Vanco linisher

[DustyParticipant @dusty]

Abrasive belts breaking

[DustyParticipant @dusty]

I dug out my Vanco linisher which I haven't used for some time over the weekend. I am having problems with the abrasive belts breaking at the join. The belts are probably 3 yrs old and I am not using much pressure. It seems that the adhesive may have dried out which is causing the problem. What sort of adhesive is used on these belts? and is there a cure for my problem.

[Jeff DaymanParticipant @jeffdayman43397]

Hi Dusty, You mentioned not using much pressure, which I take to mean pressure of the work against the belt, but could excessive belt tension between rollers be part of the problem?

The glue used on many belts in North America is hot – applied acrylic based glue. Some automotive refinishing belts use urethane glue. Neither of these glues "dry out" per se, but they will degrade in direct sunlight, so keep them in the dark. Good luck.

[DustyParticipant @dusty]

Hi Jeff, the belts have been kept in a cupboard in my workshop, so have not been subject to sunlight. I don't think belt tension is the problem as it is not excessive, the pressure is applied via a spring on the top arm and is as manufactured. The linisher is some 40 +yrs old so the spring tension might have reduced due to the passage of time. I am at a loss as to why this is happening. The belts are made in Germany with a couple being made in U.K. I have about 20 with 6 being broken now.

[DanielParticipant @daniel]

Hello Dusty,

I had the same problem, recently, with some wood belt sander belts. They were of good provenance, but they were a good few years old. I hadn't used the belt sander for years, as I became converted to scraping, I could only assume that the joint adhesive had broken down over the years that they were stored.

ATB,

Daniel

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

Check that the belts are running in the correct direction. If running in the reverse direction the work piece can catch the edge of the belt at the join and peel it off.

Paul.

[thaiguzziParticipant @thaiguzzi]

I have a Creusen linisher, ie not cheap and very well made. I had a large stock of brand name belts purchased when i moved out here to TH in 2003. 10-12 years later all of them had the same problem you describe.

No matter what i tried, stapling, superglue, hot glue under a press, nothing worked.

So i have a lot of stock of thick backed al/ox strips for hand held use.

Purchased a new batch last year, and hey presto, perfect belts, perfect linishing.

Buy new.

[VicParticipant @vic]

Modern good quality belts are butt joined with special tape. I’ve found Polyurethane (Gorilla) glue works well.

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

I too have found that the adhesive joint on belts doesn't hold up well in storage. About 5 years in my case. So buying a bargain batch rarely works. Especially if you have a higher quality (usually = silly expensive) machine that the usual commodity level variety as the belts seem to last much longer. I'm expecting about 5 times more belt life from my Morrisflex than I got from the Draper I used before. Expecting not knowing 'cos the apparently well worn belt it came with is still going strong despite my first assessment of it having only a few weeks left in it!

Problem with re-joining is getting the belts straight. Pal I gave the old Draper too took the spare belts, some broken, and tried to rejoin them. Not sure what he used but sticking appeared tob e no problem. Straight enough to run true being a different matter. Despite making what appeared to be a functional jig he decided that life was too short to sort things.

Clive

[VicParticipant @vic]

I’ve got several rolls of abrasive so I was keen to try making my own. I made a simple jig, just a shallow slot for the abrasive and don’t have any problems. I don’t suppose it really matters though if it’s not quite straight. My belts are butt joined though so maybe that helps.

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