Is belt dressing needed on leather belt sander?

Joined
Feb 21, 2012
Messages
2
Hello all. Lurked a while, this is my first post. I've had a Kalamazoo 1SM belt sander for a couple months and love it. I use abrasive belts from 180 to 15 micron, and also have a leather belt that I load with green polishing compound, and another for the white polishing compound. I get very nice results.

Recently I saw somewhere a poster said to apply tallow or soap to the belt before applying polishing compound. Do any of you folks know about this? I'm not using tallow or soap and things seem to be fine.
 
I think it depends on what kind of compound you're using. Some compounds are formulated to load easily onto a buffing media like leather or felt. Others are harder and just get flung around the shop as grit and dust instead of loading the buffer, a grease/soap stick might be handy for those compounds.
 
Yes a clay stick or grease sticks are better but these will fling as well, espically if the motor turns at near 1800 rpms.. Mine is a little slower than that but still I notice it so wear face mask the cotton type or changable disc respirator. DM
 
Back
Top