Backing for convex edges

udtjim

udtjim

Joined
Sep 4, 2007
Messages
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Does anyone use any other backing for their sand paper besides a mouse pad
? I made one sharpener using felt from the crafts department at wally world. It seems to work pretty well and I can get a pretty good edge on my V grind and Scandi's with it as well.
 
So long as it flexes a bit you can use anything.
I pulled a old scanner to bits and it had a foam backed plastic sheet attached to the lid,that's what I use.

Richard
 
okbohn said:
I use a nice thick piece of leather.
Click to expand...

Likewise! Leather backing works just fine for me - a mousepad may have too much give in it, i.e., be too soft, and then you have to be very careful about not using too much pressure.
 
Thats my problem, I start out with light pressure but then I get impatient and start bearing down on it. I found some crafts foam that is soft but only about half as thick as a mouse pad.
 
jim, as for getting impatient, try using a course flat stone to grind back the bevel first, then polish and slightly convex with the sandpaper...or get some coarser sandpaper to form the bevel before going to a finer grit. both will reduce the amount of time it takes to convex or thin an edge, so you can maintain your sanity...
 
Thanks siguy, I will try that.

I have not tried the fiber board, do you mean just the fiber board with no additional padding?
 
When i want a thin convex edge with minimal work, here's my recipe.

A 50 page yellow legal note pad with the norton 3x paper. The pad gives only a little and allows you to bear down a little harder.

With the norton 3x 250 grit and a steady hand, i move the blade back and forth vigorisly for a quick shape than move on to 400 and do trailing edge strokes only from there on to the higher grits.

If high polish is desired,remember to wipe blade off and brush off the paper with a fine bristle brush after each grit change to prevent cross grit contamination. The legal pad can aid in this cause you can store each grit sand paper between the sheets of legal paper.
 
I also use the backing (fiber board?) of a pad of paper. That seems to work pretty well.
 
I have been using a piece of the thin foam underlay that you put under laminate wood flooring. It might be a little too soft.
 
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