burning purple hart

[firewater100]

Ok guys i know i usualy screw everything up i do, but im in the process of making a purple hart maple riser for my next bow, im having trouble with the purple hart burning.
I burn and blacken it with my band saw at high or low speeds, but thats not so bad , but i also burn it or cannot get the blacked layer off with my belt sander with either 60 or 80 grit, the belts are not brand new but they still cut oak pretty good.
     Do i need to get some new belts? do i need to go even corser? less pressure? more pressure?... Is it just me or what?

thanks

later
scott

[Jeremy]

I little bit of burning can be expected when bandsawing purpleheart (or osage, cocobolo, etc) but if you're getting tons of burning you need to change blades.  It could just be that the blade is dull, but check out a different tooth pattern/tpi as well.

Same goes for belts.  Those woods clog belts, even the coarse ones pretty fast and if the belts have been in use for awhile they'll burn the wood very quickly.  Oak is soft compared to the exotics and doesn't have anywhere near the oil content.

[Okie 1]

Do you have a belt cleaner? It's the best investment you'll make when it comes to sanding exotics.


John

[firewater100]

I will have to grab some new belts. Okie no i do not or ever herd of a belt cleaner ( im still a beginer) i will have to see about one .

 thanks quys

later
scott

[Okie 1]

Here's a link to what I'm talking about.
 www.grizzly.com/products/searchresults.aspx?q=belt%20cleaner

John

[sulphur]

when i'm done sanding purple heart i usually burn it with a torch to bring out the grain.  looks awesome. sorry no pics of this process.  if it has burn marks before i use my bastard file or cabinet scraper to remove.  anything else will almost always burn it a little.

[snapper1d]

Those belt cleaners will save you a bunch of money on belts.