Thread: GMC Belt Sander repair

Welcome to our mad-house.

Your sander probably does not owe you anything if it has done that work, however try GPT Tools, Hume Hwy, Campbellfield, Vic. They may have a replacement as they got all the spares when GMC went under.

Otherwise a new cheapie.

Thanks Chesand for the welcome, and the advice - I'll try them next time I'm in Melbourne

Originally Posted by affa44

My GMC has been performing really well sanding over 500 pickets to date. (Why did I decide to build a fence with pickets all those years ago?

Am a bit curious as to why you are sanding pickets. This is not a criticism - just curiosity.

Firstly, I hope that the pickets are not of treated pine. The dust generated in sanding treated pickets is probably not too good for your health.

I built picket fences around my place and although they are hardly "dressed-all-round" materials, they don't come up too bad after a couple of coats of paint. Plus, pickets are obviously made to a price and they can be a bit irregular in shape anyway - either of different thicknesses according to whether they all come from the same manufacturing batch or they just twist out of shape as they dry out.

Accordingly, my experience simply as a home-owner who likes picket and paling fences, is that they are what they are and I have learnt to accommodate the variations that occur in them.

The areas on a picket that is most in need of sanding, in my view, are the edges, especially at the top if they have colonial tops and that would be pretty well impossible to sand without the result being pickets of non uniform height.

I reiterate that this enquiry is not to infer criticism but is just one of curiosity. Always keen to learn how to do things better.


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