Mirka Abranet belt sander belts?

[Martin Wasner]

I just saw in a flier that Mirka offers an Abranet belt sander belt.

Anybody tried them yet?

When I do drawers, I belt sand the dovetails to get them flat, I also smear a bit of glue into the joint before sanding to fill any gaps that might be present, as a consequence, the belts load up pretty quickly. I know this won't solve that, but it might make blowing the glue off of the belt with compressed air a bit more productive.

[Martin Wasner]

I bought a few, but haven't ran one into the ground yet. I belted out some shelves earlier today with them though. nice feel, and they seem to leave a more consistent scratch than the purple 3M belts that I've been using for years.

I'm curious about platen wear with them though. Platens are cheap and easy to replace. The holes seem to allow the area inside of the belt to fill full of dust much faster though.

I'm not sure what the price difference is from the 3M belts. Likely comparable. Hopefully the lifespan is as well. I need to belt out ~40 drawers later in the week, that will be a good test.

[Martin Wasner]

I've ran a couple through their paces.

Awesome belts, excellent life span, very consistent scratch.

Once I burn through the boxes of 3M belts I have I'll be switching to the abranet belts.

[Jim Andrew]

How are the belts fastened? Tape?

[Martin Wasner]

How are the belts fastened? Tape?

Taped seam

[peter gagliardi]

Good that they last. If they compare in price to 3M, that means they are among the priciest out there!
I personally stopped financing 3M about 15-20 years ago, now I take the savings, and finance my company's bottom line.

[Martin Wasner]

I've found the less expensive abrasives to be too costly in use. Life span requiring three discs instead of one, time wasted swapping discs, and the unproductive time when the abrasive has a narrower sweet spot.

I'd be real curious what tbd performance of abranet would be in a widebelt. I'm guessing dust collection would be less effective, but the belts should run significantly cooler.

[Mark Bolton]

Isn't one of the reasons you run pad protectors on abranet hook and loop pads because the mesh is aluminum and gets so hot it will melt the hook and loop? Wouldnt hurt a platen (heat) but would be interesting to know the running temp difference.

[Martin Wasner]

Isn't one of the reasons you run pad protectors on abranet hook and loop pads because the mesh is aluminum and gets so hot it will melt the hook and loop? Wouldnt hurt a platen (heat) but would be interesting to know the running temp difference.

I think the main reason for the pad protectors, is just to wear out the protector instead of the pad. I might be wrong on that.


I got the invoice that had the belts on it. $2.40 per belt in a 3x24. I'm paying $3.03 for the 3M 761D Purple belts in small quantities. If I buy in bulk, the 3M belts drop down to $2.46. I don't know what the bulk pricing of the Mirka belts are.

[Mark Bolton]

No idea for sure but I know I had read that the pad protectors were due to heat on the hook and loop. We've been running ceros for a long while (with protectors) and seems to be a long time to failure. Were not running 8 hour shifts.

I for some strange reason can't imagine abranet running well (much less being cost effective) on a wide belt

[Jeff Duncan]

That's interesting to hear. One of my sales reps was pushing them, trying to get me to buy them for the wide belt. Didn't really need any at the time though. I'm guessing they would be too pricey for me anyway. A box of paper belts usually last me several years so switching to something more expensive probably won't be worth it. Will watch here to see if anyone else chimes in that has tried them though?

JeffD

[Martin Wasner]

I for some strange reason can't imagine abranet running well (much less being cost effective) on a wide belt

I'm not sure. I'd give them a try if they're available. The 43x75 belts I'm using in the widebelt are $125 a piece. I really abuse belts in the name of saving time so a bit more life would be welcomed.