water vs soapy water vs windex for wet sanding.

[Britt_Askew]

Quick Technique Question: When you are 'wet-sanding' the blade, are you :

a) dipping the blade blank in the liquid, then bringing the blank to the belt sander ?

b) spraying the belt on the belt sander with the liquid, then bringing the blank to the sander?

c) having a continuous spray device spit on the sander while grinding the blade?

Thanks for clarifying!

Personally, I've put a couple drops of baby oil on my sword blanks and then bring to the sander.... it kind of gunks up the coarse grits. I do this to help lubricate the 'tool rest jig' while I slide and grind the sword.

The way I read it you may need an option D- hand sanding

 

[james terrio]

Savage, you're talking about grinding... wet-grinding is a topic worthy of its own thread.

We're talking about hand-sanding, after the bevels have been ground and the blade is ready to finish.

 

[savagesword]

Ah,, thanks for the clarification.

There were some mentions of coarse grit wet sanding.... so I was thinking grinding.

 

[Frank Niro]

Are you talking stainless, carbon steel or Damascus? I use carbon steel and stainless Damascus and several types of stainless for blades. Anything 400 or more course, I use Mobile1 and for the finer grits WD-40 . Yes they casn be messy but that has never bothered me if I can get a better job done. Frank

 

[redd1981]

I have used all the above but now it is Kool Mist, which is a water based milling machine coolant. This stuff gives superior results. There is a rust inhibitor in it so you don't get rust on the blade surface. It holds the metal being removed in suspension. Its transparent so you can see what is going on on the surface of the blade. It can be purchased by the gallon and mixes at the rate of 1/4 cup per gallon.
I use it for all taping and drilling operations in the shop as well as for the Bridgeport.

Try this and you will be sold. Fred

Hey Fred how much does it cost per gallon? I dont see a price on the site.