Which kind of spray adhesive is best to fix sandpaper to saw table surface?
bojo7364
| Posted in Hand Tools on
Hi,
I recently purchased my first hand plane and want to set it up the way it is supposed to be set. One of the things I have read to do is attach sandpaper to a saw table and run the sole of the plane accross the paper untill the bottom is perfectly flat. I was wondering if I could get some advice as to which adhesive is best for this purpose and what to use to clean it off the table when I’m done. Thanks for your help.
Joe Canton
Replies
hi joe,
water based contact cement works. clean up is pretty easy. one can use a large rubber eraser such as the one many of us clean our sanding belts with. rubbing alcohol will also work to clean things up and it's not nearly as noxious or toxic as lacquer thinner.
eef
I use double sided tape, then use the area between the tape. The table is waxed, to prevent glue from sticking to it.
jam,
couple years ago a friend gave me the contents of a garage he had rented to a ww'r. among the "take-all-or-nothing" booty was one of those 3" thick, maybe 12"x24" dead flat granite blocks. very useful for sharpening. lately i've wanted to make a wheeled stand for the thing but, just today, stumbled upon a heavy duty metal shelf on wheels that is just the right size. so, today i've a bit of that fortunate son feeling...
eef
3M 77 spray adhesive, go light, remove with mineral spirits, lacquer thinner or 3M adhesive remover. Use mineral spirits or WD40 for lubricant.
It's a little bit on the pricey side, but I keep rolls of Porter Cable adhesive sandpaper handy. (100, 150, 220 grit) I've used it to flatten the sole of a plane when adhered to my saw table or jointer bed.
I've found it handy and use the paper all the time for all sorts of things, sanding blocks, grip for miter gauge, etc.
May I ask what plane you purchased?
The only reason I ask is if this is a new plane, from a reputable maker, you may do more harm than good. A cetain podcaster managed to mess up a good Veritas plane doing this...
I generally use a spray contact adhesive used for art/posters. This has a low tack and is easily cleaned up. Recently, however, I came across a spray contact adhesive that allowed for removal and re-use of paper (=sandpaper). I cannot give you a name off the top of my head - it would be a different brand across the Pond anyway - but look out for this in your local borg.
Regards from Perth
Derek
The 3M adhesive will work. Most adhesives will clean up with acetone.
You may wish to consider using glass instead of your saw surface, if you do, check with a local glass shop about purchasing used quarter-inch plate glass. They frequently have this in odd sizes from window repairs. If you decide to get plate glass, make sure you ask the shop to round the edges, it costs a couple bucks more but is worth it.
When I have to flatten something like a plane, I usually use wet-or-dry silicone carbide paper, on a smooth surface like a saw top of plate glass, it will hold just fine with a little oil (3-n-1, etc) behind it, hold it steady with your fingertips.
Another advantage to glass is being able to use valve grinding compound and similar abrasives directly on the glass.
Leon
Spray adhesive works but you get tired of cleaning it off your tablesaw real fast. Get a block of scrap granite from a granite counter top store or a piece of plate glass that is 1/4" or thicker. You don't need spray adhesives for the finer grit wet/dry sandpaper like 400 grit and up. Just wet the glass or paper and the water will keep the paper flat on the glass. If you can, get three pieces of glass to put a course, medium and fine paper on so you don't have to keep changing sheets. This will make sharpening your plane iron and chisels much easier and faster. I have a set of Norton waterstones but I honestly prefer sandpaper over them most of the time. Don't get carried away with flattening the sole, the entire sole of the plane doesn't need to be dead flat, but the front part of the sole, the area just ahead of the mouth and the heel of the sole must all be co-planer. I bought an older stanley No.7 and tried to flatten the entire sole. Ispent the better part of two nights running that bad boy back and forth across 100 grit sandpaper and emory cloth and it still wasn't dead flat, but the critical areas where all in the same plane. Take a sharpie and draw on these three areas and if they all get worn away evenly you are good to go.
Clinton 66 is on the ball. Silicon carbide or Aluminium Oxide light weight paper will stay nicely in place on a smooth surface such as glass or granite mark off plate when used with kerosene preferably which speeds up the cutting action. American kero smells too bad for you guys? Use WD40 then☺☺☺
wait a minute buddy...
i cannot believe for a minute that ever so many replies have not queried the intial concept.
Saw tables get used for a bunch of stuff, but it's really counterproductive to use any adhesive to attach sandpaper to yer saw table. Any benifet you might derive will be be offset by the labour and time and frustration cleaning it off.
Frig, buddy, just go to yer local granite countertop supplier and get a scrap piece of granite for free. Use that, not yer saw table...If they got scraps, get a bunch of them.
If yer using wed/dry sandpaper, you can sprinkle a few drops of water on the granite, drop on yer sandpaper and the capillary action will likely hold it in place...no need for spray adhesive...
Can't find no free granite, use a piece of MDF, which is likely flatter than you need.I use it on site for scarey sharp sharpening.
And if you think about it, you are gonna have to use multiple grits....more work, more cleanup.
And the flat sole society is really anal, Ya, clean off the burrs on the sole, and the edges (file works well), the important thing is the blade being sharp and the chipbreaker seating tight.
after that, most "first" planes work passably.
But please...no spray adhesive on the saw table.yer only creatiing work for yerself...
Eric in Calgary
Table saws are not flat.
Over the years I tested a hundred or more table saws for flatness when I did tool reviews for Fine Woodworking Magazine and none of them were all that flat, and some were really bad. Based on that experience, I would never use a table saw as a reference for flatness. You will generally have much better luck with the tables on a jointer.
If you are at all serious about flattening the sole of a plane I would suggest that you get a granite surface plate which start out at 2 inches thick in a 9 by 12 inch size. You can get a Chinese made one at a fairly reasonable cost. Plate glass is useless, it is flexible and will be no flatter than the bench surface it is sitting on. Granite counter top is somewhat stiffer but will still flex if it isn't at least a couple of inches thick.
Another argument against using any power tool as a sanding surface is that the grit from the paper will get into the machine's bearings and moving parts greatly accelerating wear and damaging the tools accuracy.
Like several other commenters here I use 3M's #77 spray adhesive for adhering sandpaper to a metal surface - usually the sanding disk for my lathe. Rather than spraying it on your table saw surface though, you would be better served to apply it to the paper instead. Let it dry for a minute or so before sticking the paper down and it will be much easier to remove the paper later.
I have to agree with John White about the use of a table saw's surface for lapping plane bottoms; they really are not very flat at all. For that matter neither are many jointer tables. Usually the table saw's surface will be somewhat convex and the jointer table is likely to be slightly concave (in length.) An inexpensive granite surface block is probably your best bet.
It's a lot of work to lap a plane sole and I think the results are usually rather dubious. However, it you really want to get involved in that, I would suggest the first thing you should do is to buy a good machinist's straight edge to check the flatness of your plane's sole, as well as your lapping surface - although a surface block will be at least as true as the straight edge.
Regards,
JW
I use 3-M spray 77 because it is what I have around from mounting drawings. Spray adhesives come in a variety of strengths. You might check an art materials store for less sticky versions. A word of caution. Spray adhesives are not good for your health in quantity. Spray it outside (say in the grass) where over-spray is less likely to cause odor or cleaning problem .
On the other hand I watched the demonstrator from Lie Nelsen set wet dry sandpaper on a piece of glass by water adhesion of wet paper on glass. It was enough for flattening the stones. Blades might not work so well.
Peter
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