Joe,
Your comment on cleaning belts at the car wash couldn't have come at a better time. Indeed, this topic hit just when I started looking for 37"x60" belts for my single head TimeSaver wide belt sander. I have been operating with the belts that came with the machine, purchased from another woodworker.
I have loaded up a couple of belts with material from soft and/or wet woods. I ran some damp redwood through it and it loaded up an 80 grit belt. I attempted to clean it with the gum block with limited success.
I ordered a couple of the Grizzly belt cleaners recommended by Paul Kelly of PK Wood Working. We'll see if I have the same experience as Paul. I am still getting used to using the machine, and have zero experience with the different types of belts.
Back to the car wash cleaning of the belts. Am I correct in assuming the cloth belts hold up well to pressure washer application if the water through the wand? Is the soap needed? I have a couple of pressure washers with various tips that allow for different spray patterns. I can add car wash soap too if that is needed. I guess the real question is; How aggressive can one get when washing these belts?
Thanks for everyone's comments on this thread. Very informative.
Alex B.
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On 02/15/2025 5:07 AM PST Joe Calhoon via groups.io <joecalhoon@...> wrote:
I use Klingspore cloth belts in my Kundig. Initially Kundig recommended paper belts from another European mfg. I did not have good luck with these, broke several and finally went to cloth. I sand solid wood. If veneer sanding paper might be a better consideration. One advantage of cloth is they can be cleaned at the car wash. On a multi head machine best to stick with one type belt from the same mfg.
Quite a bit of setup is required to calibrate these machines properly for different belt thickness and grits.
