Sanding Disk Holders for Bowl Work

[Mike Goetzke]

I currently have one of each of Vinces 2" & 3" sanding disk holders with the intermediate pads. I have 8 grits from 80 to 600 but usually go to 320 or 400. I'm officially tired of changing the paper every time I need to change grit. I see many woodturners make their own disk holders and enough for one for every grit. I like the ones I see that use the HF drill/driver quick disconnect bits. Since I plan to make quite a few of them I looking for suggestions on pads, shape & dimension of the wood block that holds the bit. Don't want to make them and find out I can't use it on say a smaller bowl.


Thanks,

Mike

[Bob Coates]

Posted this on woodnet awhile ago.
I saw this on youtube to make sanding disc holders. Yes Vinces and others are very good, but these were cheap and vortex resistant.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G44HICpHgqg
He uses harbor freight hex bits and also hex bit holder as shown. I have found that so far it is easier to change holders instead of just the paper. I cut the blocks with hole saw, used kneeling pad and Velcro from HD,

When I switched paper on purchased disk I used mostly 3" pads. Since I made these I now use 99% 2" holders. They work great and paper seems to last longer.

[Thomas Canfield]

I would add to make sure and get the hex shank bits and not round bits. I had some round bits and found a problem with the epoxy holding. You can also add the different interface pads from Vince to get a softer pad or more flex. They are easy to make and work well but do add length.

[Bob Bouis]

You can use bolts with the heads cut off, and you can turn the wood and then the foam just like it was wood [glue it after the wood is squared up]. Just mount the whole thing in a drill chuck on the lathe.

[Peter Blair]

Made a bunch myself. Only in the 2" dia size cause that's what I like to use and make my own. The issue I found is that because of the extra length of the Quick Change device the whole unit is longer than what I like and I would caution that you use short driver bits as the longer ones seem, at least on mine, to add wobble which I don't like. If they are too short you can always purchase a longer Quick Change but you can't shorten them.

[Mike Goetzke]

Thanks - these are the experience/hints I was looking for.

I see many use garden kneelers - are there any other pad options?

Thanks

[Bob Bouis]

The garden kneelers you can get at "Dollar Tree" for a buck. They're thicker than most floor pads you can find available and conform well to the inside of bowls. They're also much cheaper than other foam options, and superglue doesn't melt them like it does some.

Downside (for me at least) is that the dollar tree foam doesn't hold up too well with PSA discs. I guess you could put a leather or hard rubber facing on it, but I am going to try neoprene for the next round just because I have some.

[Bob Bergstrom]

I would suggest putting up with the disk changing and spend the effort on using different density foams, relieving the backing foam near the edge and modifying the flexibility of the backing plate. I use kneeling pads, flip flop soles, foam flooring pads, mouse pads, and "huggies" foam for beverage cans. Plywood mandrels are usually too thick and don't flex as well as a rubber base mandrel. I buy cheap Roloc disk holders from amazon at a $1.41 each in pack of ten. Drill the threaded hole to accept a hex shank and epoxy it in. Put it on the lathe and turn away some of the stiff rubber backing on the mandrel. Use Goup or E-6000 to glue on the foam. Epoxy becomes too stiff. Kingspoor velcro is the best I've found and has its own sticky back adhesive. Of my 20 plus mandrels I usually find one that will fit the contour of the bowl. If not, I'll modify one with 80 grit sandpaper. Here's a pic.
IMG_2533.jpg

[John C Bush]

Where is a good source for the abrasive pads, Thanks

[Mike Goetzke]

I would suggest putting up with the disk changing and spend the effort on using different density foams, relieving the backing foam near the edge and modifying the flexibility of the backing plate. I use kneeling pads, flip flop soles, foam flooring pads, mouse pads, and "huggies" foam for beverage cans. Plywood mandrels are usually too thick and don't flex as well as a rubber base mandrel. I buy cheap Roloc disk holders from amazon at a $1.41 each in pack of ten. Drill the threaded hole to accept a hex shank and epoxy it in. Put it on the lathe and turn away some of the stiff rubber backing on the mandrel. Use Goup or E-6000 to glue on the foam. Epoxy becomes too stiff. Kingspoor velcro is the best I've found and has its own sticky back adhesive. Of my 20 plus mandrels I usually find one that will fit the contour of the bowl. If not, I'll modify one with 80 grit sandpaper. Here's a pic.
IMG_2533.jpg

Bob - you said you drill out the threaded hole for a hex shaft.
1) Do you epoxy in a quick-disconnect hex?
2) I see all the disk holders in the photo seem to have straight shanks - do you use these straight shanks or hex?

Mike

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I like Vinces pads. I bought a few. Just change out the whole pad...... Saves time and wear and tear on the velcro. I did try to make my own pads, but the "real" ones from Vince is not really that expensive......... I have enough to have the "major" grits, and it's just fast to swap the pad out...

Just my $0.02.

[Bob Bergstrom]

Bob - you said you drill out the threaded hole for a hex shaft.
1) Do you epoxy in a quick-disconnect hex?
2) I see all the disk holders in the photo seem to have straight shanks - do you use these straight shanks or hex?

Mike

Yes Mike, I drill out the female threaded area just enough to squeeze in the bit and fill it with epoxy. I haven't bother changing these because my Milwaukee drills have Jacob's chucks. If you want the quick change the hex are the way to go. If I could find a threaded quick change to fit my drills without extending the shaft I might replace the chuck.

[Bob Bouis]

Where is a good source for the abrasive pads, Thanks

If you mean the sandpaper, I've recently been using cut pieces of auto body PSA rolls. You don't need to cut them round, either, as they wrap around the pad. It works really well and is much cheaper than using hook and loop discs.

[Dok Yager]

Mike not to be a name dropper here but perhaps you might want to look at Woodturners Wonders. He has a set that includes numerous 3" and 2" pads so you can just leave one grit on each and change them out as needed. I am just finishing a pegboard for all mine to put above my lathe for ease of use.

http://woodturnerswonders.com/collec...sanding-system

[Mike Goetzke]

Mike not to be a name dropper here but perhaps you might want to look at Woodturners Wonders. He has a set that includes numerous 3" and 2" pads so you can just leave one grit on each and change them out as needed. I am just finishing a pegboard for all mine to put above my lathe for ease of use.

http://woodturnerswonders.com/collec...sanding-system

No problem - I started at Ken Rizza's site. I have 8 different grits so would need to get his ultimate kit. I found I could make them myself for much less. Plus I thought it would be easier to swap the entire disk holder with a quick change bit rather than the Roloc pad (I could be wrong). I ended up purchasing the pre-cut velcro from the site you link, the disk holders that Bob B referenced above, and have some different foams to experiment with.

Mike