The fines from a belt sander will really clog the works up. It doesn't
hurt the motor except for cutting down on the cooling. If you clean it
fairly often, no problem. If you don't do your regular maintenance, go
with TEFC. If this is a daily useage thing, by all means go TEFC.
I used an open housing on my saw for years, worked fine. Got a chance to
upgrade to a TEFC with twice the HP, no brainer choice.

Bert wrote:
Just wondering if anyone in the group has any experience with or
thoughts on using an open motor for a belt sander. This will be a
home-brew sander, probably belt-driven, so I may be able to protect
the motor to some extent, but not completely. Should I anticipate a
quick death for an open motor in this application, or could I expect
just a slightly shortened life span? Would a TEFC motor be worth the
extra bucks?

Thanks.
Bert