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Sandpaper storage

Joined
Jan 31, 2006
Messages
255
Likes
1
Location
Gaston, Oregon
Here is a nice way to store sheets of sandpaper....well, o.k....1/2 sheets!!!
Obtain an old auto or truck battery.
USE GLOVES, and pry off the top. Remove the innards (lead plates, acid),
and dispose of these in a manner in compliance with standards typical with
same. BE CAREFUL!!!! Thoroughly wash and scrub interior of the case with
baking soda and dish detergent, then flush liberally with water.
Stand this box on end on a shelf or mount on a wall. The dividers inside will
hold 1/2 sheets of sandpaper of varying grits.
 
There is no legal disposal of battery acid without going through a hazardous waste disposal service.

JimQ
 
Working with the EPA rules governing chemicals every day there is no way I would try to do this with sulfuric acid and lead involved. Sorry but there are much safer legal ways to store sandpaper!

Wilford
 
Is this a joke on our part. I know it's not April 1st yet. I just can't imagine going to that much trouble and danger when it would take all of 20 minutes to build a box out of wood.
 
another alternative

Life is exciting enough without dissassembling car batteries!

I went down to the national office supply chain and dropped $5 on one of those plastic accordion files. It has about 7 compartments with little label tabs. Though I don't do much off-site work these days, this system also has the benefit of being highly portable, so I can easily take it to any job site.

Don
 
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Aw.... c'mon guys!! Turning isn't any fun with out a little excitement. Anybody try turning with their eyes closed... thats pretty fun too! 🙄 😀 About the sandpaper -- I just leave it in the box/package and take it out bit by bit. Haven't gotten too creative!!
 
I spent the evening last night cleaning and organizing my shop section of the garage. I put my sand paper in a box. It workes very well!!!
 
What in the world are you going to do with an entire 1/2 sheet of paper? Take a look at the surface area you're dealing with and how you are using it.
I cut all my paper into 2-5/16" x 8-1/2" strips when I take it out of the bag. I clip it together with an office supply binder clip and hang the clip in a handy place, in grit order. You can leave it in the clip and use the back sheets as a pad, or pull it out for sanding. When it appears full, I put a rubber band around a bundle, put it in a net bag and wash it in the washer on delicate (I knew that cycle was there for us guys)
I do a lot of wet sanding with the fine grits and I get the most out of paper. I'm not cheap, just frugal. (Jack Benny taught me this trick)
 
Captain Eddie said:
... When it appears full, I put a rubber band around a bundle, put it in a net bag and wash it in the washer on delicate.

I'm not cheap, just frugal. (Jack Benny taught me this trick)
Doesn't it cost more to run the washer than to buy more sandpaper?
 
Cleanliness Is Next

To the Doghouse

Jeff,

Care to bet the Cap'n went there (once), and now he's got his very own 6-speed, 8-temperature sandpaper washer, and the First Officer's got a brand new clothes washing machine that he doesn't get within 2 full yards of?

😀 😀
 
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Quite possibly true (2nd washing machine). I don't get near the microwave with any wood drying experiments either.

Once I "borrowed" a strainer from the kitchen with the promise that I would wash it and bleach it to ultimate cleanliness. 😱 We now have a second new strainer. Hey...at least I try to learn from my mistakes. :cool2:
 
Hey...

Take it easy on the guy.. After all some folks work in places that reclaims those batteries.

Am I the only one who thought it was a clever (if impractical) idea?

As for the doghouse, I've been there more times than I care to recall, but there was this one time...

I cooked the lid for my foundry furnace in our oven. It smelled like scorched earth for several hours. Luckily I didn't get in any trouble for it though. I ran into a guy who ran a foundry and he told my wife that his grandfather who started the foundry used to cook his core boxes in his granma's oven...

I think my wife cuts me a little slack because she knows I can fix stuff if I break it. But I couldn't get away with washing my sandpaper Cap'n... I mean, she fusses at me if I turn some other water on when the dishwasher or washing machine is on.... And if I can't put my dirty mechanics clothes in teh washer, I dang sure can't get away with putting abrasives in the washer...
 
underdog said:
I cooked the lid for my foundry furnace in our oven. It smelled like scorched earth for several hours. Luckily I didn't get in any trouble for it though.
Now we are talkin.

Just don't try a wax burnout in the families stove.
 
Jeff Jilg said:
Steve - you can come clean with us. Tell us you didn't really do that wax burnout....or did you?
While I will admit I have done steel tempering and paint drying in the toaster oven, (bought just for that purpose) and I regularly dried plaster molds in the toaster oven, I never did lost wax work at home.
 
