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Ask the Expert
By Josh Hughes, Uneeda Technician
Over the years our customers have asked many technical questions about our products, applications, and general sanding advice. Uneeda thought others could benefit from the answers to many of these important questions.
Please feel free to email us at sales@uneeda.com with your questions.
What are the advantages of using Anti-Static Wide Belts?
Over the past 30 years anti-static belts have become an industry standard. These belts provide longer life by not loading up as quickly and keeping a low temperature throughout the sanding process. Loading resistance provides better sanding quality over a longer period time, by keeping the belt dust free. A layer of dust on the belt leads to burns and poor belt life. With less dust sticking to the belt, the dust collection is able to perform more effectively by keeping the machine and work pieces clean. With less dust to sand through, anti-static belts are more efficient and give a more consistent finish. Anti-static belts help dust extraction, but quality grounding of the machine is still required. The anti-static belts will do nothing to remove the static charge generated by the conveyor belt. Proper grounding of the machine comes first, and anti static belts advent the static generated especially on the platen head where heat is built up quickest. Dust generally sticks on the work piece inside the sanding lines, making anti static belts and grounding the machine essential to the sanding process. In setups where an orbital machine is used the results are even more apparent. By keeping dust out of the cross grain, the orbital paper is better able to remove the scratches.
By reducing the static charge inherent to sanding, the belts resist dust particles, thus reducing burns, improving quality, and improving sand costs through better efficiency and life of the paper (both the wide belts and orbital sheets). Anti static belts help dissipate static charges both on the belt and the work piece. However not all anti static belts are created equally. Some have the anti static properties on the backing of the belt instead of on the sanding surface. Belts with anti static in the grit produce a better finish. This is most apparent on platen sanding heads where the contact area is much larger than that of drums. By using anti static belts and grounding the machine(s) dust extraction and sanding quality is improved greatly. Even the best dust collection systems benefit noticeably from grounding and taking advantage of anti-static properties.
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