On 30 Apr 2006 13:52:09 -0700, wrote:

Hi,

I just purchased a used craftsman sander designed to work with adhesive
sandpaper. But the sand paper stays on for about a minute or so and
falls off. I cleaned the surface of the sander very thoroughly and I
think it's very clean. It used to have some gunk on it and I clean it
with mineral spirits and let it dry for a comple of days. I also tried
vacuuming it to make sure that there is now dust in it.

The sand paper that I'm using is pretty old, came with the sander, but
sticks on fine initially before falling off.

What is the likeliest culprit here?

Old glue that's dried out. Try spraying some contact cement on it or
on the platen or both. If that doesn't work then you already know how
to clean with mineral spirits. Also some old 'adhesives' were some
waxy based stuff; don't know if that's what you have.