A bench belt sander stays put and you bring the work to it. That covers a wide family of machines: small 1-inch sanders for knives and fine shaping, 4- and 6-inch stationary sanders, combination spindle-and-belt sanders, and industrial machines with belts wider than a hand. Each takes its own belt size, and few of them are interchangeable.
The main families.
- 1 × 30 in and 1 × 42 in. Small bench sanders, often with a disc or a grinding wheel alongside. Good for sharpening, deburring and small parts. The metric figure for 1 × 30 in is usually 25 × 762 mm.
- 2 × 48 in. Narrow belts for compact metalworking and finishing sanders.
- 4 × 36 in and 6 × 48 in. The common sizes for stationary belt sanders in a wood workshop; their metric figures are 100 × 915 mm and 150 × 1220 mm.
- 100 × 610 mm (4 × 24 in). Several oscillating spindle-and-belt sanders, such as the Draper OSBS450D and the Scheppach OSM600, take a 100 × 610 mm belt on their belt attachment: the same size as large handheld belt sanders.
- Wide belts. Industrial machines take belts such as 8 × 60, 10 × 90 or 14 × 103 in.
Within a family the inch and metric figures sit a millimetre or two apart; between families the lengths differ by hundreds of millimetres. Metric and inch sizes explains the pairs.
Fitting and running the belt.
- Direction. Fit the belt so any arrow on its back points the way the belt runs, which the machine usually marks.
- Tracking. Jog the machine briefly and adjust the tracking until the belt runs centred; on a sander with a tilting belt arm, check again after changing the angle.
- Table gap. Keep the gap between the work table and the belt small, as the manual says, so small pieces can’t be dragged into it.
- Grit. Coarse belts remove and shape, finer belts smooth; see grits and abrasives.
Sizes documented for bench belt sanders.
These are the belt sizes in our catalogue for bench and stationary belt sanders, with the number of machines documented for each. Open a size to see every machine that takes it.
| Size | Machines of this kind | For example |
|---|---|---|
| 6 × 48 in152.4 × 1219.2 mm | 8 machines | Axminster Professional AP150BS, JET J-4300A, JET J-4301A |
| 4 × 24 in101.6 × 609.6 mm | 6 machines | Bauer 56870, Busy Bee Tools BBSDOSSVS, Grizzly G0426 |
| 100 × 610 mm3-15/16 × 24.02 in | 6 machines | Draper OSBS450D, Güde GSBSM 500, Holzstar OBSS 100 V |
| 4 × 36 in101.6 × 914.4 mm | 5 machines | Bucktool BS436D, Kalamazoo Industries S4S, Kalamazoo Industries S4SV |
| 2 × 48 in50.8 × 1219.2 mm | 4 machines | Kalamazoo Industries 2FS, Kalamazoo Industries 2FSM, Kalamazoo Industries 2FSMV |
| 1 × 30 in25.4 × 762 mm | 4 machines | Bucktool BS130, Central Machinery 58359, Craftex CX510 |
| 14 × 103 in355.6 × 2616.2 mm | 4 machines | Kalamazoo Industries S14D, Kalamazoo Industries S14HD, Kalamazoo Industries S14HW |
| 10 × 90 in254 × 2286 mm | 4 machines | Kalamazoo Industries S10D, Kalamazoo Industries S10HD, Kalamazoo Industries S10HW |
| 8 × 60 in203.2 × 1524 mm | 4 machines | Kalamazoo Industries S8D, Kalamazoo Industries S8HD, Kalamazoo Industries S8HW |
| 1 × 42 in25.4 × 1066.8 mm | 3 machines | Kalamazoo Industries 1SM, Kalamazoo Industries 1SMV, Kalamazoo Industries 1SMVP |
Counts are the machines of this kind documented for each exact size today. A size page also lists other kinds of machine that take the same size.
Find your sander’s belt size ↗︎