Sanding belts are excellent for the high-speed sanding process of flat surfaces where material removal is the priority. Sanding belts have taken the industry out of wood and metalwork and allow users to perform vast amounts of sanding and grinding easily. The sanding belts are coated with hard-cutting aluminum oxide abrasives for excellent results on wood. These belts have the strength to handle the most excellent woodworking jobs. The thin design of these belts makes them perfect for use on a portable file belt sander on tiny workpieces or in confined spaces. They are well suited for general-purpose grinding, deburring, sanding, and polishing of ferrous or non-ferrous metals as well as plastics and wood.
What Size Belt Do I Need?
By far the fastest way to determine your sanding belt size is to take an existing belt and measure it. Sanding belts are measured width by length, so a 2 x 48 belt would be 2” wide and 48” long (sanding belt length is the circumference of the belt). There are two methods for determining belt length using an existing belt:
Cut it in half and measure the total length
Press the belt flat and measure from end to end. Take that number and double it for overall length
We don’t suggest cutting a new belt as that would render it useless. Instead save that method for older worn-out belts that have little or no useful life left in them.
If your still having an issue determining your belt size, feel free to reach out to our team with your machine info and we will do our best to find the correct sizing for you.
Benchmark Abrasives stocks belt widths 3/8” to 6” and 13” to 79” in total length. You can use the handy filters on the left side of the screen to easily find the belt that fits your needs.
What’s the Difference Between AO, Zirconia, Ceramic, Silicon Carbide and Surface Conditioning?
Benchmark stocks four different grain options in most of our stocked sizes; Aluminum Oxide, Zirconia and Non-Woven Surface Conditioning.
Aluminum Oxide (AO) Belts
Aluminum Oxide is the most commonly used grain at an economical price point. Great for use on ferrous metals, composite materials, wood, plastics, and other metals. Our Aluminum Oxide sanding belts features good abrasion resistance, anti-static and anti-clogging.
Zirconia Belts
Zirconia grains have a self-sharpening property and stand up to higher heat and pressure than Aluminum Oxide (A/O), thus making Zirconia sanding belts the go-to option, providing excellent stock removal that gives you more bang for your buck. They are designed for use on ferrous metals, composite materials, wood, plastics, and other metals.
Ceramic Belts
Ceramic grains micro fracture to allow a continuous supply of the sharpest cutting edges. It's also self-cooling which makes it great for stainless steel and high alloy materials. The lower grits hog up metal for lightning-fast stock removal and the longest cutting life available. Our ceramic sanding belts are the best option for mild and carbon steel, stainless, cobalt, chrome, Inconel, and titanium applications.
Surface Conditioning Belts
Suitable for a multitude of applications, especially when finishing, blending, removing color from your work surface and light deburring applications. The fiber and resin are also waterproof so these belts can be used both in wet or dry applications.
Silicon Carbide Belts
Primarily used in stone, glass and hardwood applications. This grain is a go-to for the flooring industry. Benchmark doesn’t currently stock this grain option but that doesn’t mean we can’t custom make them for you. Click here for a special quote.
What Grit Should I Be Using?
Grit size determines the aggressiveness of the sanding belt. The smaller the number the more aggressive the grain is, the larger the number the less aggressive it is. Grits 24-40 are generally considered aggressive material removers; 60-80 grits are for medium material removal and grits 120+ are all in the light material removal/finishing category.
If you are unfamiliar with the difference in each grits aggressiveness, we recommend grabbing a scrap piece of metal and a few different grits to start off with. Start with the smaller more aggressive grit and work your way up the grit scale to get a good feel for how they each perform. Once you’ve done that you’ll be ready for any project you pick.
My Sanding Belt Is Clogged And Won’t Sand Anymore, Is It Trash?
Not necessarily. Sanding Belts, like all other coated abrasives, are subject to loading up. This is more prevalent when sanding softer materials like woods or non-ferrous metals like aluminum. You can extend the useful life of your abrasive belt by using one or both of our sanding accessories; belt butter and our cleaning stick
Belt Butter – a life extending grease that helps to prevent coated abrasives from loading up. Apply some of the belt butter before you get your grind on and say good riddance to the material load up.
Cleaning Stick – an industrial rubber eraser that removes the material loaded up on any sanding disc or sanding belt. Bring the cleaning stick to the belt while it is running and it will knock out the material, leaving you with a renewed belt and added life.
I Can’t Find The Belt Size I Need!
Don’t stress…we’ve got you covered. Benchmark Abrasives can custom make just about any belt you need, from small belts to wide belts, AO grains to Surface Conditioning, we can do it all. If you can’t find the size or grit you need, fill out our form on the Custom Belt Page, fill out your specs and we’ll get you a quote. Its that easy!
