- Joined
- Jul 26, 2008
- Messages
- 1,006
Here is something to try...
So I wanted to find an easier and faster way to help finish my knife blades.... I don't have a variable speed belt sander for the finer grits and I am getting to the point where I just don't have the time, or energy, or patience
, after a day's work to finish things by hand.
I tried one of those Random Orbital Sanders, but that did not work very well, not to mention the disks are also too costly in my opinion--almost 4 dollars for a pack of 4 disks. I looked into getting a die grinder, but those things have such high rpm's that I think it would just get the blade too hot. Next I had a look at my drill press... I already had one of those long flexible hand-held shafts that attach to the drill press, so it gave me an idea. I decided to try out one of those small 2" hook & loop sanding attachments that are supposed to attach to a hand drill. You can get these at most hardware stores. I found some 320 grit little disks for it also, so I gave it a try. I found that it worked like a charm and because it was attached with the flex shaft to my drill (which runs max 800rpms), it ran slow enough that I could even add a couple drops of mineral oil to lubricate the blade as it sanded. I sanded my blade to a nice polish in no time and it never got too hot or anything. These little 2" sanding attachments work great! I also found out that I can get larger 5" or 6" hook & loop sanding disks that come in very fine grits up to 1500 grit. If I wanted to, I could order a case of 6" disks and with a pair of sissors or something, just cut out my own little 2" disks from those--much cheaper and I can make a whole lot of little disks. It all amounts to a really low cost and effective way to put a nice polish on a blade. Way better than anything else I've tried so far. :thumbup:In my opinion, don't bother with a Random Orbital sander (I returned mine to the store) for finishing because it is just too big, goes too fast and does a very mediocre job on a knife blade. With the small 2" drill attachment and a few drops of mineral oil, you're all set. It works great for taking all those annoying grind marks out. Just thought I'd share this with you all.
So I wanted to find an easier and faster way to help finish my knife blades.... I don't have a variable speed belt sander for the finer grits and I am getting to the point where I just don't have the time, or energy, or patience
, after a day's work to finish things by hand. I tried one of those Random Orbital Sanders, but that did not work very well, not to mention the disks are also too costly in my opinion--almost 4 dollars for a pack of 4 disks. I looked into getting a die grinder, but those things have such high rpm's that I think it would just get the blade too hot. Next I had a look at my drill press... I already had one of those long flexible hand-held shafts that attach to the drill press, so it gave me an idea. I decided to try out one of those small 2" hook & loop sanding attachments that are supposed to attach to a hand drill. You can get these at most hardware stores. I found some 320 grit little disks for it also, so I gave it a try. I found that it worked like a charm and because it was attached with the flex shaft to my drill (which runs max 800rpms), it ran slow enough that I could even add a couple drops of mineral oil to lubricate the blade as it sanded. I sanded my blade to a nice polish in no time and it never got too hot or anything. These little 2" sanding attachments work great! I also found out that I can get larger 5" or 6" hook & loop sanding disks that come in very fine grits up to 1500 grit. If I wanted to, I could order a case of 6" disks and with a pair of sissors or something, just cut out my own little 2" disks from those--much cheaper and I can make a whole lot of little disks. It all amounts to a really low cost and effective way to put a nice polish on a blade. Way better than anything else I've tried so far. :thumbup:In my opinion, don't bother with a Random Orbital sander (I returned mine to the store) for finishing because it is just too big, goes too fast and does a very mediocre job on a knife blade. With the small 2" drill attachment and a few drops of mineral oil, you're all set. It works great for taking all those annoying grind marks out. Just thought I'd share this with you all.
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