How were the tests run and what did we learn?

Each belt was mounted on the sander and run in mid-air under no load for ten seconds to allow the belt to flex and stretch a bit. Tracking was also adjusted and then the sander, running at full speed, was brought into contact with the board for 10 seconds. The sander was held loosely in one hand and was allowed to slide gently from side to side about 1/2 inch to keep the paper from clogging. As you can see from the photo the sander is leaning left due to the poor balance brought on by the new heavy pulleys and arbors. The boards and the belts were numbered to keep everything in organized. From here the boards were re-weighed. The weird thing is all but one belt removed .2oz's, but that one magical belt removed .3oz's. That doesn't sound like much but it's 50% more than all the others. I re-tested this belt and sure enough, .3oz's again. I have my belt! By the way, the belt used on the board above is not the winner.

Which one won? I'm not telling! At least not until after the race.



No comments: