Thread: Flap wheels part 2

As it turns out, the chattering I was getting with the flap wheels was partly due to the fact that I had my Dremel on 4 rather than 1, like I thought I did.

So my next question is this: How do you sand the actual blade with these things? I don't have any trouble doing the toe section, but the tang seems to get in the way when I try to do the heel. I am using a flexi-shaft. I'm trying to keep the entire length of the wheel on the blade and rotating off the edge so as not to catch it.

Thanks,
Josh

Josh,
Is this in place of doing the sanding by hand? At what point do you decide to use the flap wheel as opposed to doing it by hand? And what grits are you using? Sorry about the questions!

Thanks
John

Josh,

I do it first parallel to the blade and then perpendicular .....

It gives me faster sanding.....

On the back side, I have no problems as it's fairly natural. On the face side, the first 3/4" or so of the heel has to be sanded with the wheel rotating into the edge. That's very dangerous and you have to be extra careful unless you like getting hurt or even worse, damaging your razor
John, flap wheels are good for cleaning up major rust and minor pitting of your blades. It's much faster than hand-sanding and the 400 grit will give you a rough satin finish, that's passable. I left some of my blades like that, and I finished others by hand in higher grits (600-2000). Hand sanding is for the true perfectionist, even though Dremel finishes also look great (take a look at Jason's work). It really depends on your equipment, patience and expectations. I don't have the patience to spend 10-20 hours hand-sanding a blade lol.

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

On the back side, I have no problems as it's fairly natural. On the face side, the first 3/4" or so of the heel has to be sanded with the wheel rotating into the edge. That's very dangerous and you have to be extra careful unless you like getting hurt or even worse, damaging your razor
John, flap wheels are good for cleaning up major rust and minor pitting of your blades. It's much faster than hand-sanding and the 400 grit will give you a rough satin finish, that's passable. I left some of my blades like that, and I finished others by hand in higher grits (600-2000). Hand sanding is for the true perfectionist, even though Dremel finishes also look great (take a look at Jason's work). It really depends on your equipment, patience and expectations. I don't have the patience to spend 10-20 hours hand-sanding a blade lol.

Thanks Ilija,

That makes all the more sense to me now, and I can add some more items to my shopping list

John

Ilija,

OK, I can work with the wheel rotating into the blade; I'll just stay away from the very edge.

To clarify, this is a hollow ground W&B 6/8. There's a stabilzer on the heel, and I'm having trouble with the handle of the flexishaft hitting the tang and stabilizer when I try to work on the heel. Is there a trick for working on the heel like this, or should I just keep at it slowly?

Thanks for the help so far,
Josh

Just do it slowly. I actually go into the edge when I'm cleaning the stabilizer area and enough of the heel part to put the wheel down flat.

QUESTION: So, exactly how close to the edge can you sand with a flapwheel?














ANSWER: Not very!!!



Damn!!!



OK guys - there's a whole bunch of guys that have used these things before, and EVERY ONE OF THEM has said 'be REAL careful not to get too close to the edge!'.....well, I'm here to tell you, pay attention to these guys, because a whole lotta sh!t happens in, like, a nanosecond... this little 'incident' literally ripped the blade out of the vice, tore the suction mounted vice off the marble, and ripped the flapwheel out of the Dremel, to say NOTHING of scaring the holy bejeepers out of me!!! I had stuff flying 6-ways to Sunday, and when it finally settled down, I had ruined my Wade & Butcher project blade.

I don't believe I'll be doing THAT again soon!

YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.......AGAIN!

-whatever (...and still palpitatin'!...)

-Lou

Thanks for the warning and sorry about the W&B Lou. I actually even go over the edge itself but only if the wheel is rotating away from it. You can do about 90% of the razor with zero risk to yourself and the blade but that part close to the stabilizers is tricky and that's the only place where I don't go to the very edge while polishing.

Lou, you have no choice but to put that blade on ebay and claim it was made purposely that way.