drum sander feed belt

[David Newton]

Hi guys.
I have a Grizzly 12" drum sander, and the feed belt is a little thicker where the belt is joined. If I run a back or side and it hits that area, that area gets sanded thinner (and bogs the machine).
I've worked around the problem by marking the edge of the feed belt with a sharpie, so I lay the wood on just as that part passes, works great, so far.

Has anyone run the belt up into the sanding drum so it sands the thicker part down even with the rest of the belt?

[Dave Fox]

I wouldn't do that, myself. I do like your idea of marking the area just before and after the joint, though. I might just do that myself. Here's a thing I do, too. On the end of the drum where the sandpaper is held on by the duct tape, or whatever you use, I have a corresponding piece taped to the end of crossmember that's above the infeed. It's taped right in line with the tape on the end of the barrel. When the cover is put back on, I don't have to guess where the edge of the tape is. Last, if I get a glue stripe on the barrel (which shows up as a "burn" mark on the outfed board, I 'draw a line' in the sanding dust above the infeed, too. That way I can avoid that, as well.

dave