In this article we will be talking about one of the most important aspects of a sanding belt – the splice, which Is the point where the sanding belt is joined together to form a “belt.”
There are 5 main types of joints to consider for your operation:
NOTES:
The contact drum sandwiches the belt splice between itself and the wood being sanded so when the thickness of the belt is different than the splice, the rest of the belt is prone to leaving a mark. This is due to the joint passing through the contact point, which is generally about 1/8” of an inch through most timesaver machines & this force pushes the abrasive grains on the belt deeper into the work piece you are sanding. The FIX – Use a belt with tape on top or a top skive. These issues are not extremely common so chances are most of the time the butt splice which is the standard manufacturing procedure for manufacturers will be good enough.
The quickest and easiest method to determine if the chatter marks are caused by the belt splice is to take a lumber crayon (or pencil) and draw on the abrasive belt at the spice point. Then, very lightly, sand a piece of wood and notice where the crayon rubbed off on the wood. If the distance between marks is the same as what the chatter marks in question were, then the splice is to blame.
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