The other post today about wide-belt sanders reminded me that I wanted to ask about this, but didn't want to hijack his thread.
What is the typical depth of each recurring pass that people use on their wide belt sanders? Mine is a Grizzly G0445 24" Wide Belt, which comes with a 10HP, 3-phase motor. So not a massive industrial beast, but not a featherweight either.
I typically sand 0.01 inch per pass, as I've noted that going much larger (0.03 in) can cause burning on boards.
Also, second question, I really don't use the platen. I think I probably should be. How should this be used, and when? I'm thinking final passes on the project. And what is its real purpose?
And while I'm at it, how about feed rate adjustments? My previous drum sander did this automatically (though not well). On my wide-belt, I've used the setting it came with and haven't adjusted it as its worked well at that feed rate.