khara
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,979
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Post by khara on May 4, 2023 15:41:36 GMT -5
This is continuing the conversation in the May 2023 cab contest thread about making homemade soft flat-lap sanding discs.
rocknewb101 No it wasn't regular sand paper. I'd found some 3M brand sanding film. I see that Kingsley North has something similar. The stuff I used was many years ago so I haven't used this current stuff but I'll try and put a link here for an example at least. I see they also have silicon carbide ones in many grits. Kingsley North Wet Dry Polishing Paper: kingsleynorth.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=3M%20Wet%20or%20Dry%20Polishing%20PaperHere is a pic of the 3000 paper on a homemade rubber pad on my one purchased backing plate.
Then after this method I "upgraded" to some Ameritool brand sanding discs. I probably could've just continued with the homemade sand paper in varying grits on homemade rubber and backing plates but I thought these would be better. I really, really wish I'd thought to add rubber to these. At the time I didn't know. I thought the little bit of thickness of the Ameritool disc was enough to provide flexibility for cab shaping. It really isn't. I should've used the rubber on these as well. These ones have the homemade backing plates out of 1/4" thick plastic from the hardware store.
  Anyway, wet/dry sanding paper in varying grits, plus some foam rubber, plus backing plates. The sanding paper is quite inexpensive. Those backing plates are crazy expensive, especially since you need as many as you have grits. Maybe later I'll show how I made mine. It was quite a project but worth not spending hundreds on backing plates. Basically I manually cut circles out as best I could. Then we built a tool to hold a drill and spin the rough-cut disc so I could rough sand and better shape the edge. Then I also put it on the flat lap machine and finished it with a cutting chisel. They are nice and centered and don't wobble.
There are probably many more and better methods but this is what I did. Previously I had all grits on hard discs. Being able to transition from hard to soft(er) at about 600 really helped and I was able to make cabs that I was much happier with.
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Post by jasoninsd on May 4, 2023 16:28:55 GMT -5
Thanks for showing theses khara!!  |
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Post by Rockoonz on May 4, 2023 16:48:56 GMT -5
Okay, I just removed this from the contest thread, hope the context fits, it definitely belongs here more than there. rocknewb maybe you know someone with a laser engraver/cutter? Pretty sure that's how NUTech and Ameritool make their acrylic lap backers. They have the thin diamond toppers and foam pads too, an instructor at the NW Rockhound Retreat took a full set with him. You would need a wet/dry SiC sandpaper for most rocks, but Aluminum oxide may be fine for under 5 Mohs stuff. My main point is that a laser can easily cut perfect backers out of acrylic or whatever you want to use, and a lot of people have them. Once the rest of my shop is done I may get one myself, used them before and they are a lot of fun. |
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khara
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,979
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Post by khara on May 4, 2023 17:20:44 GMT -5
Rockoonz A lazer cutter is a good idea. Back when I made these I think machines like lazer cutters and 3D printers for the average person were not quite available yet. There’s so much more out there now. I’ve wanted a 3D printer for years but haven’t had time to learn the expertise, all the different types. A lazer cutter sounds like another good tool to put on the list. Did you go to the NW Rockhound Retreat recently? I wanted to years ago but never made it, yet.
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,368
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Post by rocknewb101 on May 8, 2023 7:45:33 GMT -5
khara and Rockoonz - thank you for this information! Very handy. I'm going to look into creating these and see if the cost difference is worth it - im already through my brown smoothing disc and just purchased it a little while back - I can peel off the old discs and replace with the homemade pad/disc - even if only on the ones that wear down the most quickly. I don't know anyone with a laser cutter, but my husband is pretty handy with 'figuring things out' lol...I'll pose this to him and he'll help me figure it out. THank you!!!
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Post by Rockoonz on May 8, 2023 12:20:47 GMT -5
Rockoonz A lazer cutter is a good idea. Back when I made these I think machines like lazer cutters and 3D printers for the average person were not quite available yet. There’s so much more out there now. I’ve wanted a 3D printer for years but haven’t had time to learn the expertise, all the different types. A lazer cutter sounds like another good tool to put on the list. Did you go to the NW Rockhound Retreat recently? I wanted to years ago but never made it, yet. Looks like one of those responses I wrote, then got distracted and didn't hit the post button. Registration for '23 is open, no idea how full they are. I got a FB message from jerrys maybe a month ago, at 1k plus miles away and after we get back from our NW trip coming up in about a month, gas prices are pretty sure to prevent us from doing it this year too. Last one we attended was '17 or'18. Are you members of a club up there? We are still Mt Hood members, hope to make it to a meeting when we're up there. |
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Post by Rockoonz on May 8, 2023 12:32:17 GMT -5
khara and Rockoonz - thank you for this information! Very handy. I'm going to look into creating these and see if the cost difference is worth it - im already through my brown smoothing disc and just purchased it a little while back - I can peel off the old discs and replace with the homemade pad/disc - even if only on the ones that wear down the most quickly. I don't know anyone with a laser cutter, but my husband is pretty handy with 'figuring things out' lol...I'll pose this to him and he'll help me figure it out. THank you!!! Another thought for making circles, do you have access to a table saw? Here's the shortest tutorial on the process I found. You definitely need a fine tooth blade suitable for acrylics and I would use a 1/2" pin on the center so your center hole is the guide instead of enlarging a nail hole. My table saw is also a router table so I would use the router instead of the saw. |
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rocknewb101
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since October 2022
Posts: 1,368
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Post by rocknewb101 on May 8, 2023 12:39:48 GMT -5
Thanks Rockoonz. I do believe hubby has a table saw. I don't think he has a router though - but I'll share with him and ask. Thanks for the video! |
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Post by Rockoonz on May 8, 2023 12:57:42 GMT -5
Thanks Rockoonz. I do believe hubby has a table saw. I don't think he has a router though - but I'll share with him and ask. Thanks for the video! Table saw is a better choice and safer, but the router bit costs less than the saw blade. |
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khara
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,979
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Post by khara on May 8, 2023 15:43:55 GMT -5
That’s genius Rockoonz We don’t have a table saw but every little trick like that that you know helps to problem solve for future projects. |
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