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Burned Out

Jeff Jilg said:
Steve - you can come clean with us. Tell us you didn't really do that wax burnout....or did you?

Hey Jeff,

I used to do my wax burnouts in a kitchen appliance, only it wasn't in the kitchen at the time. 😉

[converted an old fridge with a waterheater plate burner, did well! Took on a lovely Harvest Gold patina. Sold it to a rural gent who happened by and needed one for his lawn]

M
 
sandpaper

OOPPS!!! Guess I got my tailstock reamed a bit by trying to help folks!!
I dispose of the lead and acid at my local recycle center.
Sorry to have offended so many. Guess I better keep any future hints and stuff to myself and enjoy AAW as is. Bye.
 
Mr. Don said:
OOPPS!!! Guess I got my tailstock reamed a bit by trying to help folks!!
I dispose of the lead and acid at my local recycle center.
Sorry to have offended so many. Guess I better keep any future hints and stuff to myself and enjoy AAW as is. Bye.

Mr. Don,

You have a recycle center that will take lead and acid? I'm impressed. My area we get to do 1 & 2 beverage plastic, glass, newspaper, and used motor oil, then twice a year we can drop off paint thinner, paint, and old propane tanks. If I took in lead [not to mention Sulfuric Acid] they'd throw a hissy. "Get a license and registration to dump that kinna stuff, Boy!"

Keep the hints coming, just sidestep the HAZ-Mat, OK? 😀

M
 
Mr. Don --- you didn't offend anyone... maybe some of the guys overreacted. Also on forums since you aren't really talking to people you can't see their expressions and often a casual answer in the negative can seem like a real cut, especially if someone uses exclamation marks !!!!!!!! 😉 Actually I didn't think a thing of it when I read the idea... I am just to lazy to do anything but store the sandpaper in the boxes they come in. Naw... please don't be afraid to post ideas and opinions. Forums are for gathering information, sharing ideas, and for casual debate and if people don't contribute then there isn't much point in them!!

Have and nice day,
Jonathon
 
Jonathon.C said:
especially if someone uses exclamation marks !!!!!!!! 😉
or CAPITAL LETTERS or BIG FONTS or BOLD FONTS

I have been scolded for sending out what was interpretted as negative emails, but in reality, they are just words and you put your own tonal inflection on the words.

I really wouldn't worry about it, if you offended anyone , they'll get over it.
 
Sandpaper Storage and other Valentine offenses

Don, Your battery box idea is a good one just way to much work to get there. When I stock up on paper I cut sheets into 16 pieces which creates a size excellent for the stoppers and pens I make so many of and then store them in zip lock bags by grit. The full sheets and the zip locks are kept in a drawer under my bench which is exclusively used for sandpaper.

On the topic of shocking your Valentine, I was busted about a year ago using her new Seal a Meal to pull a vacume on a jar full of punky blanks and polyurethane. Didn't hurt anything except my pride.

Frank
 
Well, I for one can relate to sand paper storage issues Don. I ended up with mounds of half used sheets of who knows how many different grits "on a shelf" and “in a box†I might add. And after a while I would have to hunt through the pile(s) to find that needed grit, which would be the only grit not present. This would result in tearing into a new piece (oh NO! :mad: ) only to be followed by finding that same grit later. Battery box aside, I got rather analytical and built a cabinet devoted to sander(s) and sand paper only. Now I have eight custom bins and four custom doweled holders (for disks), all neatly labeled with computer made placards. Aint wood great?
 
Chuck Wood said:
I ended up with mounds of half used sheets of who knows how many different grits "on a shelf" and “in a box†I might add. And after a while I would have to hunt through the pile(s) to find that needed grit, which would be the only grit not present. This would result in tearing into a new piece (oh NO! :mad: ) only to be followed by finding that same grit later.

That sounds like me :cool2: :cool2:
 
I seem to keep my sandpaper anywhere but where I remembered last putting it. Kinda like pencils and tape measures which grow feet and crawl away to hide under other stuff in the shop.
 
I have a nice wooden box with wooden dividers with nice labels that organize my sand paper. Then I have strategic pieces carefully stored in the piles of shavings under my lathe, on the lathe, in my pocket, on the Tablesaw, and behind the work bench. Then as a backup, I keep a small pile of tear offs on top of the nice wooden box that is supposed to house them. :cool2:
 
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