The best way to make flap wheels for the bench
lathe: cut a circle out of sanding cloth, punch a hole in the
middle, put it on a mandrel with two washers, either side, and then make
four equal and equilateral cuts at four places on the outside of this
disc. Cuts are at 12 oclock, 3, 6, 9 oclock, and come in only about 1/4
" or so.
They deform spherically and uniform every time, make nice inexpensive and easily replacable sanding tools. I use 100, 220 grit belts mostly, I cut the worn ones up for this, or if I need real aggressive action I use new sanding cloth in those grits. 400 and 600 work too.
One must be forceful to get the propellor shape to manifest, and this should happen as the disc begins to wear some, so that you get max cutting power from the new cloth. Once the propellor shape happens you will get a true flap wheel effect and it will be harder to use the center of the disc. The tool will take a lot of hard wear before it wears out. It can be used inside hollows, and works well for that, just watch that metal from the tool does not hit the stone.
Increasing the number of cuts at the outside of the disc can create some interesting effects, and by making the cuts deeper at the edge of the disc you can actually get a flapwheel effect. Finally, if no cuts are made, the wheel wears and forms in certain predictable ways too, giving you a real nice spectrum of variability in your sanding work.
They deform spherically and uniform every time, make nice inexpensive and easily replacable sanding tools. I use 100, 220 grit belts mostly, I cut the worn ones up for this, or if I need real aggressive action I use new sanding cloth in those grits. 400 and 600 work too.
One must be forceful to get the propellor shape to manifest, and this should happen as the disc begins to wear some, so that you get max cutting power from the new cloth. Once the propellor shape happens you will get a true flap wheel effect and it will be harder to use the center of the disc. The tool will take a lot of hard wear before it wears out. It can be used inside hollows, and works well for that, just watch that metal from the tool does not hit the stone.
Increasing the number of cuts at the outside of the disc can create some interesting effects, and by making the cuts deeper at the edge of the disc you can actually get a flapwheel effect. Finally, if no cuts are made, the wheel wears and forms in certain predictable ways too, giving you a real nice spectrum of variability in your sanding work.
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