Thread: How do you thin down your blanks?

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

They really do work as advertised.

When you have room for them in your living room they do for sure

Harbor Freight has their disc/belt combination sander on sale now. Just FYI.

Same principle as the Stewmac. I made a jig for the magnetic holder of my surface grinder and with the electronic drop indicator I can thin out any material to whatever thickness I want. Works like a charm.

Originally Posted by Maximilian

Same principle as the Stewmac. I made a jig for the magnetic holder of my surface grinder and with the electronic drop indicator and I can thin out any material to whatever thickness I want. Works like a charm.

can we see a pic? what type wheels do you use for certain materials,have an old brown & sharp with a mag table in storage.
never thought about using it for scale material,great idea.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

can we see a pic? what type wheels do you use for certain materials,have an old brown & sharp with a mag table in storage.
never thought about using it for scale material,great idea.

I don't have a pic but I'll take one next time I need to thin out something.

Originally Posted by Maximilian

I don't have a pic but I'll take one next time I need to thin out something.

Great,would love to see it.

Originally Posted by eod7

This is the way I am leaning. Big belt sander and calipers to check thickness. I like to thin it down and sand out the front and back while it's still a 3x6 piece of stock. Then split it, tape together and proceed.

No, no... a wide belt sander is a specific tool (think 35-horse $20,000 tool) used for sanding to thickness within a few thousandths of an inch, dead flat.

But yes, if you are careful and have a good bench stop and nothing valuable behind you the belt sander can do some of the coarse stock removal.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

I find that when 1/8 material is taken and fully rounded, like on vintage scales, it comes out quite nicely. But just breaking the edges a bit, as seems to be more popular and is certainly less labor intensive, can leave the scales feeling a bit thick. Especially on smaller/lighter/full hollows.

I have seen it done and done very well with a file followed by hand sanding. But that was by a fellow who grew up working with wood (perhaps you remember BKratchmer). Personally, I do the rough rounding with a beltsander, and finish by hand.

I should say, though, that I find it very difficult to get an even thinning effect on a beltstander. Not sure how that is for others.
BKratchmer has a sweet thicknesser in the family shop, but that would be quite a tool for the application.

Originally Posted by spazola

I would double side tape down the scales to a flat surface, side by side and use coarse sanding paper with a flat sanding block. Sand the two at once to keep them even. There is not that much wood there, It is not that hard to change 1/8 to 3/32 with sand paper. If I lazy fat man like me can do it, it can not be that hard.

I agree with hollrpirating rounding the corners and edges and thinning the ends goes a long way.

Charlie

Originally Posted by BKratchmer

Best options:

1. Profile the scale with a file. A nice three-dimensional shape is really the best way to make a scale, anyhow.

2. Hand sand as Charlie suggested.

3. A #4 or #5 standard or high pitch bench plane.

If you're really lucky, you might have access to a wide-belt sander and then you can make a lot of thin stock very, very quickly... but my favorite is still #1.

I basically use a combination of what they are talking about,,,

The seperation of the techniques and why I gave up on that old thread is the rounded/contour effect,, I was looking for a way to thin down Scales not Blanks.. To get the effect of contoured scales, the only way I have found to do it is start with Blanks that are .125 -- .140 inches.. build and contour the set of scales as a one piece operation, then after the holes are drilled, I split the two scales apart and thin them down from the back side only, keeping the contour intact.. It is harder to do this way but personally I think they look like sanded Popsicle sticks if you don't JMHO

edit: You also have to take into account that the scales are getting smaller as well as thinner when you do this, so you have to be careful not to drop the height so much that the heel drops through the bottom Means you also have to fit the wedge as a last step operation..

Originally Posted by gssixgun

It is harder to do this way but personally I think they look like sanded Popsicle sticks if you don't JMHO

I second that!

Originally Posted by gssixgun

I basically use a combination of what they are talking about,,,

It is harder to do this way but personally I think they look like sanded Popsicle sticks if you don't JMHO

.

Glen. I have to disagree with your conclusion here. I've attached a picture of some scales that I made using exactly the method described earlier and I don't think they look like Popsicle sticks. The stock was sanded as one piece and then cut in two and taped together whilst profiled and sanded. I always sand the inside of the blank before taping - that way I ensure that the two scales are completely flat.

You may or may not like the end result, but Popsicles it aint.