Hi all,

I made the mistake of sanding a painted surface with my old 6x48 belt
sander. Now, of course, the belt is clogged with paint. I got most of
it out, but there is still enough to make it practically useless. I
have tried a few things. The big eraser thingy didn't do much. trying
to loosen it with water and mineral spirits didn't do anything. The
thing that did the most good was creasing it while rolling it between my
hands (hope you can get the drift of that) so a lot of it broke off.
But there is still too much paint on it. Any ideers on getting the rest
of it off??

Thanks,

Wayne

NoOne N Particular took a can of maroon spray paint on February 22, 2008
07:16 pm and wrote the following:

Hi all,

I made the mistake of sanding a painted surface with my old 6x48 belt
sander. Now, of course, the belt is clogged with paint. I got most of
it out, but there is still enough to make it practically useless. I
have tried a few things. The big eraser thingy didn't do much. trying
to loosen it with water and mineral spirits didn't do anything. The
thing that did the most good was creasing it while rolling it between my
hands (hope you can get the drift of that) so a lot of it broke off.
But there is still too much paint on it. Any ideers on getting the rest
of it off??

New belt?

--
Lits Slut #9
Life would be so much easier if we could just look at the source code.

Subject

Call it a lesson learned, and buy a new belt.

Lew

"NoOne N Particular" wrote in message
et...
Hi all,

I made the mistake of sanding a painted surface with my old 6x48 belt
sander. Now, of course, the belt is clogged with paint. I got most of it
out, but there is still enough to make it practically useless. I have
tried a few things. The big eraser thingy didn't do much. trying to
loosen it with water and mineral spirits didn't do anything. The thing
that did the most good was creasing it while rolling it between my hands
(hope you can get the drift of that) so a lot of it broke off. But there
is still too much paint on it. Any ideers on getting the rest of it off??

Thanks,

Wayne

Chuck it, belts are cheap (relatively), lesson learned.

Frankly, I'm just jealous of your 6x48 sander......

jc

NoOne N Particular wrote:

Hi all,

I made the mistake of sanding a painted surface with my old 6x48 belt
sander. Now, of course, the belt is clogged with paint. I got most
of it out, but there is still enough to make it practically useless.
I have tried a few things. The big eraser thingy didn't do much.
trying to loosen it with water and mineral spirits didn't do anything.
The thing that did the most good was creasing it while rolling it
between my hands (hope you can get the drift of that) so a lot of it
broke off. But there is still too much paint on it. Any ideers on
getting the rest of it off??

Thanks,

Wayne

A crepe cleaner block. Or use the soles of an old pair of crepe soled
shoes.

NoOne N Particular wrote:
Hi all,

I made the mistake of sanding a painted surface with my old 6x48 belt
sander. Now, of course, the belt is clogged with paint. I got most of
it out, but there is still enough to make it practically useless. I
have tried a few things. The big eraser thingy didn't do much. trying
to loosen it with water and mineral spirits didn't do anything. The
thing that did the most good was creasing it while rolling it between my
hands (hope you can get the drift of that) so a lot of it broke off. But
there is still too much paint on it. Any ideers on getting the rest of
it off??

Thanks,

Wayne

You can try a wire brush. Run the sander and brush the brush against
the belt. Now that's a tortured sentence. You will get some paint off
and some grit off, but the belt was a tosser anyway. Good luck.
mahalo,
jo4hn

On Sat, 23 Feb 2008 00:16:00 GMT, NoOne N Particular
wrote:

Hi all,

I made the mistake of sanding a painted surface with my old 6x48 belt
sander. Now, of course, the belt is clogged with paint. I got most of
it out, but there is still enough to make it practically useless. I
have tried a few things. The big eraser thingy didn't do much. trying
to loosen it with water and mineral spirits didn't do anything. The
thing that did the most good was creasing it while rolling it between my
hands (hope you can get the drift of that) so a lot of it broke off.
But there is still too much paint on it. Any ideers on getting the rest
of it off??

Thanks,

Wayne

Hi Wayne,

If I had some in my shop, I would put a dab of paint
stripper on part of the belt.

It would remove the paint, and might soften (or even remove)
the bond holding the grit. But if the bond survived you
could easily renew the belt.

All the best,
--
Kenneth

If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."

"NoOne N Particular" wrote in message
et...
Hi all,

I made the mistake of sanding a painted surface with my old 6x48 belt
sander. Now, of course, the belt is clogged with paint. I got most of it
out, but there is still enough to make it practically useless. I have
tried a few things. The big eraser thingy didn't do much. trying to
loosen it with water and mineral spirits didn't do anything. The thing
that did the most good was creasing it while rolling it between my hands
(hope you can get the drift of that) so a lot of it broke off. But there
is still too much paint on it. Any ideers on getting the rest of it off??

