Mar
16
2010
Belt sanders are machines which are used for the sanding down of wood and other types of materials, mainly for finishing purposes. They consist of an electric motor which moves two drums which mount a loop of sandpaper with no seams. Two main types of sanding device exist: hand-held sanders in which the sander moves over the material and stationary sanders in which material is moved towards the sanding belt. A stationary belt sander which is set on a work table is termed a bench sander. Wide belt sanders also exist.
These devices act aggressively on wood. They are typically used at the start of sanding or for the rapid removal of material. They may also be used to remove paints or other finishes from wood. Sanders of this kind are able to produce surfaces of unparalleled smoothness when they are fitted with sand paper of a fine grit.
Stationary or fixed sanders are adopted for the removal of non-ferrous metals like aluminum. These types of metals clog grinding wheels, rendering them unable to adequately grind soft metals. Belt sanders however are able to grind and do not clog up. They are able to do this as the sandpaper possesses small grooves which open up as they move around the drive wheel’s arc. Then there are bigger ones which are known as wide belt sander.
Sanding devices may vary greatly in size. They may be small, hand-held units as shown or they may be large enough to sand 4 foot by 8 foot plywood sheets in manufacturing plants.
The sanding of wood creates a large quantity of sawdust. For this reason, sanders created for this purpose usually possess a dust collection system. This system may consist of a simple cloth filter bag which is attached to a transportable sander or may be a large vacuum system which sucks dust into a central collection area.
The type of sanding commonly adopted in the manufacturing of medium sized wood based objects is slack belt sanding. It is a lengthy sanding belt that runs slackly over an object. The machinist exerts pressure to the sander to enable it to sand specific areas. The process is extremely precise and requires great skill and exactness.
