Belt Or Disc Sander?

Our ES 2000PLUS belt grinder is of course not the only electric edge grinder on the ski tuning market. There are also a few other devices that are sold for this purpose. We have looked at the type of disc grinder and compared the results when grinding the side edge.

Disc grinder

Disc grinders grind radially to the edge using a grinding wheel. This means that they grind the edge in circular movements, causing the grinding wheel to move out of the edge and back in again. We took a closer look at the grinding result under the microscope. Here is a picture of it:

Due to the circular movements, a slight ridge is created on the edge of the ski or snowboard, which can be seen in this picture.

To remove this burr, a diamond file should be used after working with the disc grinder. You should also make sure that the device is always moving, otherwise you could grind a step into the edge.

We also measured the surface value as an average roughness depth. For the average roughness depth (Rz), we divided the surface of the edge into five areas and calculated the heights and depths for each. From this we determined the average value, which is 2.7 μm.

Belt sander

For comparison, we also took a closer look at our ES 2000 belt sander.

The difference in the grinding process is that the edges are ground using a sanding belt. This process takes place in parallel, meaning that the belt moves lengthways to the edge. This movement also means that no step is ground into the edge if you linger on one spot for a little longer. Here, too, we put the ski under the microscope.

The grinding result shown here shows no burrs. Nothing needs to be refined after this grinding process.

Here, too, we measured the surface value as an average roughness depth. The result with the belt sander is 0.5 μm.

Conclusion:

In our measurements, both the roughness depth and the burr formation are lower when using the belt sander. The ES 2000 is heavier in terms of weight, but forgives application errors, which makes it easier to use.

_{A notice:}

_{Both devices were used with standard sanding belts/discs, so there is no advantage to a finer grain. The results were also not changed afterwards. Only the brightness of the images was adjusted.}