Help with Belt Sander?

[Art Davis]

I have a 3" Craftsman belt sander and just can't seem to get the hang of it. I have read about how to use the tool in several woodworking books and have read a number of threads here, but still have a problem.

I only get about 3 to 5 minutes out of a belt!

I turn the sander upside down and adjust the tracking control to center the belt, then turn it over and go to work. Almost immediately, the belt begins to slide toward the "inside" (away from the side you remove the belt on), the belt begins to fray, and finally strips begin to come off.

I try to stop and readjust, but how many times per minute can you do this?

I am not heavy handed with the sander. I am using 120 grit sandpaper because I want to hog off material in a hurry.

Any suggestions? Is it my technique, or is the sander just a pile of *** and I need a better one?

Thanks.

[Don Eddard]

I suspect it's the sander more than your technique. That said, do keep in mind that if you see the belt start getting off track while you're sanding, you can gently tweak the adjustment knob to get it back on track before it eats the belt. I've had sanders that would start out tracking fine, then start to wander as the belt and rollers warmed up. On those, it was not uncommon to adjust slightly the tracking as I was using it.

[Lance Norris]

I have a Skil 3x18" and just replaced it with a Bosch 3x21". Both of these sanders track very well. As a matter of fact, in using the Skil now for several years, I set the tracking once and havent changed it since. I dont have many miles on the Bosch yet, but its the same so far. I would assume the Craftsman sander you have is at fault.

[Andy Casiello]

Another vote for the sander being the problem. I have a Hitachi belt sander that I setup once and it tracks perfectly. I've never had to adjust it again.

[Frank Martin]

My first belt sander was a 3x21 Bosch and now I use a 4x24 Bosch. Never had a any problem with tracking, even when I used it the first time ever.

[Frank Guerin]

I don't belive you have said anything about your belts. I had some that sat on the shelf for some time and all of them did basically the same thing. New belts resolved the problem.
Usuall disclaimer: I don't know anything.

[Art Davis]

I don't belive you have said anything about your belts. I had some that sat on the shelf for some time and all of them did basically the same thing. New belts resolved the problem.
Usuall disclaimer: I don't know anything.


Thanks to all who responded. Sounds like its time for me to get a new belt sander. Seems that a lot of you have Bosch. Any other recommendations.

Frank: Yes, I have tried getting new belts. Same problem.

[John Thompson]

I have had a PC.. Bosch 4x and Bosch 3 x and Ryobi 3 X that all tracked fine even heavy handed. You might try a different belt but I would go with your "It's Time to...." theory.

Good luck...

Sarge..

[Leo Graywacz]

It's the only time I will recommend PC, but they do make a good belt sander. I always liked the 4 x 24 sanders. More powa

[CPeter James]

Unless you want an excuse to buy a new sander, try a new high quality belt first. I had a friend call me once because his belt sander was doing just as yours is. I gave him an address to call and order some new belts and that solved the problem.

CPeter

[Dale Lesak]

Art, 120 grit belt is not what you want to "Hog off a lot of material in a hurry" 80 would be good 50 would be better and a lot of hogin is in the 36 grit numbers. 120 is heading toward the finish side of paper no the hogin side. Dale

[glenn bradley]

I have an older B&D (that hasn't caught fire yet; a Dragster) and it tracks well. I suspect a tool problem or cheap belts more than I would your approach. If you have name brand belts and they begin to misalign once you start sanding, I would strongly suspect the tool. I change belts based on the job so I am constantly re-adjusting for the "next" belt. Once adjusted, no problem.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
Dale is right.
120 grit won't hog off that much material - well - it will if you get careless and you don't want it to, then it will, but under normal circumstances it won't.
50 & 36 grits are the ones to use to "hog".

Like Glenn, I also have a Firestorm Dragster.
The low pofile nose gets under the rails on a deck. <--why I bought it.
For a cheap 3x21, it works fairly well. <--why I haven't replaced it.
(It's currently on loan to my fat brother in law - aka - "the great destoyer". We'll see how it stands up to him. If it's returned in working order, I'll have a great deal of respect for the tool. That guy can destroy a cement block ;)).

Mine did the same thing - ran the belts into the side no matter how careful I set the tracking - after using it to remove the paint off a treated deck.
I examined the rollers very closely and found a heavu buildup of burned material on the rollers that was extremely difficult to see. Once I cleaned the build up off, tracking returned to normal.

[Brian W Evans]

I have the Makita 9903 (3x21). Tracking is excellent and I've had nothing but good experiences with it.

I see that, on Amazon anyway, it's a bit more expensive than the Bosch right now. Had that been the case when I bought it a few years ago, I'd have gone with the Bosch, given my experience with their tools and their reputation.

[Rick Fisher]

Funny, I am no Dewalt fan but I have a Dewalt 3x21 with the old Elu Sanding frame. Its a darn good machine. Tracking has never been an issue.

The sanding frame is a nice feature too.