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Belt Sander thickness tolerances

9/19/18       
Craig Caughlan Member

Website: wetimber.mx

I’m curious as to what others think are acceptable tolerances in belt sanders.

I’m running 3” x 3” x 12’ laminated stock and experiencing a variation of 0.3mm along the length. I’ve 8’ extension tables in the infeed & outfeed.

9/19/18       #2: Belt Sander thickness tolerances ...
Craig Caughlan Member

Website: wetimber.mx

I was not clear; the 0.3mm difference varies along the length.

9/20/18       #3: Belt Sander thickness tolerances ...
bill Member

What type of sander? How much material are you trying to remove?

9/20/18       #4: Belt Sander thickness tolerances ...
Craig Caughlan Member

Website: wetimber.mx

Haha. I didn't want to mention the sander so as not to prejudice the response. It's a new JET 16-32. I know it's hardly industrial. We're removing 0.5mm on pino radiata using 100 grit. The drum is absolutely parallel to the table, and my outfeed tables are dead level. I can run two sticks through at the same place and get variations from 0-0.3mm in the same locations. And of course, even this would change slightly as the abrasive wears.

It made me curious as to what are acceptable tolerances.

9/20/18       #5: Belt Sander thickness tolerances ...
bill Member

That's not a belt sander its a drum sander.

We have an 8,000 pound Butfering and we will only remove .3mm per pass with 2 heads so perhaps you are being a little aggressive.

You might want to try 0.1mm or less and make sure your outfeed and outfeed table is doing the job correctly.

9/20/18       #6: Belt Sander thickness tolerances ...
Craig Caughlan Member

Website: wetimber.mx

Wow! So 0.1mm is your tolerance - 0.004"?
That's incredible; I thought those kind of tolerances were only in metal fabrication. I would not of thought in wood.

9/20/18       #7: Belt Sander thickness tolerances ...
bill Member

Sorry I meant we remove .3mm per pass. You might want to remove .1 mm per pass or less to get a better result.

A sander, especially a drum sander is not meant to be a planer. If you put in a piece that has that variation it will come out with that variation. A good sander will remove an equal amount of material along the length. The drum is padded the belt will compress. Grits of sandpaper are only capable of removing a certain amount of material. Your expectation is very high for that piece of equipment.

9/20/18       #8: Belt Sander thickness tolerances ...
Bryan "doc" Henderson  Member

If you have access to a jointer, it could take the variation out, then of course plane the opposite sides to be parallel. 0.3 mm is tiny. What role do these pieces play in your project

9/20/18       #9: Belt Sander thickness tolerances ...
Bryan "doc" Henderson  Member

As it is laminated, I would expect the density to be fairly uniform. The cantilever design, if I am thinking of the correct sander, can flex a little. Those are good sized pieces. Good luck

9/21/18       #10: Belt Sander thickness tolerances ...
Adam West  Member

Website: http://www.surfprepsanding.com

.5mm is over the maximum that 100 grit can remove in perfect conditions.. 4mm is pushing the maximum. I wouldn't take any more than .3mm on that drum sander.

You will always get some thickness deviation due to warp or twist in the board. Not much you can do about that.

9/22/18       #11: Belt Sander thickness tolerances ...
Craig Caughlan Member

Website: wetimber.mx

The laminated stock is for rails & stiles of large shutters that we're fabricating. We bought the drum sander to do the slats, which we have 6,000 of. I was curious as to how this machine would handle the stile stock. Thanks for your comments.

2/5/19       #12: Belt Sander thickness tolerances ...
Paul M. Member

Wait, what side has the 0.3 cm variation? Using a drum sander can result in this, you might want to use a belt sander instead.


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