SuperMax maintenance completed

Well, it turned out that I needed a new conveyor belt after all!  The old one was stretched too unevenly to track properly without over-tightening.

I replaced it with the same type that came with the machine. Although it was a little more expensive than aftermarket ones, it had given me six years of good service, and you can't really complain about that.  The benefit of my attempts to rescue the old one was that the replacement and adjustment procedures were now familiar, and I had the new one up and running in no time.

Happy ending, and the pleasure of experiencing really top-notch tech support!

SuperMax sander maintenance

Although I'm pretty careful with my tools, it's hard to do what you don't know needs to be done!

I had noticed a slight rhythmic rattling noise when I used my SuperMax 19-38, and was concerned that it might indicate a part wearing out, or other serious problem.  My conveyor belt appeared to have stretched over the past five years, and I wondered if it needed replacing.  The noise disappeared if I loosened the belt tension, but that resulted in the belt slipping, leaving ridges in the wood.

The source of the noise appears to have been dirt--black, slightly sticky residue that coated the rollers and inside of the conveyor belt. At the advice of a tech support person at Laguna (where SuperMax now resides), I removed the conveyor assembly and belt, and cleaned them as best I could.  Once reassembled and tensioned, everything seems to be working properly.

Since I'm always wearing my hearing protection whenever I turn on the dust collector and sander, I have no idea how long ago the noise started.  I don't even recall how I happened to be operating the conveyor by itself, but I'm very glad that I did!

New tricks with your drum sander

I've had success using these simple techniques to salvage wood that would otherwise probably be trashed. This is my third video about ways I use my SuperMax drum sander, and the more I use it, the more invaluable it becomes. Some tools are just that good!

Drum sander tip really works!

I needed to sand a wide board today, and had not yet tried to remove the dark stripe running down the middle of the abrasive on the drum.

So, following the instructions provided by SuperMax, I used a small piece of plexiglass to scrape the abrasive clean.  It took some work, but I was able to remove the entire mess pretty easily.  If I had removed it when it first appeared, it would have been a really quick job.

Pretty good save of a fairly new sandpaper strip!

SuperMax sander scores again!

I've been delighted with my SuperMax 19-38 drum sander from the get-go, and am especially pleased with their great customer service.  

Recently I developed a problem with lines appearing on the abrasive that were not from glue.  I didn't think the cherry or hard maple I was using were particularly resinous, so I was clueless.  Here are the photos I sent them:

 I contacted SuperMax, and here's the response I received:

These black lines are build-up on and in the abrasive. Usually caused by a glue line or resin line in the stock being sanded. Easiest method to prevent/reduce these lines are to angle the stock being sanded. A 30 degree angle is ideal. If the stock is too wide for that, any angle is helpful. Even a 1 or 2 degree angle can dramatically reduce build-up.

As for resin lines, Cherry and Hard Maple are the most prone to this kind of build-up. Again, angling is helpful as is less depth of cut and a faster feed rate than used with other woods.

These lines can be removed with using clear plexiglass on edge as an abrasive cleaner. Or the abrasives can also be soaked in paint thinner or mineral spirits, which will dry out the build-up. Then it can be brushed out with a stiff nylon brush.

If the lines are developing from Cherry or Hard Maple and are not from glue lines, the other option is using a cooler running abrasive such as the blue Zirconium… Please let me know if you have questions or if I can be of any service.

If you need a drum sander, I'd suggest you give this one serious consideration.  It's a little more money, but for a lot more tool, and you can't beat the customer service. 

Sanding with SuperMax

Finally gave my new SuperMax Drum sander a proper workout, and it really met all my expectations. Nice when that happens!