I use Scotch-Brite pads in my shop all the time.
They're available in a variety of grit sizes and the price is about $1.00 a 6"x9" sheet. On Amazon they are $20.00 for a box of 20, Scotch-Brite 6-by-9-Inch Hand Pad, 20-Pads
. They are available all over the internet and from most industrial suppliers.
Mandrels are ubiquitous as my drawer shows. You can get mandrels with a screw for about two bucks as well.
So I traced a circle on a pad.
Wow, high tech.
I cut it out with scissors and mounted it on a mandrel. The mandrel screw can just be poked through the center. A washer in the center would make it work slightly better, be more aggressive on the edge. You could even stack a few together.
I also tried using an arch punch. This would dull the punches over time...
This is a finer abrasive.
Some test scratch patterns on silver. They seem to work fine. I'm not sure if they hold up worse than the Dremel branded ones, however from a 6"x9" sheet you can make about 54 (assuming you're perfect) 1" wheels so you can imagine the cost savings if they even last 1/10th as long.
4 comments:
Hi Nick,
I have been using an enlarged version of this technique for about 5 years using 6 stacked 100mm discs cut from heavy duty scouring pads from the supermarket.I get 2 discs per sheet & 10 sheets for £2 so considering a shop bought Fibral mop (6 layers of similiar non woven material)can run as much as £6 the saving is obvious.
I've been meaning to write a blog entry documenting this technique since I started blogging & you have spurred me on to do so.
Look to my blog in a day or so for images & a bit more info...
cheers
Black
p.s.I like the Taig lathe & mill but I'm a Unimat SL man.
Cool Adrian,
I thought it would be a good idea to make some wheels for my bench grinder just as you say.
Nick
Just a warning: I tried using the generic scotch brite cleaning pads from my kitchen. They left green stains on my wood.
Yeah, those scrub pads often have added soap or something weird.
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