely have a platen. The one I have now does .. Hmm. .. thinking ..

Steel roller is good for hogging off material .. Platen for smoothing.. If used properly .. the steel roller would rarely be a factor ..

Sounds like you answered your own question;) FWIW the rubber roller on my Timesavers is about 40 years old and looks as though it could do another 40 if the rest of the machine held up.

good luck,
JeffD

[Mike Heidrick]

I drool for a widebelt. Very envious. Carry on :) .

[Martin Wasner]

Both heads on my widebelt are rubber. They have a groove spirally cut in them, I'm not sure what purpose it serves. Cooling and traction? I'll not sure.

Steel drums are usually reserved for heavy stock removal as far as I know. The widebelt I'm running now leaves the best scratch I've ever seen come out of a widebelt. Drum on the first head, combo on the second head. The shop next door has a Butfering that has a steel drum, I've never used it, but they are happy with it.

[Andrew J. Coholic]

We had a Sicar two head 37" widebelt in our old shop. Its still going strong (1988 purchased new) although the new owner had the rear roller re done a few years ago.

I currently have a Cantek 37" machine, with two rubber rollers and a steel platen. Works very well also. I dont have any issues with the rollers, however they wont last indefinitely. But for a non-production shop (where the machine gets used daily but not constantly) I'd expect many years, if maintained/kept clean.

All the rubber rollers I have seen, in any similar machine, have had a spiral groove cut into them.

[Rick Fisher]

The longevity of the rubber was my main concern. I think these posts answered that. I looked at my 25" SCM ... Funny.. I always associate getting the conveyor off with everything on this machine..

I could swap the main roller on this SCM machine. So I'm not really afraid of a rubber roller.. Besides .. in 25 years I will be too old to worry about a roller on a sander. lol

I've narrowed it down to either a Sandya 1S or a Houfek Buldog 3 .. I had considered the Felder 950 Classic, but they don't have a thickness measuring device and aren't really willing to discuss one other than to say they don't work .. but they do put them on their bigger machines.. which is weird.. cause they don't work.

Anyway .. Sandya 1S or Houfek ..

[Martin Wasner]

In my experience the thickness measuring device isn't worth anything. Different people get different results from the same piece of lumber. You're better off with a caliper if you're getting that ocd.

Are you looking for a new machine or used?

[Gregory Stahl]

I agree the thickness measuring device is not worth anything. I have one and never use it. When I am uncertain of the thickness, I measure with a caliper and type in the measurement I want to start at. Simple and fast. More often than not, I usually thickness all my stock to .79-inches consistently at the planer. When it comes time to sand, I just call up my standard program and go--no measuring.

Greg Stahl

[Gregory Stahl]

If you are looking for something a little nicer than the SCMI model you are considering, but not outrageously priced, take a look at Butfering. Here is a thread on mine: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?240903-Butfering-43-quot-Widebelt-pictures&highlight=butfering


Greg Stahl

[Rick Fisher]

Hey Gregory..

I called Homag in Canada .. asked for a price on a Butferring .. I thought Buttfering made a 37" x 18hp machine like everyone else.. The price they quoted me on the entry level machine was double the SCM, Felder 950 and Houfek.

Good feedback on the thickness sensor .. thanks.

[Rick Fisher]

Martin.

Thanks for the feedback on the measuring device. I'm not that OCD.. I have a 25" Sandya win now which doesn't have electronic table adjustment. Its a good machine, but a 2001, so the feed belt is harder than it should be. I would be fine with used, but I need to not exceed 37" for space, and 18hp for power. I would even consider repowering a used Kundig or similar if I could be sure the electronics would work.

I read Gregory's post on that Butferring.. That exceeds my needs. I love the look of the older Butferring machines.

[Rick Fisher]

I priced out a Butfering like Gregory's. Its double the price in Canada.. Not proportional to its competitors.

I ended up buying the Houfek Buldog 3 .. I've seen Houfek at the AWFS shows in Atlanta .. they always appeared to be a heavy duty, high quality machine. Built in Czech ..

Its got some decent features.. 15hp @ 60hz. Variable speed, Pneumatic belt cleaning.. (37"x75" ) .. it should be good ..

[Brian Brightwell]

I have a 24 inch Jet wide belt. It came out of a school shop. The spiral rubber coated infeed roller was damaged near the center when I got it. I have lowered the platten to compensate for this defect. I would like to get it fixed but the quoted price was about $750 to refurbish it. Anyone have a good used one, LOL