Hand Sanding blades, what lube do you use?????

J

J. Hoover

Joined
Jul 2, 2006
Messages
1,782
I like to hand finish my blades like many others here, I've been using wd40 but I believe it gums the paper up faster. I'd like to hear what other makers use.
 
Mobil 1 synthetic motor oil. It almost eliminates fish hooks and leaves a very nice finish.
 
Thanks Darrin, wow I never dreamed of trying a synthetic motor oil like Mobil 1. I appreciate the tip, and yes fish hooks are a thorn in my side with wd40.
 
I'll have to try Mobil1. I don't hand sand a lot, but after Windex and WD40, I added cutting fluid to my arsenal.
 
For much hand work I use a quart of plain water with a few drops of Dawn and 1/2 tsp. of washing soda. I dip the sanding block in the tub, and sand away. I also have some in a spray bottle. The soda helps hold down surface rusting while sanding.

Windex works well, too.
 
I used to use formula 409 after seeing my friend Dr. Lucie using it with very good results, no where near as messy as oil, cleans off quick, allows aggressive cutting and avoids rusting. However I got tired of buying the 409 so I started to mix up my own very similar to Stacy's mix. I mix sodium bicarbonate, TSP or dish soap, with water and cut it around 6:1 with denatured alcohol. The alcohol allows it to dry off quicker so there is almost zero chance of rust. I find without the alcohol the black slurry continues to smear around my piece and not allow me to see my progress, with the alcohol the paste moves out of the way about the time my abrasive is dulling anyhow so clean up handles itself; I just rub until the steel is clean. I also sometimes add a little ammonia to make it useful for neutralizing and cleaning FeCl etched blades. I have a spray bottle of it sitting in my shop for any number of cutting or cleaning applications.

P.S. the only thing that is close to being measured is the alcohol, if it is too much the fluid dries off too quickly, the other ingredients are just a dab of this and dash of that. The last time I mentioned this fluid I was flooded with impatient requests for precise amounts that I don't have numbers for.
 
Plain mineral oil from tractor supply has always worked well for me.
 
For me, Mobil 1 works best at coarser grits and WD40 works best at the finer grits. No idea why, but that's been my experience!
 
Baby oil... I pour some in a shallow container next to my sanding vise and dab it on as needed. I've never tried Mobil 1 though, may need to try it out.
 
I might have to try some of those other blends, but I've been using water and baking soda. Simple to mix and keeps the blade from rusting. Spray bottle and also in a bowl next to my sanding station. Works great for me and I don't have to wear annoying rubber gloves like you would/should for using oils.
-M
 
Appreciate the comments and links fellows, I'm definitely going to try some of the suggestions. I really like the mix your own recipes, as well as several others.
 
Kevin R. Cashen said:
P.S. the only thing that is close to being measured is the alcohol, if it is too much the fluid dries off too quickly, the other ingredients are just a dab of this and dash of that. The last time I mentioned this fluid I was flooded with impatient requests for precise amounts that I don't have numbers for.
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Hold it right there, Kevin. Are you telling me that you can account for every single rogue carbon molecule within the grain structure of your blades but are willing to settle with "dabs" and "dashes"?:confused: Here I was thinking you counted out your cornflakes and measured the angle of the dangle every morning.

Rick:D
 
I have to be honest here. I've tried the mobil 1 synthetic based on so many recommendations on the forums. It didn't do much for me. Don't get me wrong, it worked about as well as my other methods, but certainly not better.

Many folks say that you can sand back and forth and not get any fish hooks at all. I really don't understand this. I don't see how you can stop suddenly on your steel and reverse direction and not get fish hooks. I certainly haven't been able to. Even with the mobil 1, when I hit my plunges and reverse direction, there are fish hooks. Lots of them plain as day and not hard to see in any type of light. I've tried just using a tiny bit of the oil and also flooding the whole blade with a bunch of it.

Like I said, the mobil worked fine, I just don't like the smell and I still get the fish hooks unless I only sand in one direction. Maybe I'm missing something?
 
J. Doyle said:
Even with the mobil 1, when I hit my plunges and reverse direction, there are fish hooks.
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I like Mobil 1 a lot but it's not magic. If the backer you wrap your paper around is 1" wide, I bet you notice the fishhooks are worst 1" from your plunge. Try holding your backer at an angle across the blade, not perpendicular, even if you're moving it lengthwise. Change the angle a touch, often, and alternate between backers of differing widths to prevent building up scratches in the same spot all the time. The only time I sand straight along the blade is the very last step with dry fresh paper, in one direction only.
 
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I use Singer machine oil and kerosene. In probably a 1:3 ratio. Thats what we use when sharpening our chisels at work. The kero keeps the stone clean apparently. Gives a nice saturn finish on blades when sanding I've found.
 
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