Quote Originally Posted by Oakeshott View Post

I need a new sanding belt though.
Small price to pay, well, unless those are brand new purple belts or something. I always get my belts at a flea market because I do something like what we're talking about with them before I wear them out on wood, or I don't use them for a while and then the tape joint dries out and they separate.

I keep cheapie aluminum oxide belts for oilstones because they're awfully hard on belts.

When I get a vintage arkie that's way out of flat (like very hollow), I use the hard metal drum on the belt sander to dig it close to flat before lapping - keep that in mind. If you have a belt that feels a little beat, it'll still work doing that for a long time (wear a dust mask when doing that, of course, else it's too much silica-ish things for lungs). oilstones on a belt sander smell like fire, strange smell.