Aluminum and belt grinding

[trg-s338]

I'm in the early stages of testing a belt grinder that I built, a 2 x 72. I would like to use it to take material off of aluminum, it works quite rapidly on steel. Is there a special belt or belt dressing that is used to keep the aluminum from loading up on the belt abrasive thus ruining the sanding belt? This belt sander does well in grinding steel, it would be great if it could be used on aluminum with similar efficiency. Thanks.

 

[Pacer]

Trg, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised how a belt sander will eat aluminum.

Ive got 2 2x48's with a blue zirconium on one - which is all I'll buy from now on! I don't remember whats on the other, but I'll throw anything at them that I think they'll gnaw off - round corners, remove slag, smooth saw marks, etc, etc, one of the more used tools in the shop -- Oh, and my shop hasn't blown up yet.

 

[trg-s338]

Great tip on keeping belts for aluminum separate from ones used for iron/steel. I seem to remember in the past that a hand sander I used on aluminum had melted aluminum chunks stuck to the abrasive but that may be because the alum dust did not get to cool off on a sander that small. I'm thinking about creating a sheet metal belt shield to help contain the dust to just the front area of the grinding wheel/platten attachment. The dust byproduct is really bothersome, it gets all over the place without a shield. Any tips on that design? Must be easy to open some kind of panel to change the belt.

 

[firbikrhd1]

Grinding aluminum can be done on a stone by applying beeswax to the stone to keep it from loading up. I have seen this done on surface grinders. I imagine a similar thing can be done with a belt.