Hand rubbing being a pain?can't get the flats as smooth as you want? Try this trick

I used this for several years .It cleans up the blades prior to HT fast.I glued a 16 gauge piece of steel to the pad of a 1/3 sheet sander,and use self stick sandpaper (the pad keeps the noise down). I also use an air sander (from the auto repair and metal work industry) that looks like a big two-hand file (something like 1.5X16").It eats the steel on a sword blade like you were draw filing it.The papers for it are self stick and made specifically for metal removal.
Stacy
 
I thought about doing this a while back, but hadn't gotten around to trying it.
Time to get off my butt and do it. Thanks for the tip, Bruce.
 
Old thread, but just as valid now. I use a Black and Decker palm sander with 1/2" mycarta square glued to it. A squirt of 3M spray disk adhesive and sandpaper and it works great for leveling things out. I realy don't like using it due to the vibrations, but like spending hours handrubbing a lot less. A big time saver for me, even if I'm just going to etch or polish the blade.
 
I did some research and found that the best sander on the market is
Porter-Cable Speed-Bloc Quarter-Sheet Finishing Sander 330
It is pricy though :(
 
Will, you can get gloves from Woodworkers supply that cancel out the vibrations and the damage they cause. They're made specifically for palm sander use.
 
Users that reviewd Porter-Cable Speed-Bloc Quarter-Sheet Sander claimed that they can work all day long with it with no numbness like from other sanders.
 
I wonder if one can mount the SANDER BODY stationary, with
the platform facing up & vibrating and then the glide the blade on it.
It has to reduce vibrations significantly.

I wuz thinking about using me sander same way, when I made
a big @$$ chopper and wanted to get it all nice and shiny. The
flat area on it (edge is hollow) is something like 3"x8" and it is really
tough to get all the scratches out, on me 4x36 or home-made 2x72,
even with graphite plate.
 
Plain ol' micarta? As in scale/handle material? Heh heh heh...this weekend's tool improvement project brought to you by....Mr. Bruce.
 
Has anyone tried a Profile Sander? I was looking at the Porter Cable website and I saw that their profile sanders use a "Unique in-line sanding motion... ...at 6,000 strokes-per-minute." It's hard to tell from the picture how big the sanding area is, or whether you could attach a piece of micarta.

20021101200000_9444_72dpi_500.jpg
 
I got my porter-cable sander later this week. I made a wood holder that keeps it up side down. Holder is just a hole in the thick board that I insert my sander into. My sander body is round.
I also tried to just hold sander in my hands and have the blade clamped in a vise but didn't like it too much.
Holding blade in your hands gives you WAY better control. It feels like you are using an abrasive stone.
So far I used it with 1200 grit and liked it very much.
Not that it's going to replace any of your tools or make you a pro over night
but it's still a usefull little thing that makes your life easier.
 
Has anyone tried a Profile Sander? I was looking at the Porter Cable website and I saw that their profile sanders use a "Unique in-line sanding motion... ...at 6,000 strokes-per-minute." It's hard to tell from the picture how big the sanding area is, or whether you could attach a piece of micarta

Yep, been using one for years and I love it when other knife/gun builders hate them.
I have several sanders that I converted as Bruce described after he first came up with the idea.
The profile sander just adds the versatility of the system.

I have mounted them upside down for small objects that required two hands. It worked for them but doesn't seem to work as well on knife blades.

As with most things, choice of paper is important .
 
beknives said:
Now i use this as a extension of the belt grinder before hand rubbing starts.
Click to expand...


Bruce, can you clarify this part for me. I keep turning my head to the side, but it doesn't seem to work for me like it does for dogs.
 
I had experimented witn my B&D mouse sander. I took a piece of leftover 5/32 blade steel about 3" long and put on a piece of industrial strength sticky back velcro on one side, the opposite of what is on the sander. Then I used 3M 77 spray on plain sheets and attached that to the bottom of the steel. I got mad fish hooks and did not want to deal. Maybe I need to try again. I was happier than a pig in slop when I got my disc sander up and running, I use strictly 220 on it to get my flats flat and so on. If I could try this again to get me through to 600 then hand rub, that would be nice! I am so procrastinating on getting an optivisor, but heres the question. What magnification?
 
Fiddleback said:
Bruce, can you clarify this part for me. I keep turning my head to the side, but it doesn't seem to work for me like it does for dogs.
Click to expand...

Fiddleback,

He's saying that after you get your flats ground on the belt, move to the palm sander to finish them off. The first time I read it I thought he meant to attach it to the side of the grinder as an extension. I assume thats what you thought too?

Bruce,

I have yet to try this, just wondering if you still utilize this or have you moved to something else?
 
Yes I still use this methode on all my knives....I now start with 400 grit paper and work my way up to 1000 or 1500 grit..Yes you get crazy fish hooks but they lesson as you work up the grits....The finishing trick is to use the palm grip one grit higher than you want the final finish to be then back up one grit and do your finish rub by hand with that grit,cool---no more fish hooks....

I use 1.5 power magnification in front of my byfocals when finishing a blade,then I check it over with 3 power or my 15 power loop...

If you are one of those guys who like to etch his blades to show age or a hammon line,you just need to palm grip finish to a high paper then etch and yu will not see the fishooks either....

Grinder-Palm grip-Hand rub.....That is what I meant by saying it is a extension of my grinder..

Bruce
 
TekSec said:
Fiddleback,

He's saying that after you get your flats ground on the belt, move to the palm sander to finish them off. The first time I read it I thought he meant to attach it to the side of the grinder as an extension. I assume thats what you thought too?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the responses guys. That is exactly what I was trying to picture. Duh. I'm a newb.
 
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