Grinding Belt Hoarding

They go bad, you know? Joint degrades and you might end up getting slapped in the face with a broken belt.
 
I have a basement full of belts that are blowing up in my face. After a twelve year layoff (health issues) I am back in the shop and find no brand whatsoever that has avoided the deadly seam degradation. Finer belts are much more susceptible than coarse belts like 60's and 36s. 3M micron belts are the worst. 6 dozen of them still in the wrappers and worthless.
I am finding, however, that some of them will run just fine on my KMG with the 14" wheel, while anything that raises tension like the platen or rotary blow 'em up right away. The gas piston on my AMK horizontal is the worst. Adjusted as light as possible, the belts won't even go on under minimal tension without popping.
I have a lifetime supply of 2" wide hand sanding abrasive. Fortunately, I sort of expected this and stand out of the way as I crank the machine up and let it run a moment listening for that telltale that a belt is going to part. None of these is going off with a crack like a pistol round. :)

I'll be hoarding a lot less going forward...
 
I tend to keep old belts for a while and then when I'm doing a deep clean in the shop the really old ones get tossed. I define really old as being non-usable even for me.
 
The Gators are a bit better because they dont have the same type of seam that other belts do. The original blade belts were subject to blowing up, but their seam was not as sturdy anyway from my experience compared to say 984 belts. They apparently fixed that because I havce had some in the last few years that seemed to work better. .
 
Boatbuilder said:
I'm the same. I hate a half worn out belt. I hate burning wood or heating up steel.
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I never really bothered trying to clean up the expensive 36-60 ceramic belts even through I had the gummy bar. I just use them for rough profiling, etc. The Blaze belts wore out at the seam before they lost all of their grit. Well, except for the 36 grit which threw a fair portion of the grit at your face. LOL I foudn that the gator belts tended to get worn more in the center because of grinding small pieces like guards, etc. in addition to blade flats so you could clean them up and still use the outside edges.,
 
REK Knives said:
You should try the sankyo economy belts from pops... Really good al-ox belts for like 2.50 ea
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Thanks for the heads up! I need a passel of A/O belts and the proliferation of brands and varieties has me with my head whirling trying to decide how to restock.
 
fitzo said:
Thanks for the heads up! I need a passel of A/O belts and the proliferation of brands and varieties has me with my head whirling trying to decide how to restock.
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Yep! I love them, best part is that they are compatible with water and won't get any residue on your platen. I normally just get 220 (I generally use ceramic below that) but last time I got some 60 grit for handles and kydex work, seems to be great so far.
 
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