So i pulled the trigger and dropped a bunch of money on a brand spankin new floorcrafter. After years in the business i never thought i could do it but last friday i was at my distributor opening the big box containing my machine on a crate.
Today is tuesday and my first time firimg the machine up im not impressed.
The motor sounds like it runs smooth but when the drum touches the floor i can feel a slight vibration and i can visibly see in the sanded finish that my machine is cutting very hard on the right side and leavine chatter on the left feathering side.
I thought belt sanders are suppose to cut flat? Although i do remember my old bosses had theyres set up to cut hard on one side.
I just thought this thing would be ready to make me money right out of the box.
luckily i still had my trusted hummel in my garage.

any input is appreciated

The floorcrafter drum should be flat, not tilted to one side.I haven't worked on that machine but there should be a way to adjust one of the wheels to correct the angle.

In general, those machines are tricky to set up so that they cut nicely and don't chatter.Even the way you cut your paper and tuck it into the drum makes a difference.

The adjustment for leveling the drum is on the right side, it is a hex key above a dark grey/black rectangle mounted on the frame of the machine. There should be an arrow on the block with a mark made at the factory with a chisel. This mark should stay aligned. You should also cut right to left. You may have a flattened drum depending on how it was stored.
On a side note, I would stick with the hummel. I have worked on both machines for years and would never buy a floorcrafter, too many problems.

Here we are over a month later and clarke finally sent me a new machine. When i opened the crate the first thing i noticed is they had it stoted with the drum DOWN. Back wheel was chalked up tho. So with concern i went home and build my own 4×8 platform of white oak, sanded it with my hummel, edged it, and buffed it with my ceno satellite using 80grit and 120grit. Just like i do my floors only i didnt water pop. Stained it and then brought in the floorcrafter. It did the same exact thing as the first one they sent: cuts hard on the right and chatters on the left. So i adjusted the wheel as lookingglass suggested. It cuts flat! But still chatters slightly. Seems to chatter worse on areas where there is a low spot on the floor. I sanded 500 feet of red oak and when trowel filling i seen chatter all over. So i fi eshed the floor with my satellite and it got it out. Although i had to really take my time with it.
Any suggestions? I dont want to ask my distributor they dont seem to know as much as they should. Did i get a flat spot on my drum during transportation? I tried tightening/loosening the belts and still chatter.
thanks so much for input i really appreciate it

Have you tried dressing the drum? Idk if the drum on the floorcrafter is supposed to be flat or football shaped. If it is supposed to be flat, you should dress the drum and that may address the issue

Yes ive been on the phone with clarkes tech support who is actually another company thatbouggt clarke. I dressed the drum exactly the way wayne lee ssuggested. I even bought a slab of granite to do it on. Still chatters on the left side.
Tech support even said the norton belts are cheap and can cause it. So i bought some 3M. Still chatter!
I honestly think its a tension problem with the sandpaper. Like my upper roller pulls the paper tighter on the right side and slightly loose on the left. I just dont know how to address this suspicion.

Any help is appreciated
thanks