I would like to save you some money!

[Mike Audleman]

Yes, you read that right!

How? Sanding pads!
Harbor Freight had a little sander on sale. $15, regularly $19. I been wanting one since I got the laser cutter. While there I got a finger sanding attachment for it. Lucky too as when I got home I found out the $15 tool doesn't have any head other than a cutter head, no triangle pad. Grrrr. Will have to head back and get the larger triangle head. While there I also got some sanding pads for for the finger sanding head.

The thing is, I just wanted some 4x36 sanding belts 180-240 grit. All they have is 120 and down. 120 will destroy 1/8 ply. I didn't get what I actually went there for. Hmph.

While standing there looking at the triangle sanding pads, I noted they seemed a bit expensive and sadly and stupidly they don't have fine grits only 120 and down in packs or combo packs that had only a few of the finer grits that I actually wanted. Hello? Tiny sander, fine grit for corner finishing, I am not gonna be grinding rust off a pickup with a 2" pad. Seriously. So I see some round disks (velcro backed) and then I spy some 16x2-3/4 sanding strips with velcro backing.

Then I had a flux capacitor moment. Hey, I got a laser cutter, why can't I cut my own? So I grabbed a box of the strips too. I figured if it doesn't work I am only out $2.50 and I can still use em with a sanding block so it wouldn't be a total loss. But it wasn't

Works out well. VERY well...here is the math..
68968: 9pc Finger sanding pads
3ea of 60, 120 and 240 grit. I will never use the 60, too course. 120 maybe, but all I really want is the 240.
So, 3 needed, 3 iffy, total of 6 usable pads: $3.79/ Works out to $0.63 for each pad. Hmm.

69588: 5pc Sanding Sheets
1 60grit, 2ea 320 and 500
Again, 60 is a throw away, but the 320 definitely I can use and maybe the 500 for finishing.
So, 4 sheets: $2.49, $0.62 a sheet and they are WAY bigger. Liking this already.
2014-08-10_20-24-00_803-1.jpg

A bit of time perfecting the shape and I can get 15 pads per strip. So from a $0.62 sheet I can cut 15 pads making each one $0.04 each. Hey, 4 cents is WAY better than 63 cents per isn't it? Takes under a minute to cut 15.

Here is a finished set beside the new package and the tool head.
2014-08-10_20-21-21_700-1.jpg


I will be on the hunt for other grits, specifically 180-220. Got the 320-500 covered now

Here is the Corel Draw file:
SandingPad.zip
It has the photo of the pad I used to trace, a master single vector object and 15 laid out for the above mentioned strips. You can export just the single one to your laser if you wish or do the whole strip at once.
On my ebay 50w chinese laser: 40mm/s @ 30% power cut. I think I could cut the power and boost the speed but I wanted to make sure I went through on on pass. Cut from the velcro side as I suspect the grit will likely just scatter the laser ins instead of cutting cleanly..

Then, I found this!
Hook & Loop 2-3/4"W x 27-1/2 Yds Long Abrasive Sandpaper Rolls
Yipes! 220grit is $22.95. But wait..
27.5 yd is 82.5ft. And thats 990 inches. Lesse, that works out to just over 61 of those 16" sheets. $22.95/61 $0.38 a sheet and 15 pads per sheet is 2.5c per pad. Nice. No, I am not ordering $23 of sandpaper for a $15 sander. Yet. But I may. Right now, $2.49 a whack is palatable.

[Mike Audleman]

Here is the result of cutting only the 320 and 500grit (used 60grit to test cutting powers). I now have 60 sanding pads for $2.49
2014-08-10_22-14-08_829-1.jpg

As I suspected, I could lower the power and raise the speed. I got clean cuts at 50mm/s and 25% (50w laser).

[Brian Rodenz]

Thats a great idea! I use sanding mops all the time and cutting my own would save tons of money. Now all I need is a laser!

[George M. Perzel]

Hi gang;
You can actually buy whole sheets of virtually any grit which has the hook and loop backing and laser cut your own shapes-big savings-try abrasive suppliers online.
Best Regards,
George
Laserarts

[Matt Day]

And what's the quality of HF sandpaper? I'm guessing poor - gator grit type paper.

[Bert Kemp]

I downloaded the cdr file but it opens as a blank page I have x5

[Mike Audleman]

I downloaded the cdr file but it opens as a blank page I have x5

Sorry for the delay in responding. A mod moved the thread to DnD where I don't have access.

I saved it in X7. It appears the SaveAs will do back to version 11 (X1?). I have saved it as v11 and its uploading the file now. I will add a link to the frist post when the file is finished uploading.

