Hook and Loop Sandpaper Discs - How Do You Make Your Own

[Tony Maness]

This may be an old topic but its new to me. I am tired of shelling out money for discs and would like to make my own. Does any one have a tied and true technique for making hook and loop sanding discs?

 

[Scott Rebello]

I was with Glenn Lucas and he buys rolls of paper with backing and punches them out. About 10 square at a time. I haven't looked for the rolls but am planning on it. I forgot what size the roll was but he get 2-2" and 2-3" per square. He is turner so those are the sizes he uses but any size is feasible. Let me know if you find a source for the rolls. A punch un those sizes should be easy to source.

 

[Dwight R Rutherford]

Klingspor has rolls of hook and loop. Grind off the teeth of bi- metal hole saws and sharpen. I use a 1/2 ton arbor press to cut out.

 

[David Drickhamer]

Here's another source for paper.
http://www.onlineindustrialsupply.com/sandpaperrolls1.html
I cut mine out square with scissors as I need them.

 

[CTutor]

by the yard

http://www.industrialabrasives.com/1-yard-x-1-yard-hook-loop-sheet-01713-p-338.html

comes in 1 meter by 1 meter at about $17.50

the rhyno backing is the best. Use a 2 or 3 inch hole saw in a drill press to cut your own. Cut or grind off the teeth and sharpen the edge. Works great but after doing that you"ll probably want to go back to buying your disks. Takes time which ain't cheap.

 

[Max Monts]

Cut squares from rolls

This may be an old topic but its new to me. I am tired of shelling out money for discs and would like to make my own. Does any one have a tied and true technique for making hook and loop sanding discs?

I get the box of scrap ends from H&L rolls sold by Klingspoor. I cut squares slightly over 2" or 3" (depending on pad). I've found the corners act in a similar manner to the scallops cut on the commercial ones. I used to get some scratches from the edges of the round ones, but that could've been just me...

 

[robo hippy]

I did it for a while, and even have access to a clicker press (used for smaller leather things). I ended up just buying discs again. The time was the factor for me. I found the discs from Vince Welch (VinceswoodNwonders) to be cost effective for long wear. The time taken away from the shop just wasn't worth it. Kind of spending a nickle to save a nickle thing. When I hand punched mine, I had a couple of different sized pipe sections, slightly over sized. The cutting edge needs to be V shaped, or double bevel. I had some 3/4 inch thick plastic for a punch board. Place 5 layers of abrasive, scratchy side down, set ring on plastic, put 3/4 inch piece of plywood or 2 X 4 over the ring, and give a good smack with my 10 iron (10 pound sledge). A 6 or 8 will work, but you have to swing a little harder. The punch board needs to be directly over a table/bench leg. If you are in the middle of the table, it bounces/flexes a bit and you don't get a good solid hit. Even after years of driving stakes for concrete forms, I seldom hit perfectly square (hammer face to wood), and most of the time a second tap was needed on one side or the other. I think Vince was selling some sheet stock, but not sure.

robo hippy

 

[KellyDunn]

I also get the Rhyno brand in 1 yard sheets. I also just use scissors. I do 2 and 3 inch discs and one inch when areas are left over. And 2 and 1 inch from 3 inch discs if the centers are still good. I have never had the backing come off from the Rhyno brand. I consider it just a bit of a zen break to cut a few discs. I dont do a marathon of it. For my outside bowl sanding I have started to use the five inch psa rhyno. I have been using Mirka gold for years. The Rhyno last so much longer its incredible. And cheaper than Mirka. My 2c. Oh, dont use your wifes good scissors. Get an old pair and dedicate it. It will slowly wear down but it sure stays sharp.

 

[Tony Maness]

Here's another source for paper.
http://www.onlineindustrialsupply.com/sandpaperrolls1.html
I cut mine out square with scissors as I need them.

Great resource. Thanks

 

[Tony Maness]

http://www.industrialabrasives.com/1-yard-x-1-yard-hook-loop-sheet-01713-p-338.html

comes in 1 meter by 1 meter at about $17.50

the rhyno backing is the best. Use a 2 or 3 inch hole saw in a drill press to cut your own. Cut or grind off the teeth and sharpen the edge. Works great but after doing that you"ll probably want to go back to buying your disks. Takes time which ain't cheap.

Several great resources from this post. Thanks

 

[Mark Mandell]

Cheap Time

Takes time which ain't cheap.

If you've got nothing better to do

I made my own sanding discs for a while. When I figured in my time and materials costs, it just didn't balance out.

YMMV

 

[Donna Banfield]

I'm with Robo and Mark. It takes time to make your own discs. I was an Industrial Abrasives 1 meter by 1 yard Ryhno grip sheet user. In addition to the time spent -at least half a day cutting grits 80-600, the particle abrasives were not uniformly laid out. Meaning, I frequently had a high spot of grit that cut a scratch deeper than the rest of the grit. Of course it never showed up until you were at 320 (if you were lucky).

