Backstand Grinder Abrasive Belts

Some of the most popular abrasive belts in the metal fabrication shop and welding bay are grinding belts that fit on backstand grinder machines.

Abrasive backstand grinder belts are most commonly 2000mm in length and 75, 100 or 150mm in width.  The grinders may be a multi purpose tool but having the right abrasive belt on your grinder will make a big difference to both speed of work and to overall production cost.

Which is the most popular belt for a Backstand Grinders?

Narrower 3″ wide grinders are rarely used for high end finishing.  75mm belts are more economical to buy and are therefore most commonly used for ripping off metal rags or for weld prep grinding of steel then 36 grit belts are the most popular grinding belt.  Here we have a choice of 2 belts, both of which are normally stock items.

• HZ72 36 grit zirconium oxide 75 x 2000mm grinding belts.  By far the most common belt.  It won’t give a pretty finish but it will rip the metal out quickly.
• FX87 36 grit ceramic 75 x 2000mm grinding belts.  More expensive than the 36 grit zirconia belts the 36 grit ceramics earn their keep being much longer lasting and fast cutting making them the most cost effective high aggression grinding belt option.

When moving to the 4″ x 100mm wide backstand grinders the 60 grit belts become much more popular.  Why is a matter of conjecture but our experience suggests that the more powerful grinder motors mean that higher stock removal can be achieved with a 60 grit belt whilst a much better finish is achieved.  Our 2 most popular belts for these machines are.

• HZ72 60 grit grit zirconium oxide grinding belts (4″ wide belt, 6″ wide belt).  By far the most common belt.  The 60 grit grinding belt allows for tip grinding (with care|) and when grinding steel 60 grit is often an acceptable final finish.
• FX87 60 grit ceramic (4″ wide belt, 6″ wide belt) grinding belts.  Obviously the ceramic belts are more expensive but the additional performance and durability of the FX87 grinding belts is definitely worth the additional cost if you are grinding steel and stainless steel.  The inclusion of grinding aids within the FX87 ceramic belts means that they will give significant additional lifetime even when grinding aluminium.

Which belts To Recommend When Finer Finishing on a Backstand grinder?

In most fabrication shops an 80 grit is a finishing belt!!  But we have the capacity to supply much finer belts than that when the need arises.

For satin finishing our surface conditioning / scotch-brite belts are a popular choice.  The high power available on a backstand grinder ensures a fast and consistent finish.

The contact wheel on most backstand grinders are often too hard for super fine finishing or polishing but sometimes that is your only option.  Most of these finer finishing / pre-polishing belts would be manufactured to order but we can make belts up to 2000 grit with the 3M Trizact abrasives.  For non-ferrous work we can also supply flexible aluminium oxide belts to fit on the grinders as well.