What are the differences between a belt sander and belt grinder?
What are the differences between a belt sander and belt grinder? This is a very common question that we are asked on a daily basis by people who are just starting out.
BELT SANDERS
The heavy duty belt sander was designed to do general material removal whether it’s wood and or metal and your sanding area is the platen and work table. 
If your sanding wood, the wood won’t burn because of the slower belt speed, nor will the belt sander remove a whole bunch of material all at once so you’ll have time to work with the wood and get the finish that your looking for.
Belt type you can consider starting off with is aluminum oxide with a high grit number and or zirconia belts. Zirconia belts typically has tougher cutting particles that are more aggressive, longer lasting and don’t clog as quickly.
If your sanding metal you be able to remove all sharp edges and round corners quickly. Additionally you only have one area to sand which is around the work table and platen. The lower pulley or in our industry we call it (drive pulley because it drives the belt) is a hard plastic pulley which isn’t ideal to sand on.
Again the belt type you can start off with is aluminum oxide , silicon carbide, ceramic alumina and go from there. Again the higher the number the finer the belt grit is.
BELT GRINDERS
If your looking to remove a whole bunch of material such as remove risers from a casting and just remove a lot of steel quickly then you’ll need a belt grinder. The belt grinder belt speed typically runs double from what the belt speed of the belt of a belt sander is running at.
Belts grinders you generally have multiple grinding points such as the platen and the second grinding point is the contact wheel.
For example: The 2FSM 2 x 48 inch Kalamazoo Industries belt sander belt speed is around 4500 SFPM and the Kalamazoo BG248 2 x 48 inch Kalamazoo Industries belt speed is around 7200 SFPM.
Because of the of SFPM your material remains cool to the touch while grinding so there isn’t any need for coolant to keep your steel cool. Additionally the belt grinder is has two areas that your able to grind on which is the steel platen and the contact wheel. Our standard grinder contact wheel hardness is 70 durometer. We offer harder and softer durometer contact wheel so give us a call at (269) 382-2050 to get a quote.
In conclusion what we’ve talked about above are the differences between the industrial belt sander and industrial belt grinder. Below we cover what to look in a high quality grinder. We cover this topic in this posting because equipment can be expensive and we want to make sure you get the biggest bang for your buck. We want to make sure whoever industrial belt grinder you have it lasts you a long time. If you invest in a poor quality piece of equipment it may or may not hold up in your work atmosphere.
We also cover replacement parts and why it’s important to keep a extra set of spare parts on hand.
What to look for in a high quality grinder…..
- Type of motor being used? Is it totally enclosed fan cooled?
- Who manufacturers the motor?
- Where is the motor manufactured?
- Type of switch being used?
- Type and pulley design
- How do you track the belt? Is the belt tracking easy?
- Part replacement? Is it quick and simple to replace the parts of the grinding unit?
- Types of bearings being use? Are the sealed or are there grease points?
- Types of material being used to produce that particular piece of equipment?
Replacement parts
Typically replacement parts are easy to change so long your machine is kept clean and well maintained and there is minimal rust and or grim build up. We also recommend to always keep a set of spare parts at hand so when your equipment needs to be repair your not waiting for your parts are arrive from the factory. Especially if you live down south or on the west coast. Because whatever the current job is maybe hot and your customer may need it quickly. So keeping spare parts on the shelf is recommend. Shipping times typically takes UPS up to five days and USPS about two to three days.
So order today to keep a set of spare parts on the shelf so you can get your machine back up and running so you can quickly get you current job done. Click here to be redirected to the Kalamazoo Industries online store.
In conclusion
In the mean time contact us with your sanding and or grinding applications so we can assist you in determine whether you need a large or small industrial belt sander and or large and or small industrial belt grinder.
Also you can check out our heavy duty belt sander web page by clicking here and our heavy duty belt grinder page by clicking here.
