restoring widebelt abrasives

[tod evans]

i just tried the simple-green and carwash trick on some belts i thought where gonners..it works! hose your gummed up belts down with a 50-50 mix of simple green and water, let `em sit long enough to drive to the carwash and rinse `em off. at darn near 50 bucks a copy it was worth a try..02 tod

36829

[Brett Baldwin]

I'm assuming you're talking about a manual car wash (pressure washer type). At $50 a pop, yeah I'd have tried it too. If it is just the build-up that is ruining your belts, maybe you could rig up a plate and lever setup that you could mount those belt-sander cleaner blocks (that look like an artist's eraser) to and clean it on the machine. It would be less trouble than removing, soaking, and spraying the belts (though they do look like new now).

[tod evans]

brett, these belts had been cleaned with the crepe cleaners and had accumliated resin/glue/crud built up to the point they where burning the wood. they where destined to the lathe sanding pile but i thought i`d try the sg solution before cutting them up...02 tod

[Steve Clardy]

Yes. A few years ago I did piece work for a furniture co.
They did that to their wide belts and edge sander belts.
They used only pine lumber, so they had to clean them a lot.
I think they could get 3-4 washings

[Charlie Plesums]

I don't need $50 belts to be cheap... I use my home power washer (the cheap $100 kind) to clean the belts/strips from my performax. Plain water is often sufficient, but if one is being cranky, I spray on some simple green. Leave them unrolled (a stone or brick on each end) until they are dry. I also do ordinary sanding belts while I have the washer out.

[lou sansone]

hi tod
yea I have used the simple green trick as well.. but good tip for the creek
lou