Sanding belt/drum sander cleaner

[Phil Pascoe]

I found acetone works a treat on very stubborn clogs. The most common form is nail varnish remover.

Be aware that many nail polish removers aren't acetone.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I wonder what would happen if you were to spray a clean belt with dry PTFE?

 

[guineafowl21]

I found acetone works a treat on very stubborn clogs. The most common form is nail varnish remover.

Be aware that many nail polish removers aren't acetone.

Ah! Not my specialist subject

 

[JamieNE]

When I get clogs that the rubber cleaning block won't shift, I take the belt off and soak it in some hot water and washing up liquid. After an hour or two I give it a scrub with a stiff brush (or brass wire brush) and leave to dry. A time consuming fix.. but it works really well.

This is what I was thinking about doing, but with the simple green. It’s more that I can’t find anywhere that puts SG to a UK comparison. But, fairy might do it.

I’m not too fussed about it being time consuming as I have a few pieces cut, so can always have one on the drum.

Also, I have a few strips that are currently clogged, so will maybe try a few of these suggestions and see what works best.
I’ve inadvertently become a guinea pig!

 

[AES]

OK "Mr. Guniea Pig" Jamie! Let us know how you get on please.

BTW, Phil Pascoe is right - these days a lot of nail varnish remover isn't Acetone-based any more (I guess for the reasons above - strong smell, fire risk, and quickly dries out the skin's natural oils).

And before anyone else makes any "clever" remarks, I should swiftly add that I only know about nail varnish remover because I use Acetone a fair bit, and when I've run out in the past I've pinched some of SWMBO's nail varnish remover. These days it's virtually useless for my purposes (mainly as a de-greaser)!

 

[JamieNE]

Okay, listen up everybody!
Today I tried the acetone on the lengths of cloth backed aluminium oxide strips for the 16/32 drum sander.

Here’s what I did, how I did it and the results it gave.

I had 3 lengths of really clogged media. All 3 had some really baked in clog in lines that went all the way around.
I also had a lot of bits of polycarbonate stuck to a couple of them too. This was from trying “the polycarbonate trick”.

I did 1 at a time.
I found a small round container with a lid and rolled up the strip and put it in the container. It then unravelled, which meant there were gaps between each bit.
I then took a bottle of actual proper acetone and filled the container until it was at the top of the rolled up strip.
I popped the lid on and intended on leaving it overnight.
No need for that! I checked the baked in bits after 5 minutes and they were already falling off.
I gave it another 10 minutes and then drained roll back into the container.

Then I took it outside and rolled the strip out flat on the ground.
A friend of mine has a jet washer which he happened to be using, so I quickly borrowed it and watched as every single bit of clog just washed away. This took about 30 seconds.

I then spent the next few moments stood in utter disbelief with the result. It was like new! Like actual new!
As the sun was out I took the strips and put them out flat on the ground. It took about an hour for them to fully dry.
I imagine I could roll it up and put it on a radiator in the winter.

I’ve used wire brushes before now to try and clean them, but this has always affected the grit.
Cleaning them by submerging the roll in acetone and a quick jet wash afterwards has done more than brought them back to life. They look like they’ve never been used before.

I’ve taken videos of everything and will find some time to edit a little thing together and put the link on here, so you can see what I did and how well it worked.
Container wise, for this size, I’d suggest something similar in size to one of those ridiculous Sports Direct mugs.

I use the last bit of acetone that was in a 5l bottle, so poured it all back in the bottle to use again.
It was all very brown though, but I think it’ll work fine for a few more strips.
I also don’t necessarily think you need a jet washer, a hose pipe will probably do the job.

I hope this helps?
Thanks for all your replies.
Jamie

 

[AES]

That's great info Jamie, thanks, I've never actually immersed mine in Acetone completely, but it sounds a great result.

A couple of comments if I may?

1. I don't know the type of mug you refer to (Sports Direct?) but suggest that anyone be careful with anything plastic, glass or metal is much safer (I use old jam jars for all my Acetone work). If using plastic, test it first because Acetone will eat up lots of plastics quite quickly;

2. A lid is essential, Acetone evaporates pretty fast, and the smell is quite strong, the fumes being inflammable in concentration;

3. Re-using is probably OK, it depends on how thick your clogged on stuff is I guess, but I'd recommend a 2nd glass/metal container to store the already used once stuff;

4. Wear gloves to protect your skin (Nitrile works fine & doesn't "melt").

Thanks for the info, well done. =D>

Edit for P.S. At a GUESS I'd think that Acetone would quite quickly "eat" paper-backed sanding medium (haven't tried that though).

 

[JamieNE]

Ahaha! Yes, the sports direct mug.
If you google it you’ll see. It’s a ceramic mug, but for some reason they’ve made them HUGE.
I would suggest a glass jar though.

I was a bit worried about submerging the whole things, but it cleaned up both sides so well. To look at the print on the cloth, you wouldn’t think it had even been used.

You’re absolutely right. It does eat the paper backed stuff.

As far as reusing goes. If you keep it in the same sealed jar, I think you could get away with just using it again and again, then topping up as needed.
Most of the gunk sinks to the bottom so you could, if you wanted to, clean most of it out.