I feel silly for asking this question, but it has been a minor source
of frustration for some time. A while back I acquired a wooden
mandrel for my buffer that holds emery paper cones for sanding the
insides of rings. A really neat idea, but every time I try to use it,
the friction between the ring and paper causes the cone to “seize up”
inside the ring and come loose from the wooden form. There’s not any
adhesive… the cones are, I believe, intended to readily
interchangeable for the progression of grits. Does anyone have any
tricks or tips for this tool? Of course, not jamming the ring all the
way up does help to some degree…
Hey David, another good use for this wooden tool! I’ll try and keep
the answer clean…:>) Have you ever thought of using it when you are
setting stones in wax? Place the wax ring on the wooden dowel and this
way the ‘heat’ of your hand or fingers won’t distort the wax ! I also
use a wooden dowel for when I have to drill holes for a ring, I place
the ring on the dowel and not “in” the ring clamp! “wooden dowels”
can be replaced, ring clamps are expensive after a while…gerry, the
cyber-setter! www.gemzdiamondsetting.com
Dave, try spraying a little powdered resin onto the wooden cone prior
to putting the emery cone on. You can get the powdered resin from
sports shops in small puffer packs for using on tennis racquet grips
etc.
Dave, I’ve had the same problem, and though I’m sure that there is a
proper way to use those slippery wooden arbors, here’s what I did.
Just use a hard felt inside ring buff instead of the wooden one. A
used one seems to work best. The felt holds the sandpaper nicely,
plus you can remove the sandpaper cone and polish. Hope this helps.
Many years ago I worked in a golf equipment repair/refinishing shop,
using a similar cone-shaped mandrel. We used a temporary spray
adhesive (a 3M product if I recall correctly) to affix the emery
paper cones to the mandrel. The adhesive was non-drying…similar to
the tacky substance on the back of Post-It brand notes. You
should be able to find it in any large art supply store.
Remember to degrease the surface of the mandrel before you apply the
adhesive (and, of course, to avoid open flame while using any aerosol
product.)
Hope this helps!
Pete
Peter B. Steiner
TripleRock Lapidary
Western New York, USA
Dear Dave, Yes the cones can slip off very easily. Here is a very
simple trick that I use. I keep a glue stick (the temporary push up
type) next to the polishing machine. Just before the cone is placed on
the wooden mandrel I apply a little glue from the glue stick onto the
wooden mandrel and it holds the abrasive cone in place during use.
Hi Dave, I use a different method for sanding the insides of rings. I
have had one of the tapered threaded mandrils that go on the ends of
a bench grinder, machined on a lathe. It now has a 30mm long, 10mm
diameter parallel section left on the end with a split cut through the
middle to slide sand paper into. I cut a 30 mm wide strip of 400 grit
sand paper & place the end just far enough through the split to have a
small overlap. Then turn the spindle by hand the first time. the paper
rolls up on top of itself like a watch spring. I don’t have any
trouble with the paper coming off. When the paper wears out & stops
cutting just stop the motor & tear off the end. This is very similar
to the split mandrils you can buy for flexi shaft motors. You do need
to use a separate set up for this, I use a small 6" bench grinder and
leave the grinder wheel on the other side which comes in handy. You
can pick these up quite cheaply at hardware stores.
Dave, I’ve had the same problem, and though I’m sure that there is a
proper way to use those slippery wooden arbors, here’s what I did.
Just use a hard felt inside ring buff instead of the wooden one. A
used one seems to work best. The felt holds the sandpaper nicely,
plus you can remove the sandpaper cone and polish. Hope this helps.
Bob
