How to Clean and Maintain a Power Sander

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Knowing how to use, clean, maintain and store your sanders will save you time and money in the long run. Using the right tool for the job is the first order of business. Every tool is made for a specific purpose. A sander is no exception. Caring for your sander will assure that you have many years of dependable use from it.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Sanding belts
Old rubber shoe
Long peg hook
Old paint roller

Step1

Belt sanders are made to use with a contiguous four or five inch wide piece of sandpaper that loops around a pad at the base of the sander. They are great to use for sanding, smoothing, shaping wood and wood filler. These aren't great to use with paint. Paint gums up and ruins the belts which are costly to replace. Use these for coarse work when a lot of wood needs to be reshaped or removed from the surface. They are not for fine or delicate sanding work which is really best done with an orbital sander or by hand.

Step2

Belt sanders have easy to replace belts--just remember to put it on in the direction that the arrow is pointing on the sanding belt itself. If you put it in backwards, it will rip and most likely it will have to be thrown out and replaced. When you buy belts, seek out those that are called 'open coat.' They have coarser particles that are farther apart and they allow the dust to flow through the belt. 'Closed coat' papers have grit that is more closely spaced together and they are more likely to gum up and tear up faster.

Step3

Clean your sanding belts by holding an old rubber soled shoe on them when they're running. Make sure it's a shoe you don't want to keep as this will wear the rubber down over time. It will unclog the belt and give you much more wear out of it. All the wood fibers that have gummed up in the belt will transfer and stick to the shoe and you will have a clean surface to sand with again.

Step4

Store your sanding belts so that they are not laying on anything. They can hang off of a long peg hook with an old paint roller on it. You don't want to store sanding belts in any fashion that would cause them to crease or tear, like in a tool box or flattened into a plastic bag. They need to remain free of bends and tears so store them on something round where they can hang.

Step5

When you sand with a belt sander, always sand with the grain for a smooth finish. If you sand across the grain it will make a mess of your wood, pulling the fibers up and out at odd angles. Keep your belts clean and free of debris to get the most wear out of them.

Step6

Store the belt sander in a clean dry place away from moisture. Always wipe the dust and wood off of it before you put it away. Put it inside a cabinet or store it in the box it came in to keep it free of dirt and dust. If you take care of the sander and belts it will take care of all your projects with faithful service for many years to come.