Interview with RJ about Sanding Belts

Customer Service is very important these days and in that it is important to take care of customers query. Though we have already posted some FAQ’s and also have the live chat facility for you on our website with a service representative, I thought to have a one to one chat with the owner of 2Sand.com, RJ Stroman. This will help us to find answers to some of the questions that keep popping up on the woodworking forums.

Question 1: Recently at an auction I purchased some container of sanding belts which were manufactured few years back. All these belts broke faster than what I have expected, at the tape line. Can you tell me whether these belts have a shelf life?

Answer: These sanding belts do have a shelf life. The belts that we provide come with the warranty of one year. If these belts are stored cautiously then you can expect the shelf life to go up to three years. But do not expect the belts to perform much beyond that. Also, changes in humidity and heat causes the adhesive to dry and thus fail over time.

Question 2: Is there some way to store the sanding belts so that they last longer?

Answer: for the maximum shelf life, keep the sanding belts sealed in original package and store in a place where there are no or very less changes in humidity and heat. For example, do not store them on a cemented floor; the best choice would be to store them in dry cabinet drawer.

Question 3: What are the other sanding supplies that have a shelf life?

Answer: In a sanding belt the weak link is the tape joint. The disks and sheets rarely face any issues with the storage. Care should be taken to store the sticky backed disks flat. The loop backing on hook and loop disc is bonded with the sanding disc with glue. During sanding, too much heat can cause glue to fail and the disc flies off the loop backing. This is primarily an issue with the bad batch of glue.

Question 4: Many a times we see that the unused sandpaper curls? What is the reason behind it and how can it be prevented?

Answer: The concern here is the moisture. If any side of the sandpaper looses or gains moisture than the other side, it will curl. In order to prevent the disks from curling, put some weight on them and then store to help them keep flat.

Question 5: Is there any other thing related to old sanding storage and supplies that you want to share with us before we leave?

Answer: My instincts say that the older sanding supplies may not turn out to be as good as the newer ones, though I do not have any empirical evidence on this. For example, if you get a ten year old sanding supplies batch, even at a very reasonable rate, you should think will it be able to give you as much outcome as a new stock? Though if they have been stored perfectly, then they might be usable but will they be able to measure in a head to head test. This is something to think about.