(Free tip - if you decide to unbolt the drum cover from the rise-and-fall plate, bear in mind that it is not bolted to the rise-and-fall plate at all. It's bolted THROUGH the rise-and-fall plate into the motor itself, so when you remove the last bolt the motor will crash to the floor. Or so I'm told).
The loading on mine is fairly new, it's only done a few metres, really, but already it's beginning to get gummed up. If left, it will start to burnish the workpiece, even burn it, rather than sand the surface.
I did buy one of those rubber blocks once, and while they do a decent job, they are expensive and don't least very long.
But I'm a cheapskate and WD40 is cheap. I used:
- My gummy loading, removed from the drum
A can of WD40
A wire brush (mine is a steel one, but I think a brass one would be better)
Plenty of paper towels
A softer hand brush
I clamped one end to the far edge of my bench with the rest of the loading hanging over the front edge of my bench.
Then I drenched the surface with WD40, left it for a minute or two and got to work with the wire brush
Then I mopped up the mess and brushed off the paper towel debris
Brilliant! Just like new. For comparison, a before and after:
You're welcome.