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Archive for the ‘Sandpaper’ Category
Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011
Drill press mounted drum sanders are excellent for sanding inside curves, but to get a really smooth outside curve requires a flat surface to sand on. Not having the space in my shop for another machine, I decided to build a disk sanding attachment for my lathe.
I started by marking out a 12 1/8″ circle on a piece of MDF and roughing it out on the bandsaw. My lathe has a swing of just over 14″, so I can use a 12″ disk. 2Sand.com offers large disks in both 12″ and 16″ diameters, so if you have the capacity, you can create a 16″ disk.
I roughed out the circle at 12 1/8″ so that I could true it up on the lathe. I know that even if I could cut a perfect circle, the odds of setting the face plate in the exact center was nil. Better to assume things will be slightly off and add a little extra to be removed later.
I mounted my faceplate as close to the ceter point of the disk as possible, and secured it with four bolts. You may want to aquire and extra 8″ faceplate. it will provide better support and having an extra means you’ll never have to break down this set up.
With the lathe set on low speed, I carefully worked down the edge to insure that it was smooth, well balanced and at exactly 12″ diameter.
In part 2, we will look at building a table and options for a miter gauge and jigs.
We invite your comments here on the blog, on our Facebook page, or via Twitter. Let us know what you think!
Posted in General, Sandpaper, Woodworking | No Comments »
Friday, February 4th, 2011
The WoodWorker’s Guild of America (WWGOA) website is an excellent resource for any woodworker. Currently on their website they have a clever trick for getting more from those gum rubber cleaning sticks for sanding drums.
The gum rubber sticks that you use to clean resins off your sanding machines are great, but when they get down to the end, can be scary to try and hold while that close to a spinning drum. Dave Munkitterick shares his method for mounting these “leftovers” onto a wood handle so he can use more of the abrasive cleaner before discarding it.
Safety, simplicity and economy add up to one great tip! Read the whole article here.
We encourage you to share your ideas, tips and tricks with us and our readers too! You can comment here on the blog, find us on Facebook, or reach us on Twitter.
RW
Posted in Archives, Sandpaper, Woodworking | No Comments »
Monday, January 24th, 2011
Clamping and holding parts during milling is always a challenge. A bit of fine sandpaper can improve your results.
Adding a bit of fine sandpaper to this template routing sled increases the friction between the part and the sled, improving the holding power of the clamps.
Remember to add the abrasive evenly to keep the part square and level.
We always want to hear your sanding tips and tricks! You can comment here, email us at RW@2sand.com, find us on FaceBook or follow on Twitter.
Posted in General, Sandpaper, Woodworking | No Comments »
Sunday, December 26th, 2010
We scour the net in an effort to bring you news and information on sanding. The good folks at Woodworkers Guild of America (WWGOA) have a great blog and are kindly allowing us to share some of their sanding posts here.
First up is “Master the Belt Sander” by George Vondriska. George gives expert advice on what to look for when buying a belt sander, setting one up when you get it home, and techniques for getting the best results as you use it.
Of course, if you need belts for that sander, 2Sand.com is ready to meet your needs!
If you have or know of a well written blog that you’d like us to share with our audience, please feel free to let us know about it.
RW@2Sand.com
Tags: belt sander, blog, sanding, sanding belts, sanding supplies, sandpaper, woodworking, WWGOA
Posted in Sandpaper, Woodworking | No Comments »
Sunday, October 31st, 2010
When I have a lot of molding to sand, auto body filler can make a fast profile sanding block.
 Profile sanding block
To make a fast profile, apply a mound of body filler to a scrap of 1/4″ ply. Lay some thin plastic wrap over the filler and press a sample of the molding into it. Make sure the entire profile is filled then leave it to harden.
 Excess trimmed
Once the filler is hardened, remove the scrap part, and trim the block to size. Sandwich a piece of sandpaper between the block and the molding, and go to town.
Like the card trick I posted previously, rolling the sandpaper breaks down the backer and makes it more flexible. Bond the sandpaper to the block, and you can use it with a stroke-type detail sander like the Porter-Cable.
Posted in General, Sandpaper, Woodworking | No Comments »
Sunday, October 3rd, 2010
Many, many materials have been used to make sandpaper. As discussed before, ground glass was one of the early commercial grits. This is why the English still refer to abrasive sheets as “Glasspaper”.
Today, there are a number of standard materials used to make sandpaper. Aluminum Oxide is perhaps the most common, and likely what you will find at hardware stores and home centers. It is commonly used for sanding wood and metal. Garnet can also be found although it is not as common. It is traditionally preferred for woodworking and you may hear older woodworkers refering to “garnet paper”.
Silicone Carbide is pretty common as well. You’ll recognize it as the black “wet/dry” sandpaper, with a plastic sheet backer. Very fine grades of sandpaper may use chromium oxide, usually in 600 grit or finer.
The sheets shown above are Aluminum Oxide; (tan) Garnet; (red) and Silicone Carbide. (black)
In the next blog, we will discuss grit grades, and how to choose the right grits for your needs.
Tags: 2sand, abrasive, aluminum oxide, chromium oxide, garnet, garnet paper, glasspaper, grit, sanding, sandpaper, silicone carbide, wet/dry
Posted in General, Sandpaper, Woodworking | No Comments »
Monday, September 13th, 2010
Prior to the advent of random orbit sanders (read sanding disks) sandpaper was primarily sold in rectangular sheets. 9 x 11″ is the standard size. Why does this matter? Well, when electric sanders became available, they typically came in two sizes, half sheet sanders and quarter sheet sanders.
The great big silver Porter-Cable sander of old, the 505 was a half sheet sander.
and the Porter-Cable 330 was a quarter sheet sander.
Knowing that these sanders were half or quarter told you the pad size and that you could get two or four usable pieces of sandpaper for your sander from each full sheet purchased.
But before you say that this info is no longer important, bear in mind that pad sanders like these still hold a place in many professional shops. When used properly, they excel at sanding door panels and can get much further into the corners than any rotary sander can.
Admittedly, this may or may not be usable info for you personally, but we believe that the more you know, the better decisions you can make.
Tags: electric sanders, pad sanders, Porter-Cable 330, read sanding disks, sanding door panels, sandpaper
Posted in General, Sandpaper | No Comments »
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