4" x 54″ Cork Sanding Belt – 6 Pack | For Premium Glass Fabrication Finishing

The shortest 4 inch wet belt in our glass range fits the compact bench-model wet belt sanders found in small glass shops, art glass studios and lapidary and stone workshops. This ungritted cork belt is the polishing stage for those machines: charged with cerium oxide slurry, it takes the fine matte left by a 400 to 800 grit silicon carbide belt to a clear polish on glass edges, and with a fine polishing paste it does the same on stone, quartz, solid surface and acrylic.

We convert these belts in Anaheim, California from natural cork bonded to a cloth backing, six to a pack. A 54 inch belt charges quickly and needs re-charging a little more often than a long belt, which suits the short runs and mixed materials of a small bench machine.

• Ungritted natural cork on cloth: a polishing carrier for cerium oxide or pumice, not an abrasive
• 4 x 54 size for compact bench wet belt sanders and small vertical belt grinders
• Follows the 4 x 54 silicon carbide belt on the same bench machine after 400–800 grit
• Short belt charges fast, suited to short runs and mixed glass and stone work
• Six belts per pack; keep one per compound
• Converted in Anaheim, California; free shipping on orders over $200

What does the cork belt add to a bench wet sander?

A bench wet sander with silicon carbide belts will seam, shape, bevel and refine glass and stone edges all day, but its finest 800 grit belt still leaves a uniform grey matte because abrasive grain cuts scratches. The polish comes from loose compound carried on a face with no grain of its own. Ungritted cork is that face: it holds cerium oxide or pumice slurry in its pores, conforms to a pencil edge or bevel, and cannot scratch.

With cerium oxide the cork belt clears the matte and leaves a polished glass edge. With pumice it gives a quicker, cheaper bright pre-polish suited to edges that will be framed, or a first stage before cerium. Run dry, or without compound, it only heats the work. With a fine polishing paste it finishes granite, quartz, agate and other lapidary stone, solid surface and acrylic; with a green stainless compound it pre-polishes steel and knife bevels after 600 to 800 grit.

Which compound should you run on a 4 x 54 cork belt?

• Cerium oxide: for polished glass and mirror edges. Mix with water to a thin cream. Fastest after 600 or 800 grit.
• Pumice: for a bright pre-polish after 400 grit where an optical polish is not needed, or as the first cork stage before cerium.
• Fine polishing paste: for stone, quartz, lapidary slabs, solid surface and acrylic on the same bench machine.
• Green stainless compound: for steel and knife bevel work on a 4 x 54 belt grinder.

Compound is sold separately. A small bench machine tends to see several materials in a week, so keep one cork belt per compound and mark the inside. A grain of pumice or stone paste carried onto the glass cerium belt will scratch the next polished edge.

Grit guide: the silicon carbide stages before the cork belt

Cork removes only the last scratch pattern. On a bench machine every stage runs on the same wheels, so step through the grits and rinse between them.

Lines under a light after polishing mean the previous grit was not completed. Go back one silicon carbide belt and polish again; cork time does not remove them.

Which machines take a 4 x 54 cork belt?

• Bench-model wet belt sanders for glass, the compact machines with a water tray and a vertical or inclined platen, built for a 4 inch by 54 inch belt.
• Small vertical belt grinders in stone, solid-surface and plastics shops of the same size.
• Lapidary and art-glass studio belt sanders that take a 4 x 54 belt.

We do not list a specific model for this length; confirm the belt size in the machine manual or measure an old belt along its inside. A 4 x 64 machine will not tension this belt. This is the polishing partner to our 4 x 54 silicon carbide glass belt and mounts the same way: release tension, centre the belt on both wheels, check the inside for a direction arrow, re-tension, then jog the machine and set tracking before charging. Cork is thicker than a coated belt, so ease the tension off slightly from the silicon carbide setting.

How to charge and run a cork belt on a bench wet sander

1. Finish on silicon carbide at 400 grit or finer, 600 or 800 for the fastest cerium polish. Rinse the work and flush the tray so no grit is carried into the cork.
2. Mount the cork belt, set tracking, and turn the water feed off or down to a bare trickle. Cork runs damp with slurry, not flooded.
3. Mix cerium oxide, pumice or polishing paste with water to a thin cream.
4. Charge the running belt at low to moderate speed until the whole face is evenly damp. A 54 inch belt charges in a few revolutions.
5. Polish with light pressure, keeping the piece moving across the belt. Pressure heats glass and stone alike and does not speed the polish.
6. Re-charge as the face dries and the polish slows; a short belt dries sooner than a long one. Never let it run dry with compound caked on it.
7. Check under a light, then back off the tension and hang the belt or leave it mounted. Do not fold a cork belt.

Use it for / don't use it for

Use it for

• Polishing glass, mirror and art glass edges on a compact bench wet sander
• Small shop shower door, shelf and cabinet glass edges
• Lapidary slabs, agate, granite, quartz and solid-surface edges after 400 grit, with a stone paste
• Acrylic and polycarbonate edges after 400 grit
• Knife bevel pre-polish with green compound on a 4 x 54 grinder

Don't use it for

• Seaming, shaping or chip removal; the silicon carbide belt does that
• Anything coarser than a 400 grit scratch
• Running under full water flow, or running dry without compound
• 4 x 64 or 4 x 84 machines

Specifications

Frequently asked questions

Related products and guides

• 4" x 54" Silicon Carbide Glass Fabrication Belts, 9 pack (grinding stages before cork)
• All glass fabrication abrasives (silicon carbide belts, cork belts and discs)
• 4" x 64" Cork Sanding Belt, 6 pack, for the CRL BM64B
• 5" PSA Glass Fabrication Discs with cork, 50 pack
• Custom belt sizes, including cork, made to order in about 3 days