Sanding Mahogany

[Nativespec]

I am concerned about my drum sander-but it might be the species. I have burned up way too many belts on my 22" Performax trying to sand mahogany.

Has anyone had a similar experience with mahogany, or is possibly something else?

Thanks,

David

 

[NCPete]

burned up???? Have you filled them with dust. We make regular use of one of the gum rubber sander eraser things(?) on the 80" belt sander, and the drum sander, it keeps the belts nice and clean.
also, if you don't have one already, a dust collector attached to your sander may change things significantly too, we noticed a big difference with the 80" belt sander after hooking up the DC

 

[Nativespec]

The dust collection could have been a factor-seems to be a bit weak and I do use the eraser, but I was burning up belts on virgin runs. I thought there might be something unique about this species.

 

[DaveO]

Mahogany is a very easily worked wood. I don't think that it is the wood causing your problem. If it had been Maple or an oily tropic exotic, maybe. Are you trying to take too much per pass, too fine of a grit for the application? Dust collection is critical for any mechanical sanding operation.
I set my Performax so that when the stock is running through, without the drum running, it spins the drum, but I can stop the drum from spinning with slight hand pressure. That will set it up for a very light pass on the surface. Then I advance it about a quarter turn on the handle every two passes, until I achieve the final results.
Dave

 

[gator]

Dave beat me to it. Pressure. Also you might try slowing down the feed speed a little as well.

George

 

[Nativespec]

Dave:

I will try your suggestion in the future, but I gave up on this one. I was taking very little off on each pass and I slowed down the speed. If it is not the wood, then something might be wrong with the sander-I have had quite a bit of practice with it and wasted a lot of belts in my learning curve. I was hoping that someone had a similar experience.

Thanks,

David

 

[skeeter]

I have a Performax 16-32 and had a similar problem trying to sand Bloodwood. What a pain. With the drum barely touching the wood , infeed really slow, constantly using the gum stick and a DC, I finially finished. That was the wood, I think, but Mahogany is easy to work.

 

[McRabbet]

Light pass, slow belt speed. I've never had burning problems with my Woodmaster, and I keep the drum cleaned, too. Dust removal is also a key to keep the conveyor and sanding drum cleaner. YMMV with the Performax.

 

[Travis Porter]

I have a Performax 22-44 and have sanded a lot of mahogany with it. Pressure and feed rate are the first, and the second item is to make sure your dust collection is sucking first rate and that you have the paper wrapped tightly and secure with no play. I too have burned up a lot of paper, but in all instances it has been one of the items listed above.