Running Gators

Troop

Troop

Joined
Oct 26, 2006
Messages
2,898
I use gators for finishing up, but, why do they clog up so damn fast? As soon as they get a little bit dirty, they smudge your blade. I found a way to clean them up, but still. How fast do you run them on your grinder? Does a faster speed keep them sharper than at a slower speed? Thanks
 
I tend to use the smaller grit gators ... and so by default run them slower (say, 20-40 percent, depending). They are known to dull. Use a diamond dressing tool (like this one) and use it to periodically rejuvenate the belt (the dressing tool was not my idea .... originated from someone else on the forum.... not sure who...)
 
Thank you so much! I just pulled the trigger on that dressing tool that you linked to. I just found out yesterday that diamond bench stones work, tried it, and they do work, but it looked like they would wear out my good, expensive diamond bench stones. I've tried those silicon carbide dressing stones, but they don't really work well, at least not for me.
Those Gators are so expensive, but they work like a charm! Thanks again.
 
Hello I also found out that a diamond abrasive works very good to refresh them. I also tried with ceramic, zirconia , aluminum oxide abrasives but they didn't make the gator belt cut. So I use flat piece of 100p diamond plate. I think this dresser will work even better. Now I spend all the abrasive on the belt and at the end its almost only cloth :)
 
Dimitar Popov said:
Hello I also found out that a diamond abrasive works very good to refresh them. I also tried with ceramic, zirconia , aluminum oxide abrasives but they didn't make the gator belt cut. So I use flat piece of 100p diamond plate. I think this dresser will work even better. Now I spend all the abrasive on the belt and at the end its almost only cloth :)
Click to expand...
What grit is your diamond plate? I'm not up on the "p" designation.
 
Just use a cheap coarse diamond dressing tool:

51R37+OTq7L._AC_SL1200_.jpg
 
I got the 3 pack of dressing tools and they work really well on the gators! I gotta order another a300, I ripped mine today.
 
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