I have to sand lots of odd curves and such (I make gunstocks) and I am looking at a way to speed up sanding on some of the lower end stuff. Klingspore makes a very cool sanding tool they call a mop. It is sort of an improved flap wheel.
I work mainly in walnut and was thinking about getting the 180 grip one to try. I now do most of my sanding with 180 and 220 grit on my PC RO which is a fantastic tool. I have a shelf full of abandoned sanding machines of various ilks that I no longer use.
So, anyone use them?
What are the most useful grits?
Any other comments?
Thanks in advance.
Michael
Replies
Worked for a bit at Savage Arms years ago and the ballon sander was the way to go. Sanding mops don't do much. Ballon sander can be pressure adjusted for softness. Also available in bench or floor models.
http://www.grizzly.com/products/item.cfm?itemnumber=H2881&gid=75FD4EB3-E510-405E-8385-803DA1A5EB36&site=grizzly
What he said. The inflateable was used a lot in the guitar shop I was in, you will not be unhappy.
No advise on the mop, but I have an inflatable cylinder that works between centers on a lathe. I used it to smooth duck decoys so I think it'd work well for gun stocks. I've seem them in several catalogs. Need mask and good ventilation cause it really makes some dust.
I seen one being used at a wood show last year. It seem to do a very good job at sanding edge detail with out removing any of the crisp edges. Never bought one though but it did seem to work well from what I can remember.
Scott C. Frankland
Scott's WOODWORKING Website
"He who has the most tools may not win the race of life but he will sure make his wife look like a good catch when she goes to move on."
Sanding mops seem to be used quite a bit by scroll sawyers, mostly for softening edges. I hope you saw the pic of the mop after it's been broken in -- looks way different than a flap sander.
http://www.advmachinery.com/default.asp?pg=SANDING_MOPS
I'm going to get a "mini-mop" for scroll projects.
forestgirl Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
This is what I am directly buying the mop for. The finger grooves seem too small for a inflatable drum sander. I thought the mop would get in there. These don't have to be perfect I just want to get the router marks off.
http://mgstocks.com/am180grip.jpg
Seems reasonable to me. There are at least 3 sizes of mops -- regular, large and "mini" (I've only seen the mini's at Klingspore). I like the way they break up into thin strips, rather than the flaps. If you're getting off router marks, best to plan to work through 2 grits, eh?
forestgirl Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Edited 1/20/2004 3:03:06 PM ET by forestgirl
I have been using the Klingspor 2" x 6" gold sanding mops for about 6 mos, in a hand held 1500 rpm 1/4" drill motor. I'm removing the tool marks and burn marks from the slanted edges of the panels of unfinished but glued up walnut and honduras mahogany entry and passage doors. I've got 120, 180, and 220 grit.
The 120 grit is the best for my purposes, but I wish it was slightly more aggressive. I tried an 80 grit split finger flap sander but that was way too aggessive. I wore out the 120G after 10 doors (both sides) and just this morning ordered 2 refills from them at 1.800.228.0000 (9am-4pm EST is when the knowlegable people are there). The 180G wasn't enough for the doors, but was fine for some curved molding on a mahogany display cabinet. If the mop can get to the wood, it takes out carving marks where I had to blend in 2 pcs of wood. This design will not get into the inside of 90* angled corners very well.
Depending on how much wood you want to remove, either the 120G or180G should be fine.
WOW!
If you do any sort of production work on odd shaped curved parts and you don't have one of these sanding mops your missing the boat.
This is GREAT! I sand a lot of gunstocks and it is all curved work. For the first sanding on rough work to finish sanding on stuff that isn't getting a high gloss finish, these things are a massive time saver.
Problem for me is you have to run these FAST, 2k-5k rpm and my little chinese 3/4 horse grinder must be only about 1/4 horse at best. The mops work so well though that I will invest in a better grinder for a mount.
Just thought I would pass the word on.
Michael
Half horse x 3450 rpm's Stein.
I agree! I got my first sanding mop a couple weeks ago, and it's going to really come in handy. Haven't tried it on the drill press yet, and hadn't thought about the grinder, but even in the hand drill it showed its potential.
It was hard deciding which grit to try first. A question: Do you user washer spacers, and if so, for what type of work?forestgirl Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
For what it's worth, I just tried a couple sanding stars from Woodcraft (they're like miniature sanding mops, same principle; NOT the MacMop). I used them on a flexible shaft at 930 RPM on the cabriole legs for some tea tables I'm building. The 220-grit, used lightly, did a good job softening the edges of the foliage carving on the knees. But, it would be easy to go too far. Both the 180 and the 220 grits did a real good job smoothing out the ankle area of the legs that had been carved into at the bottom of the foliage carving. If you try one, make sure to break it in on a piece of scrap. Bear down hard when you do it. Overall, they saved a little time, but I don't think I'll use them again on carvings. I will use them on the broader curves.
Michael, I just found a very informative site to learn about sanding mops -- grit selection, assembly, spacers, stabilizers...... Here's the link (note any prices are in Canadian $$s):
http://www.stockroomsupply.com/Sanding_Info.asp
forestgirl Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
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