Wait! Don't throw out those sanding discs

[MushCreek]

Perhaps this is old news, but I made a discovery today while sanding, sanding, and more sanding on my boat project. I was looking at the pile of spent 5" sanding discs, lamenting the fact that there was plenty of life in the middle; only the edges really wear out. Then it dawned on me. I stuck one on my oscillating multi-tool attachment, and trimmed it to fit the triangular shape. Et voila! Another whole use cycle. The multi-tool gets into much tighter spots, which there are a LOT of on a lapstrake boat. I even have a tiny detail sander that goes on it, and could probably trim spent multi-tool sanding pads to fit it. I know that this wouldn't make sense for a commercial operation, but for the impecunious backyard builder, you might save a few coppers. Hint- don't use your wife's fancy dress-makers shears to cut sanding discs...

[David G]

Perhaps this is old news, but I made a discovery today while sanding, sanding, and more sanding on my boat project. I was looking at the pile of spent 5" sanding discs, lamenting the fact that there was plenty of life in the middle; only the edges really wear out. Then it dawned on me. I stuck one on my oscillating multi-tool attachment, and trimmed it to fit the triangular shape. Et voila! Another whole use cycle. The multi-tool gets into much tighter spots, which there are a LOT of on a lapstrake boat. I even have a tiny detail sander that goes on it, and could probably trim spent multi-tool sanding pads to fit it. I know that this wouldn't make sense for a commercial operation, but for the impecunious backyard builder, you might save a few coppers. Hint- don't use your wife's fancy dress-makers shears to cut sanding discs...

That is good. I'd never thought of it, but see no reason not to give it a try. Thanks.

[neil.henderson]

Another trick I learnt from Off Centre Harbour is the use a paint brush to clear the sawdust/etc... out of the sandpaper - I now get to use sandpaper till its really finished ;-)

Regards Neil

p.s. sorry, I can't spell american, though being a Scot I probably can't spell anyway...........................

[Ben Fuller]

You can also take those discs, fold them and use them for hand sanding small stuff.

[wizbang 13]

I take a few old oscilittin blades and grind dem dung, to where two layers of the self stick discs grab themselves, cuz jus to steek on de steel alone mon it not enuf.
bes of all is playin bass riffs on da ting when ya high wa!

[john welsford]

Another trick I learnt from Off Centre Harbour is the use a paint brush to clear the sawdust/etc... out of the sandpaper - I now get to use sandpaper till its really finished ;-)

Regards Neil

p.s. sorry, I can't spell american, though being a Scot I probably can't spell anyway...........................

Try using a big chunk of suede rubber on the sandpaper, the commercial guys with the big wide belt sanders use those to clear resin and such out of the grit.
Some shoe soles from an otherwise worn out shoe will work.

John Welsford

[Woxbox]

Try using a big chunk of suede rubber on the sandpaper, the commercial guys with the big wide belt sanders use those to clear resin and such out of the grit.
Some shoe soles from an otherwise worn out shoe will work.

John Welsford

Absolutely. This works great. Especially if you're taking off paint and such like. Just take the rubber to the disk while it's still spinning and then go back to the boat.

[Asgeir]

As an alternative to suede rubber - you can search for "Abrasive Cleaning Stick" online

[Asgeir]

Personally I find that it is the back of sandpaper that is more of a problem
- after varying amounts of time (sometimes astonishingly quickly) cheap sand paper disks no longer stick to the velcro "hook and loop" pads of orbital sanders and fly off the sander... even when the sander's pad is still fine and a new abrasive disk will stick to it fine...

[stromborg]

Cheap sandpaper can get expensive quickly.

As long as we're talking about sanding discs, remember the soft pads wear out too. Especially if like most of us you tend to dig the edge in instead of keeping it flat on the surface.

[rbgarr]

I "Gooped" worn sanding disk paper to the bottom of my pair of leather house slippers after I slipped on our carpeted stairs and jammed my big toe. The bruising under the toenail eventually caused the toenail to become misshapen and didn't grow out smooth for a year. No more slipping on the stairs!

614bOrS79yL._AC_SL1000_.jpg

[StevenBauer]

Personally I find that it is the back of sandpaper that is more of a problem
- after varying amounts of time (sometimes astonishingly quickly) cheap sand paper disks no longer stick to the velcro "hook and loop" pads of orbital sanders and fly off the sander... even when the sander's pad is still fine and a new abrasive disk will stick to it fine...

You might be overheating your disks by using too much pressure.

[Asgeir]

Cheap sandpaper can get expensive quickly.

As long as we're talking about sanding discs, remember the soft pads wear out too. Especially if like most of us you tend to dig the edge in instead of keeping it flat on the surface.

I try to to use extra-soft sanding pads to try to minimize digging the edge...
I think the key to making them last is not over-heating them so the hook and loop of the pad doesn't become useless .
Using a vacuum if possible really helps with this...

[Asgeir]

You might be overheating your disks by using too much pressure.

I don't think it is an over heating issue - I think it is more to do with dust getting on the fuzzy side of the sanding disc and disrupting the bond with the hook and loop...

Some brands of disks seem worse than others...

[David G]

You might be overheating your disks by using too much pressure.

Yes, a common error. Random orbit sanders can do their job without leaning on them. And they should be be largely left flat on the workpiece, with a minimum of grinding focused on one area of the pad. Heat builds up quickly, and those fragile little nylon hooks and loops can both be damaged. Also a h&l sander should never be left around naked - with no sanding disc attached, to protect those fragile hooks & loops. Scooting them around naked ruins a pad quickly

[Asgeir]

This is cool - I didn't know you could get protection pads:

"The protection pad protects the sanding pad and the fastener from wearing out quickly, and thus increases the service life of the sanding pad and the fastener. The pad is quickly secured to the sanding pad with the fastener without tools."

Festool versions: https://www.festool.com/accessory/20...125-2#Overview
and https://www.festool.com/accessory/20...-pp-stf-d150-2

Bosch: https://www.bosch-professional.com/g...868610-ocs-ac/

Mirka: https://www.mirka.com/en/p/Pad-Saver...and-interfaces and https://www.mirka.com/en/p/Pad-Saver...and-interfaces

[Todd Bradshaw]

I use the crepe sole of an old shoe to clean sandpaper. Speed matters when sanding resin as well. Back in the days when using a big disk on polyester resin we could sand with a 3450 rpm sander, When we switched to epoxy that speed created too much heat and would smear the resin and quickly plug up disks in the process. I eventually switched to an 8" Milwaukee polisher (1750 rpm) which worked much better with the same grit disks.