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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Melbourne Outer East right next to mount dande
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    73
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    1,859

    Default Carbatec Drum Sander belt loading frustration

    drum-sanderx.jpg
    Bought on of these 12 tears or so ago and it has been a constant source of torture. I cant complain about the machine itself as it has slogged away and taken everything I've thrown at it. However whenever I have to reluctantly replace the belt I know it is going to be a huge drama and two or three new belts later I have one in that will last awhile.

    It's the belt catch at the end closest the motors and lift mechanism that has me beaten every time. I cant see how it works and I can never seem to get the damn thing to catch and hold the belt properly. I'll spend a frustrating hour with mirrors trying to get it to hold only to have it let go a few minutes into the first job. The other end [closest to operator is also a pain but I can sorta see whats going on there and I have to confess to sticking the belt down at that end with contact glue.

    This time I gave up with the hard end and stuck that down as well and the results havent been great as the belt keeps breaking at the motor end.

    Does anyone have some tips or insights on how to get this little beggar to bend to my will and hang onto a new belt properly??

    I know a lot of these have been sold and have heard others complain about this same problem
    Thanks heaps
    ray c
    dunno what's more fun, buyin' the tools or usin' em'

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Location
    Ferny Hills
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    94

    Default

    Hi Ray, I have one of these and actually took it apart to see how it works, crazy i know, What i do now is slide the spring loaded bolt out into the end of the drum and rotate the drum towards me to release the catch, then maintaining tension on the drum to hold the catch open and on the belt to hold it in position i use a strip of plastic to push the end of the belt into the slot. Release tension on the drum and generally the catch has caught the end of the belt and all is good. Sometimes it fails to hold the belt and i have to repeat the process.

    Happy to talk if further help is required

    Good luck Owen

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    Sunbury, Vic
    Age
    84
    Posts
    2,713

    Default

    What Woody said.

    I also found that I needed to cut a sliver off the side of the belt to allow it to slip into the inner slot a little further so that the clamp grips it properly.

    I am pretty sure there has a been a thread on this problem so a search might help.
    Tom

    "It's good enough" is low aim

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Glen Forrest, Western Australia
    Age
    62
    Posts
    531

    Default

    Hi Ray,


    Glad too see I'm not the only one who has had this problem, I did some searching and found this video and realised I had been trying too hard to get it right by squeezing the end clamp while trying to feed the belt in.
    In the video it shows putting a pin in to hold it while the belt is fed into the clamp, I have yet to try this as I need to get some more abrasive but it makes a lot of sense

    Hope this helps

    Rick

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Canberra
    Posts
    5,124

    Default

    As both respondents here have said... spot on.

    I also fold the end before feeding it. Once I worked out to use the drum itself as the retraction mechanism, took a small sliver off the side being fed in, and folded it over a bit.... all problems solved.

    It is a bit tricky, but they are great machines.

    My favourite I think! For boxes there is no other tool more powerful for production.

    SIA cloth-backed papers from the SandpaperMan are absolutely the best to use.

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Melbourne Outer East right next to mount dande
    Age
    73
    Posts
    1,859

    Default

    Thanks all. Video is interesting and informative. My machine doesnt have a hole in the drum for a pin.

    I would love to able to have a proper look at how that back holding mechanism actually works. You can't see where you're feeding the paper. Sometimes it grabs and pulls fine, sometimes it kinda works but let's go and other times it doesn't catch at all.

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    Sunbury, Vic
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by old_picker View Post
    My machine doesnt have a hole in the drum for a pin.
    There is no hole in the drum of the Carbatec version as shown in that video. The spring loaded bolt on the frame goes into the open end of the drum and as said above, pull the drum towards the switches and hold it while feeding the paper into the slot.

    A bit hard to explain but once seen it is relatively easy although fiddly.
    Tom

    "It's good enough" is low aim

  9. #8
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Albury
    Posts
    3,019

    Default

    Good video, warrick, because it gives you a reasonable look at how the inboard clip works. Having said that I've never seen a drum sander that takes a pin to hold the clip back, it's more usual to have a spring loaded bolt/pin that's pushed in through the drum mounting frame/casting to hold the clip back. My Carbatec drum sander wasn't fitted with any kind of clip retaining pin and this made changing the sanding media a complete PITA. The spring that you have to open the clip against is quite strong and there is quite limited space to operate in.

    Does your sander have a spring loaded pin as shown in the attached pic., old_picker? I ended up fitting my own clip retaining pin using a 5/16" bolt, nylock nut and spring. The difference this made in the ease of fitting media was a revelation and well worth the effort of removing the drum mechanism to fit it. When you have the pin to hold the drum in the correct position you can concentrate on getting the media into the clip instead of holding the clip.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Melbourne Outer East right next to mount dande
    Age
    73
    Posts
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    Default

    Yep there is a spring loaded pin that you push in so you can rotate the drum against it to open the holding clip.

    Looking the video it seems to me to be backwards. The motor end clip is the.most difficult to operate in my experience. So why not get that end solidly clipped in first and go reverse to the video and clip in the easy one last?

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