I have a stock of 1/8 wood, which is a bit too thick. What's the best and/or easiest way to reduce the thickness a bit? I'm looking at planers and combo belt/disc sanders on craigslist. Hand sanding rock hard exotic woods isn't cutting it.
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I have a stock of 1/8 wood, which is a bit too thick. What's the best and/or easiest way to reduce the thickness a bit? I'm looking at planers and combo belt/disc sanders on craigslist. Hand sanding rock hard exotic woods isn't cutting it.
I had to thin down some micarta and had the same dilemma :shrug:
So what i did was pin them down to a wooden benchtop with light guage wire that fit the pin holes and file them down.
Worked like a charm :)
As always YMMV
Mike
A file might be kind of harsh against the grain. I haven't done it yet but belt would be my first try. Will be watching this one....or I might be at it in the next few days as I do have both disk and belt. I did shape some up with a Dremmel and that went well. Just have to keep moving so as not to dig a rut. I used a flap disk there.
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.
I use a belt also. But there are some good threads that talk about this stuff with some more user friendly approaches. I have the same troubles as Holli4.
A link: http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...ng-planer.html
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
I rough-shape my wood scales with a jigsaw, then use double-sided tape to stick them together and trim them to final shape on a belt sander. I thin down the ends as well, and shape the whole length, just behind the belt-sander roller. Final shaping, of course, is by hand, but with fairly fine paper on the belt sander I can go pretty far toward final.
I leave the wedge end a little rough until I split the scales, sand the inner sides to their final smooth, then put the wedge in with a screw and nut. I final-sand the wedge and scales together, then take it all apart for finishing. I flatten both the wedge and the wedge ends of the scales on a DMT before the finish and assembly.
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.
My word, it is BKratchmer himself!
I use this.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/attac...ved-beast1.jpg
Before, that, I used big bastard files with very coarse teeth.
The kind of thing a farrier would use for rasping down hooves.
Works like a charm.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by BKratchmer
I find it much easier to sand the required thickness before cutting the scales. I've done this by using double sided tape on a piece of board and then using a belt sander - taping to the board helps keep the scale material aligned better. However I bought a Luthier's friend last year and this makes accurate thinning very easy. I still use tape and a paddle but it works well on the hardest woods, horn, acrylic and I've even used it to shape wedges in brass, aluminium and nickel silver.
works like a charm:)
STEWMAC.COM : Luthiers Friend Sanding Station
Now, see, that's what I'm talking about. Awesome! I am going to make one of those this weekend. I already have sanding drums and a drill press.
Well, I wish I had your abilities - I had to buy one from Stewmac AND have it shipped to the UK. It was after using this that I started to have the scales a lot thinner than I had previously. Before then I was working with Ebony and Rosewood and even allowing for the belt sander, I was still doing lots of hand sanding - the Stewmac just makes life so much easier.Quote:
Originally Posted by eod7
I hope your home made version works just as well. Happy holiday week-end.
Rob
If you do not have a sander, and want to thin the stock, you can use a nice flat surface and sand paper.
I use a granite plate in the sink, tape sand paper on it, tape the blank to my DMT and get great results. The blanks are always evenly thinned. After that hand sanding does the rest.
That's a good idea but I assume you need a fairly regular blank to start with. The great thing about the luthiers friend is that any difference in thickness or even warping is automatically sanded out if you turn the blank during the process. I've had some pretty twisted pieces of horn that have worked just fine.
the way I do it everything comes out very even, just have to be careful where the pressure is applied at the beginning. I too turn on either side to be sure both are even.Quote:
Originally Posted by UKRob
They really do work as advertised.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...e/luthiers.jpg
I want to leave work so I can go work on this now.
When you have room for them in your living room they do for sure :)Quote:
Originally Posted by pixelfixed
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.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by Maximilian
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by pixelfixed
Great,would love to see it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Maximilian
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by eod7
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.
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Originally Posted by holli4pirating
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Originally Posted by spazola
Quote:
Originally Posted by BKratchmer
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..
Quote:
Originally Posted by gssixgun
I second that!
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by gssixgun
You may or may not like the end result, but Popsicles it aint.
http://i1270.photobucket.com/albums/...psd20c83f7.jpg
:thinking: I have zero clue what yer disagreeing with :shrug: I think that is exactly what I said and basically what we all do using slightly different techniques.. I also have no clue how thick your scales actually are...Quote:
Originally Posted by UKRob
That sure is one nice looking belt grainder Bruno... How bout a better look at that tool rest so I can copy it... :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruno
The very fact that some of you guys have surface grinders (worse yet, sitting unused in a garage) makes me green with envy! I miss my tools of great powers!
Quote:
Originally Posted by gssixgun
Glen, I must have misinterpreted what you meant but the part of your post that said
'...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'
I read as saying that thinning from the back is the only option - otherwise they're popsicle sticks.
Apologies, Rob
I built a wood unit that bolts to the drill press table and it works great. Thickness and height adjustments are done by moving the table. Took some rejects out of the bin and turned them into clean 2.5mm blanks in three minutes flat.
http://i.imgur.com/jYH7lRj.jpg
Looks great,should work well.