Thanks,

Wayne

Been there done that and thanks for your comments about the mineral spirits
and or water. Regular belt sander belt? toss it. I have had the same
problem except on a $10, 22" drum sander belt and tried the rubber belt
cleaner stick, PVC pipe, a wooden dowel hard wood, with results that
amounted to a waste of time.
I did however find like you, that if you fold the paper over on it self to
create that crease, the paint simply popped off when rubbed with a finger
IIRC. That is a LOT of bending and folding on a 3" wide strip of paper that
is over 10' long.

On Sat, 23 Feb 2008 00:16:00 GMT, NoOne N Particular
wrote:

Hi all,

I made the mistake of sanding a painted surface with my old 6x48 belt
sander. Now, of course, the belt is clogged with paint. I got most of
it out, but there is still enough to make it practically useless. I
have tried a few things. The big eraser thingy didn't do much. trying
to loosen it with water and mineral spirits didn't do anything. The
thing that did the most good was creasing it while rolling it between my
hands (hope you can get the drift of that) so a lot of it broke off.
But there is still too much paint on it. Any ideers on getting the rest
of it off??

Thanks,

Wayne

Hi again Wayne,

I just had another thought...

What would happen if you simply ignored the paint? That is,
why would the paint make the belt "useless?"

All the best,
--
Kenneth

If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."

"Kenneth" wrote in message
...

Wayne

Hi again Wayne,

I just had another thought...

What would happen if you simply ignored the paint? That is,
why would the paint make the belt "useless?"


The paint acts like large particles that stand proud of the grit. The
result is either groves in the wood or burned groves in the wood.

"NoOne N Particular" wrote in message
et...
Hi all,

I made the mistake of sanding a painted surface with my old 6x48 belt
sander. Now, of course, the belt is clogged with paint. I got most of it
out, but there is still enough to make it practically useless. I have
tried a few things. The big eraser thingy didn't do much. trying to
loosen it with water and mineral spirits didn't do anything. The thing
that did the most good was creasing it while rolling it between my hands
(hope you can get the drift of that) so a lot of it broke off. But there
is still too much paint on it. Any ideers on getting the rest of it off??


Soak in TSP, brush off with a stiff-bristle or wire brush while wet, lay
flat to dry.

NoOne N Particular wrote:
Hi all,

I made the mistake of sanding a painted surface with my old 6x48 belt
sander. Now, of course, the belt is clogged with paint. I got most
of it out, but there is still enough to make it practically useless. I
have tried a few things. The big eraser thingy didn't do much. trying to
loosen it with water and mineral spirits didn't do
anything. The thing that did the most good was creasing it while
rolling it between my hands (hope you can get the drift of that) so a
lot of it broke off. But there is still too much paint on it. Any
ideers on getting the rest of it off??

Thanks,

Wayne

If the paint was latex then a product called "Goof Off" would probably do
you some good...Its quite effective at softening or removing paint without
hurting much else including carpet, cloth and even car paint. It can be
found in any reasonable hardware or big box store. I'd brush some one, soak
a bit, brush lightly with a wire brush and maybe if needed rinse with water
lightly. Rod

NoOne N Particular wrote in news:4BJvj.12744
:

Hi all,

I made the mistake of sanding a painted surface with my old 6x48 belt
sander. Now, of course, the belt is clogged with paint.

I've made the same mistake using several different sanding media. You
might try sanding something really hard like a piece of steel. This might
heat the paint residue up through friction, make it soften and come off.
Second suggestion is to try sanding a piece of concrete, maybe a chunk of
concrete brick or cinder block. This will act as a strong abrasive and
grind the paint off. You also risk grinding some of the grit off of the
belt this way too.

On Feb 23, 5:27*am, Smaug Ichorfang wrote:
NoOne N Particular wrote in news:4BJvj.12744
:

Hi all,

I made the mistake of sanding a painted surface with my old 6x48 belt
sander. *Now, of course, the belt is clogged with paint.

I've made the same mistake using several different sanding media. *You
might try sanding something really hard like a piece of steel. *This might
heat the paint residue up through friction, make it soften and come off. *
Second suggestion is to try sanding a piece of concrete, maybe a chunk of
concrete brick or cinder block. *This will act as a strong abrasive and
grind the paint off. *You also risk grinding some of the grit off of the
belt this way too.

How bout sanding it with another piece of sandpaper?

I'd say it depends on how much your time is worth. If is just a regular belt
@ about 7 bucks any time over about 15 minutes isn't worth it IMHO. I'd set
it aside for future paint removal.

--
Mike
Watch for the bounce.
If ya didn't see it, ya didn't feel it.
If ya see it, it didn't go off.
Old Air Force Munitions Saying
IYAAYAS
"NoOne N Particular" wrote in message
et...
Hi all,

I made the mistake of sanding a painted surface with my old 6x48 belt
sander. Now, of course, the belt is clogged with paint. I got most of it
out, but there is still enough to make it practically useless. I have
tried a few things. The big eraser thingy didn't do much. trying to
loosen it with water and mineral spirits didn't do anything. The thing
that did the most good was creasing it while rolling it between my hands
(hope you can get the drift of that) so a lot of it broke off. But there
is still too much paint on it. Any ideers on getting the rest of it off??

