PSA Sanding Disk Kit Supplies are in! If you ordered one then pls. read this post.
I received all the supplies for the PSA disk kits today. The punching is working well. I expect to have the kits ready to ship Thursday morning.
I am impressed with the PSA backing on this paper. The disks stick to the leather mandrel extremely well, yet can be removed and then re-used. The PSA does not loose its adhesion when you lift it off and restick it! Awesome. No wasted partially used disks.
I also have to appologize but I have to reneg on making two mandrels per kit for a the following reasons:
1. Keith De'Grau at HandAmerican did not have 1/4" leather in stock. He is planning to start carrying it later. Doubling up the 1/8" will make it too stiff.
2. When I ordered the mandrels there were less than 10 people. Now there are over 15 so I won't have enough mandrels if I try to make two for each person.
On the other hand these mandrels are stiffer than the leather from my belt which was my first mandrel. The whole reason behind wanting to try thicker leather was to make it stiffer and this leather already does this.
Those of you that ordered a kit can you please send me an e-mail or PM me with your e-mail address and shank size preference 3/32" or 1/8". If you have a Dremel then you can use either one because the dremel has an adjustible chuck. So pls. let me know if you are ok with either size. Some people might be more constrained and I would like everyone to get their kits without having to wait. I will make as many 1/8" as I can (I only have 12 mandrels of 1/8" shank, thought that this was overkill when I ordered them :)) the rest will be 3/32". There is no difference except if you have a quick change handpiece for your flexshaft then you can only use the size of that handpiece which is usually 3/32" but can also be 1/8". If I run out of 1/8" shank mandrels I will have to order more.
I will PM you if you miss this post but if you send it to me first then it will save me a lot of time. I will be using most of it for next while to make the kits :D.
Stick a fork in me. I'm DONE!
I just finished punching the 100 grit. I am done and so is the second punch.
The last two grits: 100 and 150, did not punch but burned through. The punch would get hot enough after a few seconds of maximum pressure and then burn through the stack of sandpaper.
It held up pretty good all the way through to 220 grit but wore down on the last two. The punch made from a hole saw (the long type 2", DeWalt 1 3/8") now looks like it is made from two half cylinders because the edge wore off past bottom of the two slits on the side.
The last two grits took 2 hours each, while previous ones took under an hour. I resorted to using both hands to push down the drill press. It was not only long but physically demanding.
I just have to sand the mandrels to true their surface. This won't take long at all so the packages are going out tomorrow morning.
I took a few pictures along the way just in case some of you got curious to see what the setup looked like. I will include a before and after pictures of the punch and a picture of what you will be getting too. I will post these tomorrow. Right now I have to take a long shower and wash away all that burned PSA, paper and wood smell from my body.
Thank you all who have signed on for this kit and I hope you will enjoy it. I look forward to enjoying mine, probably after all this punching effort fades from my memory :D.