Glen-L.com

I have had this belt sander for about 3 years, but up till now it has only been used for small jobs. I have always noticed that the saw dust didn't seem to go into the bag. Now that I am using it lots for the boat I want to sort it out.

Has anyone else had this problem, and know how to fix it?

I will probably end up taking it to bits to figure out what's going on....

_________________
Building a Monaco....provisionally called "Serenity"
http://glen-l-monaco.blogspot.com/

I too bought the Dragster when shopping for a new belt sander....but took it back after reading reviews

I ended up buying a much more expensive Porter Cable that I love,it's a work horse, but it too doesn't pick up dust well.

The dust port to the bag clogs up. I find that to get best p/u, I have to empty the bag very often....much more than my old Craftsman.

I haven't used it with an attachment to my shop-vac

_________________
Boat building can best be defined as an endless series of
tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle, followed by a good bottle of beer.

Don't Dream Your Life, Live Your Dream

Hopefully I have fixed it, took it to bits and found it clogged up with green paint dust. Cleaned it all out and now the bag inflates when I run it. Will give it a good test tomorrow.

Other than this it has worked great for me. Here in NZ we can get a lot of either real crappy tools, or real high end tradesmens tools, but there is not a lot in the middle. B&D is one that is, and aside from my new jig saw which is Bosch, all my power tools are B&D, and served ms well, hopefully my sander will as well now.

_________________
Building a Monaco....provisionally called "Serenity"
http://glen-l-monaco.blogspot.com/

I have this problem with my "cheapo" King sander. It usually is a piece or pieces of the threads from the belt that get peeled off when the belt tracks over to the side, and they clog up in the "chute".
Usually I can clear it with a piece of stiff wire, but if necessary I pull the covering piece off to clean.
Doug

Dust ports on hand held belt sanders seem the be a joke. They clog faster than the belt wear out. I've 3 different brands, two blues and one gray. They are my tool of choice for fairing. but, I live with the dust.

Bill

_________________
Mini -Tug, KH Tahoe 19 & Bartender 24 - There can be no miracle recoveries without first screwing up.
Tahoe 19 Build

Did a pile of sanding with it today, and ended up with about 2/3rd's ending up in the bag, but I figure it wont last. Taking it to bits is a pain so I'll probably just live with it next time it blocks up.

_________________
Building a Monaco....provisionally called "Serenity"
http://glen-l-monaco.blogspot.com/

Best bet for those is to try to hook a shop vac up to it. Keep negative pressure at the port, and it wont clog.

_________________
Ken Hundley
http://www.nocturnalguitars.com

So, my big brother was playing guitar and I figured I'd try it too.
- Stevie Ray Vaughan

I took the bag off and I use my respirator when sanding. As with all cheap tools that I buy I try very hard to break, so far after 3 years no problems.

_________________
) Champagne dreams and wishes are possible on a beer budget. Just build the boat.
Nice curves are easy on the eyes.
Go sell crazy somewhere else we're all stocked up here."As Good As It Gets" Jack Nicholson.

For any sanding, I always use a vac.

1) Less mess to clean up
2) Less mess to breath in (dust masks are not perfect)
3) Less dust left on the surface to clean up
4) Seems to sand quicker, as the dust gets removed and does not stick around between the sand paper and the surface.

I'm doing whole High Build Primers / Sand back look for hollows / rince repeat thing.

I've dumped a bucket full of dust so far from the vac. That would be a lovely mess all over the garden/neighbours garden/kids/cars/small animals.

Dave

_________________
Hey! I built a boat ! No Really, I did !
http://davesboat.blogspot.com/

Long ago I did a lot of work on wood boats.
I had a "WEN" belt sander that had an odd sized belt which was difficult to find. It had an exahust port and for a long time I didn't know what it was for.
I always worked under a tarp etc so the Dust was never a problem.
One day I saw a bag at a tool show, bought it and discoverd the WEN filled that bag promptly. I put the bag up on a shelf and forgot it.

Whover said Shop-Vac hit the nail on the head.
If it would be possible to hook up a light weight suction hose from your sander port to the Shop-Vac, you'd have it all!

But you need Ear Plugs in that environment.

What r u guys talking about??
Here is a video of a Dragster Belt sander.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pv5EBDp ... re=related

_________________
God Bless our Troops; especially our Snipers

LMAO!!!!!!!!

I have an adapter somewhere for hooking up the shop vac, last time I remember seeing it was before we moved house. Will have to do a search as it sounds like a good idea. The wife is already complaining about the dust

_________________
Building a Monaco....provisionally called "Serenity"
http://glen-l-monaco.blogspot.com/

I don't know much about the Black & Decker belt sander but I own a Ridgid belt sander. I comes with a LifeTime warrenty. If anything happens to it they just replace it. Great unit, works wonderfull, 16 inch belts. .

_________________
Bob
When ever you face trials of any kind consider it with great Joy.

I forgot to add that any shop vac attaches into the back of the sander and works great!!!

_________________
Bob
When ever you face trials of any kind consider it with great Joy.