what's a good belt sander

Chris S.

Chris S.

Well-known member
I am in need of a belt sander. I am sanding about 1/16 to 1/8 inch of old polyester resin off a cedar plank BBSB that I am refurbing. I have a 3amp random orbital but it takes a long time and is using a lot of paper to do the job. What is a good belt sander that won't hurt the old wallet to bad. Say under $100. I was looking at the ryobi one they have at HD. It has pretty good reveiws online and I have had good luck with there other power tools. Anyone own or use the ryobi belt sander. I don't do a whole lot of wood working so probably don't need a real heavy duty one. Thanks for the help.
 
My favorite is the porter cable, I have one and give it hell on daily basis. U might want to try harbor freight and tool they have inexpensive tools that hold up surprisingly well. The best thing is they have a 90 day no questions with receipt return policy.
 
Chris
Im now retired and I have been in the woodworking game a long time as a joiner, cabinet maker and we have a saying over here in the UK, If you buy mickymouse tools exspect to pay mickymouse prices but they wont last you long and in the long run they could cost you more, its a case of you only get what you pay for, so you might as well buy a good one from the start and it will last you for years. I swear buy Makita tools.
Take care and God Bless
ddie and Amber
Its all about Building that Bond.
 
I'll second Eddie. I used to run a belt sander hours a day. The Bosch 4X24" outlasted all the rest. Still have one and proably will never have to buy another.

The biggest problem you will have is not the power of the sander, but clogging up the belts. They will still be sharp but the resin will load up the abrasive.
 
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Have you tried a heat gun and scraper then dual action sander. its certainly less money. Polyester doesn't really want to stick to wood anyway and the heat will make it soft. The scraper can be a sharpened 5-1 putty knife just as long as it is stiff. Sharpen with 80 grit on your sander.
Once you've got most off smooth the wood out a bit and sand rest of the poly off. Save your money and avoid the dust.
Frank
 
I started to use the heat gun and scrape but started to scorch the cedar so I stopped and that was a slow process aswell
 
You could try setting a circular saw to cut just through the glass. Score 1 foot wide strips. Then pry up a corner. You might be able to just peel a section off without sanding at all. This worrks of the layer against the wood was cloth. If it was mat that probably won't work
 
I got all the glass (cloth) off already. What I am trying to get off now is the resin that is left. Its all the purple stuff on the deck. The deck only has it in spots. The planks on the hull are about 90% covered with 1/16 to 1/8 inch of old polyester resin. The saw is out. I think a belt sander is my best bet to get the old resin off in a reasonable amount of time. It took me about 2 1/2 hours to do the fwd deck and back about half way down one side of the cockpit about 10sq feet in 2 1/2 hours the hull will take forever. Thanks for the input guys.


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Jode
There are 2 ways that I use to clean my sanding material.

1) leave it in a bucket of hot water overnight and this will lift the resin and dust out of the material.

2) I also use a sanding stick, this 2" sqare block is rubbed across my drumsander as it is revolving and it gets the crap out of the belt.

I get alot of my tools from axminster tools, check out their website and if you request a catalogue they will send you one.

www. axminster.co.uk .

Take care and God Bless
Eddie and Amber
Its all about Building that Bond.
 
You're right; time for a belt sander. I've had a Makita for years. Just be carfule once you go through the resin it will dig intot he cedar pretty quick. I'd stop short of taking it all off and switch to the DA with 80 grit.
 
I worked in a cabinet mill for almost 10 years, and we had nothing but porter cable belt sanders. I put some serious hours them tools and in ten years i think I wore only one out. The sanding stick works great. A couple of other tricks are you can use an old shoe/sneaker with a rubber sole in place of the sanding stick. You can also wax your belt with a soft rubbing wax or beeswax that helps keep the buildup from sticking. But you need to think about future adhesion so carful with any waxes or chemicals getting in your boat. A good wipe down with mineral spirits should be done anyway before applying any finish. The best advice to keep your belt cutting is to keep it cleaned out (clean it before its clogged) They make a 40 grit belt and that will do some sanding in a hurry (careful) then you can step up in grit size to remove the sanding marks. I cant remember off the top of my head what the part is called but it is a thin peice of chrome steel with aprox 1/16 cork pad under it. keep that maintained and your sander will be alot easier to keep flat. Just my two cents. Thanks Todd
 
I went with the ryobi 3X18 and so far so good. I did some sanding with it today with 80 grit and it is working great. I am taking 90% off with the belt sander and I will go back over it with the random orbital. Then I will flip her over and sand the hull the same way. I also got 2 50 grit belts to pick up the speed a bit. The hull has a lot of resin left on it. I will post up some pics tomorrow. My wood flour and epoxy should be here on Friday so I can start fairing and filling in between the cedar planks. Thanks for all the help and info! !
 
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