Flap sander info

[Ben]

Hey. I remember someone here making their own DIY flap sander but cannot remember anything else about it. Search is not finding what I want either. Any info on it would be appreciated.

Ben

[yost69]

Here is what i found.

Flap sander

and
Flap Sander

[jim_mex]

Hi Ben - once again the terminology raises its ugly head - LOL!

Are you talking about a flap/drum/paddle sander or a flutter wheel?

here is a link to a lathe mounted "flap" sander

Flap Sander

Flutter wheels or similar sanding mops can be easily made by mounting a stack of sanding disks on a bolt . If you want details of this let me know.

cheers

[Janette]

I have a mop sander and it looks fairly simple to make yourself if you're inclined. It's the cloth backed sandpaper cut into about 2" strips about 8 or 12" long depending if you want a 4" or 6". hole in the middle for the arbor and the ends are slit to have about 1/4" apart.

[Ben]

Thanks all.
Janette - Any pics?

Ben

[Old Dude]

Ben...

Check here:
:: Stockroom Supply - The Sanding Mop

Cheers

[jim_mex]

Hi again Ben - as it seems you are looking for a mop or flutterwheel type of sander here's a mini flutterwheel I made to mount in my drill press



It's a simple stack of 2 1/2" - 3" diam sanding disks of 120's grit cut from either a bandsander belt or a sheet of similar material.

The disks are centred drilled to take a 1/4" bolt- The edges of the disks are cut into towards the centre of the disks about 1/2" - like the spokes of a wheel.

The important part is how you mount them.

Starting from the bottom of the bolt place a 3/4" diam followed by a 1 1/2"" diam washer followed by a pair of disks with the smooth - non grit faces together. Place another pair of disks again with the smooth faces together. Next place a 3/4" diam thickish washer (or two thin washers). Follow this sequence of 4 disks plus washer(s) to build up the thickness - I used 12 disks for this one. Finally top off with another 1 1/2" diam washer, a 3/4" diam washer and a spring washer and nut to complete the assembly.

You can scale this basic set up to make bigger flutterwheel/mops similar to those shown in OldDude's link. Use a bolt up to 1/2" diam and if necessary scroll some 1/8" plywood spacers instead of using washers. The thickness and diam of the spacing washers, the number of disks you stack together between the spacers, plus the depth of the cuts of the disks all influence the firmness of the sanding action. Its a case of trying various combinations and choosing what suits.

I made this miniflutter wheel for smoothing over the edges Tangram puzzles and jigsaws and small segmentation pieces- It works great.

Hope this helps.