Hey everyone. Occasionally I save a lot of time and buy a really cheap ($20) 1-2" sanding disc on a 1/8 rod to attach to the router. It produces a TON of heat and usually only lasts for about 30 minutes. After that, the disc no longer holds and shoots away at whatever speed it is. I use it for covering LARGE sanding surfaces with the initial 80grit. The utility there is MASSIVE. But, I’m worried about how dangerous it might be. I think I do it at the 2-3 setting on my typical handheld Makita we all have.
I just wear lung and eye protection.
Will the speeds of the router create a very dangerous projectile when it does fly away? It just seems to good to be true and maybe im on a string of luck avoiding injury.
Hey Steve,
I nearly lost the ability of playing guitar when using such a disc on a motor with no gear (1:1, angle grinder). Sanding disc plunged deeply into the flesh of my inner forearm, stopped only at 1 mm distance to the main hand nerve. When the paramedics came, the room looked like if I had been slaughtering. Muscle sheath had to be sewn.
If you have a CNC, why don’t you replace sanding by slowly milling with a 8 mm radius cutter. You can get finishes that require no sanding after this (if you take time) like in in this example. Leaves a smooth finish when using a 8 mm radius cutter as last pass, 0.4 mm stepover.
Sorotec Shop » Cutting Tools » Sorotec tools » Radius
Mill Z2 Ø 8 mm UNI
Remember there were millenaries before us where sanding paper wasn’t even invented. I have worked for nearly twenty years with hand tools exclusively (no power tools). There I learned to work without any sanding paper. I hate and avoid it. What the people had then were all steel cutting edges: Handplanes, cabinet scrapers, chisels. And they got their work done. Look a the veritas scraping planes (big and small). Fine tools.
Image: Gustave Caillebotte - The Floor Planers
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That Veritas full size scraper is a thing of beauty. I use mine to put a finish on end grain cutting boards and lately I’ve been doing some experiments with patterns in veneered panels using chatoyance, the reflective grain of the wood that can only be revealed by scraping. Sanding just totally blurs it. The way the light changes on it at different angles allows for some intriguing effects.
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Thanks for advice, I’ll never attempt that one again