Odd Question on Aluminum Oxide - Please Help! 2

[Block]

Question:

Can I take a piece of wood and cover it with an abrasive like aluminum oxide to be used like sandpaper to shape/carve wood?

If we could use it, what kind of resin and abrasive would be the best choice to use?




The reason I need this information:

We sandpaper wood into different shapes.

We sometimes cut small pieces of wood into different shapes and cover them with sandpaper to get the desired shape onto the carving piece. We also attach these small pieces of sandpaper covered wood pieces to power tools to speed up the process of carving.

Covering small pieces of wood with sandpaper isn't always practical, specially an egg or ball shape piece of wood. The sandpaper does not go on smooth enough onto these types of shapes. It gets all crumbled.

Any ideas or help will be highly appreciated;
Joe

 

[btrueblood]

have you seen these? (the blocks, not the wheels). You ought to be able to cut/shape the blocks, or bond strips of it onto suitable tool pieces.

http://www.ind.nortonabrasives.com/...0000001035/Beartex Polybond Brochure 7595.pdf

Phenolic resin is what is used on "industrial quality" sandpaper; it holds up very well to heat, and has strength even as it chars.

 

[Block]

Thank You btrueblood:

Great info. I'll follow up on it.

 

[EdStainless]

Yes you can build your own 'sand wood'.
You may not need phenolic resins. Have you ever used the Weldwood glue? I forget the resin type. You mix the powder with water and when it dries it is waterproof and strong (we used it to laminate water skis).
Companies like Norton will sell bulk abrasive.
Applying the abrasive evenly will be the hard part.

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[Block]

Thank you EdStainless:

I'll follow up on this info too.There is a Norton outlet close to my house, I'll go there now and see what they got.

Home Depot was not much help in this case.

Joe.

 

[Ron]

Block...following up on EdStainless's idea...get the grade of sand you want and dip your hand-made, resin-covered shape into the sand. Allow to cure. Then wire brush the loose sand and you should end up with a relatively even coating of sand. Use only a thickness of resin that is about 1/2 the thickness of your sand grains.

 

[EdStainless]

Good tip Ron. You may need to play with how thick the resin is (more or less water) in order to control the build up.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Rust never sleeps
Neither should your protection

http://www.trent-tube.com/contact/Tech_Assist.cfm

 

[Block]

Hey Guys:

I’ve experimented with some of your suggestions and so far it’s going towards the right direction.

Ron, I think you are right, the thickness of resin should be about 1/2 the thickness of the sand grains. I also read somewhere that the best sandpapers have a second coating of resin on top. Well, I tried that and it did not work at all. It felt like I was sliding a piece of ice on ice.

Some of the challenges I’m facing now are:

I bought 25 pounds of Aluminum Oxide from Norton, that is the smallest quantity they sell. The grit is too fine. It does not state the grit size anywhere on the package. My guess, it’s in the low 200’s. I need the pieces (sand wood) to be very coarse. A grit of 60 would be nice. Does anybody know where I can purchase Brown Aluminum Oxide abrasive in a small quantity (around 25 lbs)? I found lots of manufactures willing to sell me the stuff by the pallets, “WOW! No thanks” I told them.


I wanted to write more, but I live in Florida and going through a very heavy thunder/lighting storm right now and need to shot-down. I will continue soon.

 

[swall]

Another thing to try is to mix the grit with the powder, sprinkle it on the block (could pre-wet the block) using a sifter made from a coffee can with holes punched in the bottom and spray it with water from a kitchen spray bottle. Used to use this technique in model railroading eons ago.

 

[Block]

Hey Guys:

I’ve experimented with some of your suggestions and so far it’s going towards the right direction.

Ron, I think you are right, the thickness of resin should be about 1/2 the thickness of the sand grains. I also read somewhere that the best sandpapers have a second coating of resin on top. Well, I tried that and it did not work at all. It felt like I was sliding a piece of ice on ice.

Some of the challenges I’m facing now are:

I bought 25 pounds of Aluminum Oxide from Norton, that is the smallest quantity they sell. The grit is too fine. It does not state the grit size anywhere on the package. My guess, it’s in the low 200’s. I need the pieces (sand wood) to be very coarse. A grit of 60 would be nice. Does anybody know where I can purchase Brown Aluminum Oxide abrasive in a small quantity (around 25 lbs)? I found lots of manufactures willing to sell me the stuff by the pallets, “WOW! No thanks” I told them.

I'm also having a problem with spreading the resin evenly onto the piece. Should I try a fine brush to do this or perhaps air sprying it?

Thank you Swall. I will try the holey coffee can technique to see if I can get a more even spread of the abrasive powder onto the sand wood.

Thank all for your help.

By the way, the pieces I'm trying to make measure about from 2" to 10" in all different shapes.

 

[unclesyd]

Any company that supplies blasting media can get you the material you need.

Here is one that I've used many times. Just give them a call.

http://www.vicmetals.com/

 

[Ron]

Hey Block...with all this sand we have in Florida, who needs aluminum oxide!!

 

[rorschach]

Have you considered play sand etc, from your local Lowes or Home Depot?

 

[IRstuff]

As for spreading, you could try a controlled squeegee. You'd need something to apply a consistent pressure and something to pull the substrate across at a relatively constant rate.

Beach sand is probably not adequate, because quartz is rather brittle and not as hard as aluminum oxide and most likely, having been bashed about for hundreds of years, to be relatively low in abrasion capability.

TTFN

 

[kenvlach]

For sanding wood, silica sand is hard enough. But not beach sand, it's too rounded.
Get 'sharp sand' or 'builder's sand' from Home Depot or other building supply or concrete D-I-Y place.
Oven dry the sand before sprinkling onto the adhesive. No problem with using excess sand, just dump it off after the adhesive has set.