Secret to Making Sanding Sleeves Last Longer?

redsquid2

redsquid2

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Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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Aug 31, 2011
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Dear Bladesmiths:

I tried using sanding sleeves today for the first time. They are 1 1/2" x 1". I swear these things will sand annealed steel for maybe 2-3 minutes max. Then I tried them on some stabilized olive, and they didn't last much longer.

I tried cleaning them with a file card, but they still feel worn out after a short time.

Anything I can do different to make them last longer?

Thank you.

--squid
 
What type of media are they? Aluminum Oxide doesn't last long, and also abrasives is something that cost makes a noticeable difference in quality. Buy the best and they will work better.


-Xander
 
fast14riot said:
What type of media are they? Aluminum Oxide doesn't last long, and also abrasives is something that cost makes a noticeable difference in quality. Buy the best and they will work better.


-Xander
Click to expand...

Yes, they are aluminum oxide. Thanks for the tip.
 
If you manage to find sleeves made in anything other than AO, please post where... I've looked enough to guess that they don't exist, but I'd love to get more use out of my spindle sander.
 
I have seen a tutorial somewhere on how to make your own 1/2" sleeves for rotary tools, should hold up fine for a spindle sander. I'll see if I can find it and put it up here.


-Xander
 
Sleeves are cheap enough at Supergrit. I factor the cost into the price to produce a knife. Usually I burn through a sleeve every knife, sometimes I get 1.5 to 2 knives out of a sleeve but usually it's one. I only use them for profiling handles to the tang after glue up and for som handle shaping. All the sleeves I've ever found are AO, so if you are planning on using them to work on steel for extended amounts of time, plan on going through a lot of them!

Best investment will be a grinder with a small wheel attachment and ceramic belts. Costly at first but worth it in the long run.
 
I cut regular sandpaper the width of the drum, tape one end to the drum, & wrap it around the drum and sand away. When it gets dull I tear off one wrap of paper and go again until that strip is used up. Its a lot cheaper than sleeves and you can use any type of paper you want.
 
darrin sanders said:
I cut regular sandpaper the width of the drum, tape one end to the drum, & wrap it around the drum and sand away. When it gets dull I tear off one wrap of paper and go again until that strip is used up. Its a lot cheaper than sleeves and you can use any type of paper you want.
Click to expand...


I like that idea. I believe that would even be cheaper than pre-made sleeves.
 
Woodcraft sells a mandrel that has a slot in it for putting your own paper on it. I own one but have never used it. I knda follow the same route as Johnny. I just buy a bunch of em from Supergrit. I use a spindle sander though 1"x 4.5" . I have found that one of those big erasers for the belts seems to help get more life out of em and with the taller size I'm also able to flip em over to get more use out of em.
 
darrin sanders said:
I cut regular sandpaper the width of the drum, tape one end to the drum, & wrap it around the drum and sand away. When it gets dull I tear off one wrap of paper and go again until that strip is used up. Its a lot cheaper than sleeves and you can use any type of paper you want.
Click to expand...

I'll have to try that.

You just have to tape one end, because the drum is only spinning in one direction, right?
 
Horsewright said:
Woodcraft sells a mandrel that has a slot in it for putting your own paper on it. I own one but have never used it. I knda follow the same route as Johnny. I just buy a bunch of em from Supergrit. I use a spindle sander though 1"x 4.5" . I have found that one of those big erasers for the belts seems to help get more life out of em and with the taller size I'm also able to flip em over to get more use out of em.
Click to expand...

I just bought one of these. I really liked the way it worked. Once you get the hang of changing the sandpaper it is a fairly quick changeover.
 
If I understand that right, you are using 1" diameter sleeves?
3 minutes to wear out 3 inches of paper sounds outstanding to me.

That would translate to a 72" belt lasting over an hour!
I am happy with 10% of that amount of time...
 
Sorry for resurrecting this but I've tried taping sandpaper to a 3” rubber drum of my spindle sander as was suggested in this thread.
I've used a piece of duct tape and the end result was flying sandpaper. :(

Any more specific instructions for dumb old me? :o
 
Patrice Lemée;10775137 said:
Sorry for resurrecting this but I've tried taping sandpaper to a 3” rubber drum of my spindle sander as was suggested in this thread.
I've used a piece of duct tape and the end result was flying sandpaper. :(

Any more specific instructions for dumb old me? :o
Click to expand...

I have not yet tried taping paper to a drum, but I would use double-sided tape. I have two kinds of double-sided tape: : a very thin one, just as thin as regular Scotch tape, and then the other one has padding in it, and is about 1.5 mm thick. I believe they are both Scotch brand.
 
Patrice Lemée;10775137 said:
Sorry for resurrecting this but I've tried taping sandpaper to a 3” rubber drum of my spindle sander as was suggested in this thread.
I've used a piece of duct tape and the end result was flying sandpaper. :(
Click to expand...

Patrice,
I would say that you will need to keep the paper in contact with, or fairly close to, your work piece while the drum is in motion.
 
Horsewright said:
Woodcraft sells a mandrel that has a slot in it for putting your own paper on it.
Click to expand...

You mean these? I've seen those and for some reason never got around to ordering one. They look pretty cool. Wish they had one in 1/4" or 1/2" though.

41TBf5eNrOL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

I don't mind changing the sleeves so much - they're pretty cheap if you order them instead of getting 5 at a time from the hardware store. But being able to use finer grits would be nice.
 
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I've had some communication with Supergrit on making up a batch of finer grit sleeves. It is something they can do and I'm waiting on the details. I was thinking 400 and 600 grits. Yeah that's the deal James. I've still never tried it. Not even sure where it is these days. Received a spindle sander for Christmas couple of three years back and stuck that puppy in a drawer someplace. Now have two spindle sanders.
 
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