Advice on SuperMax 37x2 conveyor belt replacement procedure

[Steven Levi]

Hello,

This is my first post. I have a two-decade old Supermax 37x2 dual drum sander and I need to replace the conveyor belt. The instructions in the manual do not exactly match the machine. For example it says to loosen ONE of the (2?) set screws on the conveyor shaft to enable the motor to be removed. Mine appears to have 4 and I do not see how loosening one will work. Additionally, it says to remove the four 5/16 bolts: there are 2 sets (of 3 )and neither is 5/16... I am assuming I should remove the bolts between the conveyor assembly and the aluminum (?) box and not between the box and the black motor (see attachment).

Any advice, private or public, would be appreciated.

[Steven Levi]

I see... no images...
here is a link
https://www.dropbox.com/s/08tmu7qd8n...max-1.jpg?dl=0

[Jim Becker]

I see... no images...

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[Patrick Kane]

Steve,

I replaced the belt on a possibly older model of your sander several years ago. Maybe 5ish ago? Anyway, my memory is foggy on the exact steps, but i remember i had to remove the entire bed/feed motor assembly from the machine. There are carriage bolts under the conveyor that connect it to the cast mounting brackets. I sold the machine a few years ago, so i cant go take a look at it to jog my memory.

If you havent purchased a new belt yet, i highly recommend spending the $250+/- on a rubber feed belt. This is similar to what is seen on widebelts. I found it tracked significantly better than the sandpaper belt, and it will be the last time you replace the belt.

[John C Bush]

I just replaced the belt on my Super max 25" (from Supergrit--good service and price) and imagine the conveyor systems are engineered the same. IIRC I removed the cover plate on the drive motor to access the bolt you need to remove---of course after I removed the motor mounting bolt that didn't need removing---. I removed the other three bolts holding the conveyor and slid it out, set it on the bench, changed belts, and reattached. Easy one person job. I had issues with tracking and removed it two more times to rotate belt and fiddle with adjustments--still didn't track just right and just kept adjusting the tension-ers and watched tracking. After a few hrs of sanding I either got it right or it auto-adjusted by stretching. Big concern I had was how much tension(brass bushings on rollers)--seemed to be too tight on one side and belt was slack on the other side . I just let it run if tracking was OK and the belt is more evenly tensioned now. Just keep an eye on the edge and be patient. Good luck.

[John C Bush]

Just thinkin'--I have considered upgrading to a DS with more power(the 25" is 1.75 hp) and wonder if the dual drum is a big advantage. The single has been good but just limited on how aggressively I can sand. I resaw and dimension bookmatched panels a lot and want to shorten sanding time--impatient hobbiest. More power would help and not sure if two drums would be more helpful. I usually keep 150 grit on and finish with ROS--faster than changing paper and rerunning stock. Both drums with 150?? How has two drums worked for you?? Thanks, John.

[Steven Levi]

John and Patrick,

John, the 25 single looks like it is quite a bit different than my unit.
Patrick, thanks for the info. Yes, the entire bed needs to be removed, the manual says you should first removed the motor and controls by detaching the motor from the roller via the shaft coupler. I already bough a cheap replacement belt. I too am using this for resawn veneer. What I have read on the boards suggest rubber feed belt was not as even? I will give supermax a call (looks like they are now owned by Laguna? )

John, double belts re nice to have, the first for removal, the second for refinement. I doubt I would by this model of I were to do it again

`

[Patrick Kane]

Yes, the sandpaper belts have close to zero give between themselves and the steel table. This is important when you are sanding thin veeners. I believe this is less important as you surface material that is 1/4"+ thick. The rubber belts have just a smidgen of cushion to them. I never sanded anything super thin, and so i found the rubber belt to be a fantastic upgrade.

Ha, that is funny, Steve. I purchased my Performax Supermax 37x2 for $1000-1200. I thought it was a good deal at the time. I moved it in my wife's CRV and rubbed a hole the size of a nickel in her headliner from part of the machine rubbing. It had to have been 6 months of penance for that. I later sold the machine for $2700 and was pretty happy to see it go. Years later, id like to have a sander back in my shop, but man, most drum sanders are kinda dumb. Unless you sand a bunch of cutting boards or smaller bandsawn veneers, they just dont have the support to handle medium to large projects. I attempted a few countertops and island tops through the drum sander, and what a mess. It would gouge the front edge of the tops if i wasnt super careful with infeed support. Thats before you get to the glacial pace and burning.

[Steven Levi]

Hello,

I called SuperMax/Laguna today and spoke with someone that knows these machines. He recommended I NOT use the rubber mat for veneer and just get the standard one -- too much squich. He agreed the instructions for belt replacement were wrong and incomplete. Neither set of bolts in the image needed to be removed. In fact he pointed out that the empty set of 3 vertical holes were the ones where the bolts should be and that I should get some when I put the unit back together. I ordered the standard belt and it should be here in 7 days.