Crud. Can't edit the OP.
Here is the v11 ZIP. Please let me know if it opens ok in your corel.
SandingPad11.zip

[Chuck Stone]

I've bought sandpaper at Harbor Fright before and I learned that the rough stuff
is the only thing you want to buy there. Rust removal and such .. that's fine. But
once you get above 120 grit, you can't trust it. 90% of the paper may have 220 on
it, but if the other 10% is a mishmash of grit sizes it trashes your hard work.

[Kev Williams]

for what it's worth- I buy their 80 grit 1" belt sander belts. After you sand the edges of a few anodized panels and 20 or 30 SS plates, the 80 grit becomes about 150-ish, and actually stays that way for quite a while. Same thing happens with the 80 grit rolls of paper I use on the straightline sander.

[Jason Hilton]

Cool beans idea!

[Mike Audleman]

Hi gang;
You can actually buy whole sheets of virtually any grit which has the hook and loop backing and laser cut your own shapes-big savings-try abrasive suppliers online.
Best Regards,
George
Laserarts

And yes, I gave an online link at the end of the article for one such supplier.

And what's the quality of HF sandpaper? I'm guessing poor - gator grit type paper.

Well, you kinda missed at least part of the point. And also made it too.

Its not about Harbor Freight paper. Maybe I didn't write it so well. I am not a writer as you can tell.

What it is about is cutting your own from WHAT YOU WANT instead of being happy with what you can find on the shelf. So you don't like HF paper. Ok fine, so use the free template I gave you and cut it out of the stuff you DO like 16x2-3/4 is a common sander size. You are not limited to that size either. The template gives you one master, adapt and copy it to use any size source sheet you have, want or can find. I mean in a pinch, go buy some fuzzy round disks from Home Depot and cut some of the triangles from it while you wait for your order from the online retailer to arrive with your better/cheaper stock. In the mean time you are still up and running sanding.

As far as the quality, meh. I don't expect quality from HF. Ever. On anything. But I sanded 2 dice tower projects, 2 shut the box games and a small knicknack box all using one 220 pad that I cut from the long sanding strips. I used up 4c of paper on 5 projects. Less than a penny of paper to finish sand these small projects. I will take that. And I have 59 more pads just like it from the $2.49 HF purchase.

All things in perspective, its still a good savings method, wherever you get your stock from, be it harbor freight, grainger, online or home depot. The point is, its you who gets to choose the quality and the source. Did I invent the wheel? Nope. Others have been cutting their own paper for decades if not far longer. Usually not with a laser cutter though. I used knives and scissors and hacksaw blades. These small shapes were a bit more difficult to achieve manually though. Not so much anymore. The laser cutter changed all that. Any shape. Anytime.

So, take the idea I gave yall here, and the free template. Adapt it to your needs, your supply and your sander. Go have fun. If it saves you some money, or keeps you running or maybe gets you a grit you didn't have handy before, well you win

[Glen Monaghan]

I never thought to mention it until reading this thread, but I did something similar last year for a Shopsmith conical sanding disc. They use an adhesive backed paper with a diagonally radial cut to allow the paper to conform to the (slightly) conical disc. I was out of the custom replacements but had regular sheets of adhesive papers, so I scanned a worn out piece removed from the conical disc, traced the shape, and cut my own. Worked great, avoided shipping delay, used stock on hand, didn't have to buy extra grits I didn't need or want, and saved money in the process.

Oh, my son is the IT shop for an abrasives company that has a red and black logo, so I recently used some of their red sandpaper to engrave and cut business cards for him. The engraved areas blacken nicely without ruining the paper.

[Mike Audleman]

And there ya go That was my goal in starting this thread.

I wanted to get the idea out there that you don't have to be satisfied with what consumable supplies are on the shelf and that maybe cutting something like sandpaper for your own shop might be a quick and inexpensive solution to a problem you may not have been aware you had

Now if I could only find 180-240 grit 4x36 belts I originally went to HF to find....

[David Somers]

Mike,

Sorry for this really obvious thought, but there are a number of options for quantity purchases of that belt size in various fine grits on Amazon? Have you looked there?
Klingspor would be another possible source at woodworkingshop.com. Or Grizzly.com.

Dave

[Mike Audleman]

Mike,

Sorry for this really obvious thought, but there are a number of options for quantity purchases of that belt size in various fine grits on Amazon? Have you looked there?
Klingspor would be another possible source at woodworkingshop.com. Or Grizzly.com.

Dave

No, I don't do Amazon. But I will look up the other two

The guy here in Milwaukee (I like to buy locally when possible) went out of business some years ago and my final belt (220) broke last weekend. I haven't been doing much woodworking the past few years so its been a low priority looking for belt replacments. Until I got a laser cutter that is