Thanks,

Wayne

On Sat, 23 Feb 2008 00:16:00 GMT, NoOne N Particular
wrote:

I made the mistake of sanding a painted surface with my old 6x48 belt
sander. Now, of course, the belt is clogged with paint.

Use the rubber cleaners _before_ th ebelt is completely clogged, and
before the paint resin sets into a solid mass.

Also coarser belts.

"Andy Dingley" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 23 Feb 2008 00:16:00 GMT, NoOne N Particular
wrote:

I made the mistake of sanding a painted surface with my old 6x48 belt
sander. Now, of course, the belt is clogged with paint.

Use the rubber cleaners _before_ th ebelt is completely clogged, and
before the paint resin sets into a solid mass.

Also coarser belts.

Yeah, in my experience that takes about 2 seconds before the paint sets up..
You gotta use the right kind of paper to remove paint IMHO.

NoOne N Particular wrote:
Hi all,

I made the mistake of sanding a painted surface with my old 6x48 belt
sander. Now, of course, the belt is clogged with paint. I got most of
it out, but there is still enough to make it practically useless. I
have tried a few things. The big eraser thingy didn't do much. trying
to loosen it with water and mineral spirits didn't do anything. The
thing that did the most good was creasing it while rolling it between my
hands (hope you can get the drift of that) so a lot of it broke off. But
there is still too much paint on it. Any ideers on getting the rest of
it off??

Thanks,

Wayne
Thanks all. Lotsa good things to try. I am trying to save the belt
because it is a relatively new and high quality blue belt that cost me
over $25. A little time to clean it is not a problem for me. Although
I did say that the belt was "useless" that isn't exactly true. I am
still using it but it's effectiveness is greatly diminished.

Someone was also jealous of my 6x48 belt sander, but you may not be so
jealous when I tell you that it is a circa 1952 Sears Craftsman sander
that I inherited from my MOM. LOL. It is a little finicky to get the
belt tracking straight but it works. OK, so maybe more than a little
finicky. And there is absolutely NO dust collection. But Sears still
had parts for it when I got it about 4 years ago. How about that?

So I think I will start by trying a little bit of paint stripper to see
how that works. Maybe a little Goof Off (the paint WAS latex and I do
have a little bit of Goof Off) on another little piece. With any luck
at all maybe the bonding will stay intact. Someone else mentioned
trying a wire brush, and I have tried that with no success at all. I
don't want to try sanding a piece of metal because a while back I made
some metal parts for my 9" Southbend lathe and sanded them on this
sander. The belt was toast in just a few minutes. I also have some
real TSP around here somewhere that I can try. If all that fails maybe
I can try using a piece of 36 grit paper and see if that can knock some
of it off.

Thanks again for all the suggestions. I will let you know how it goes.

Wayne

Maxwell Lol wrote:

Lobby Dosser writes:

NoOne N Particular wrote:

I have tried a few things. The big eraser thingy didn't do much.

A crepe cleaner block. Or use the soles of an old pair of crepe soled
shoes.

Aren't these the same thing?




If the "big eraser thingy" is a crepe block, then yes.

NoOne N Particular wrote:

Someone was also jealous of my 6x48 belt sander, but you may not be so
jealous when I tell you that it is a circa 1952 Sears Craftsman sander
that I inherited from my MOM. LOL. It is a little finicky to get the
belt tracking straight but it works. OK, so maybe more than a little
finicky. And there is absolutely NO dust collection. But Sears still
had parts for it when I got it about 4 years ago. How about that?

Drive by gloat.

OK, so I went out into the garop and tried cleaning the belt. Turns out
that Goof Off works, and so does paint stripper. I used the paint
stripper on almost all of the belt, including the taped seam. It
doesn't appear as though the stripper, the Goof Off, or the water rinse
with a jet of water from the hose did any damage at all. That belt
looks so nice and clean that it literally looks new again. Doesn't
appear that any of the binder that hold the grit dissolved and I think
everything will be good to go. The real test will come in the next few
days when I actually get around to using it.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Wayne

P.S. Yes, the big eraser thingy was a crepe block. :-)

NoOne N Particular wrote:

OK, so I went out into the garop and tried cleaning the belt. Turns
out that Goof Off works, and so does paint stripper. I used the paint
stripper on almost all of the belt, including the taped seam. It
doesn't appear as though the stripper, the Goof Off, or the water
rinse with a jet of water from the hose did any damage at all. That
belt looks so nice and clean that it literally looks new again.
Doesn't appear that any of the binder that hold the grit dissolved and
I think everything will be good to go. The real test will come in the
next few days when I actually get around to using it.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Wayne

P.S. Yes, the big eraser thingy was a crepe block. :-)


My Bad.