Vince Welch had sent me some free sample discs -blue ceramic. I slapped them on my mandrel, and power sanded the first bowl in a long time that I didn't need to drop back down to 120 or lower because of a scratch that was still there. I ordered abrasives from Vince the next day and have ever since. I did the math in cost saved in cutting my own discs from sheets compared with Vince's pre-cut discs. Buying in bulk from Vince only cost at most 4 cents more per disc. It was a no brainer for me, because with the sheets I still had to cut them. My time was worth more than .04 per disc.

 

[Tony Maness]

I'm with Robo and Mark. It takes time to make your own discs. I was an Industrial Abrasives 1 meter by 1 yard Ryhno grip sheet user. In addition to the time spent -at least half a day cutting grits 80-600, the particle abrasives were not uniformly laid out. Meaning, I frequently had a high spot of grit that cut a scratch deeper than the rest of the grit. Of course it never showed up until you were at 320 (if you were lucky).

Vince Welch had sent me some free sample discs -blue ceramic. I slapped them on my mandrel, and power sanded the first bowl in a long time that I didn't need to drop back down to 120 or lower because of a scratch that was still there. I ordered abrasives from Vince the next day and have ever since. I did the math in cost saved in cutting my own discs from sheets compared with Vince's pre-cut discs. Buying in bulk from Vince only cost at most 4 cents more per disc. It was a no brainer for me, because with the sheets I still had to cut them. My time was worth more than .04 per disc.

Everyone's response to buy vs make has convinced me to keep purchasing discs. I have just received two free sample discs from the Sanding Glove company (blue ceramic). These are quality discs.

 

[Gretch Flo]

ceramic discs

Everyone's response to buy vs make has convinced me to keep purchasing discs. I have just received two free sample discs from the Sanding Glove company (blue ceramic). These are quality discs.

I have got blue ceramic discs from Bruce at the Sanding glove. Love them. They are supposed to last longer and probably do. The error I had made in the past was using Klingspors cloth backed discs which made marks because of the stiffness of the disc. at the periphery It also is nice to have the pliable sanding disc a little larger than the pad so that it folds or bends over the edge at bowl contours. On several of my 2" 0r 3" backing pads I have trimmed about 1/8th" off the periphery so that 2" discs are on 1 7/8th " pads. Haven't seen any problem with pad deterioration doing this. Yes my pads deteriorate with alot of use. Repair with Goop. Gretch

 

[robo hippy]

I will check out the Sanding Glove in Phoenix. I am wondering if his discs are the same as Vince's. The only discs I found that cut as well as the blue ones from Vince were the Norton Dry Ice discs. Only problem with them is that they were some thing like 2 1/2 the cost of the ones from Vince. The only ones I ever heard of that outlasted them were the Norton ceramic purple some thing discs. They were only available in sticky back, no hook and loop. Very expensive.

Also, sanding at slow speeds, both the lathe and the drill really helps the cutting action. Vince started me doing that. I use a slow speed drill, and never go above about half speed. It made a noticeable difference. My guess is at slower speeds, the abrasive particles really get a chance to dig in and cut, where at high speeds, it is like you are burning rubber, basically getting no traction. Firm pads for grits to 180 or 220, then medium to soft pads above that.

Now I need to figure out how to mount a stronger grinder/drill on an articulated arm......

robo hippy

 

[Bill Boehme]

Ii think the purple ones are made by 3M.

The Sanding Glove sells Dry Ice paper as well as several other brands.

 

[nicktodd]

I use bi-metal whole saw in a drill press at the highest speed. Be sure to cut into a pieces of wood. I all ready have the sheets for some custom made sanding tools anyway. So it is one less things to store.

 

[Mark Mandell]

For DIY Method

I took 2-1/8" and 3" hole saw cups, ground off the teeth, and then sharpened them by putting a bevel on the outside surface using my lathe and a die grinder with rotary stone. I then screwed the cups to a couple of 2" oak dowels and used them like cookie cutters with a dead-blow hammer and a piece of plywood. One whack and they cut clean and I could cut 10 disks about as fast as I could position the punch. Noisy though. While 2-1/8" would yield a 2" disc, the 3" cup punched out a disk that was about 2-7/8 so I had to reduce the diameter of my 3" backer a tad. What was left of the sheet abrasives I fashioned into flap sanding heads for doing the interiors of jars and such. Very little waste.

 

[Steve Worcester]

I use bi-metal whole saw in a drill press at the highest speed. Be sure to cut into a pieces of wood. I all ready have the sheets for some custom made sanding tools anyway. So it is one less things to store.

Please trust me when i say this, don't hold on to the sand paper if this is your way of cutting disks.

Early on, 15+ years ago, I had a similar approach looking for a way to economically punch out disksc (before the invent of TURNINGWOOD.COM) . I ended up in the ER with a need for a skin graph on my pinky that got caught up in the punch. Costs way more than you will ever spend on sanding disks, in your whole career.
i understand the economics of it all, but the end result for me was selling the disks and using what I can out of stock. We are a frugal lot. We make bowls instead of buying them. We look for ways to save money, but it ended up costing more than I would ever save. If you are going to punch disks, use a stationary punch.
if you want samples, I will gladly send them to you to save your pinkys. They are real valuable for tea time.

 

[terry q]

Why round?

I make my own but I cut them square. They don't have to be round. The corners fold over and don't get in the way.