Sanding jig for picks

[NanoDuke]

If it doesn't require electricity, what does the on/off switch do?

I've only used magnetic clamps for bending sheet metal. Nasty thing that was. Could take the tip of your finger off if you weren't careful

[femurat]

This is an idea that's floating in my mind for a long time: the "Sanding BLOB"

You will need:
- a plastic glass or the bottom half of a plastic bottle;
- a glass of sand;
- less than a glass of water (maybe oil is better but water is easier);
- a reversible drill.

Instructions:
- fill a plastic container with sand and add some water;
- fit your pick in a drill and dip its tip in the Sanding BLOB;
- run the drill at medium speed for a few seconds, then reverse its direction and do it again.

I haven't had the chance to try it out but this weekend I'm going to test it and let you know if it works.

Cheers

[Jaakko]

If it doesn't require electricity, what does the on/off switch do?

It is purely mechanical "switch", it moves the plate inside the magnetic table that has the magnets attached to it.

[femurat]

I tried the SandingBLOB with this bad shaped pick. I say bad shaped because I made a little mistake with the file, so the tip is a little off centre.

I filed the tip by hand and finished the shaft with the world famous wet grinder. This is the rough pick (never touched by sandpaper).


Then I put the pick in the drill, like a normal drill bit, and dipped it into a plastic bottle filled with sand and water. I added water to keep the sand down and avoid the necessity to wear a mask. Yes, I was wearing safety glasses.
After a few seconds I stopped the drill, reversed the direction and run it again. The pick looked exactly the same as before. THen I decided to insist and let the drill run for a minute. After reversing the direction and another minute or two I got this result.

Another point of view


The SandingBLOB is not as brilliant as I thought but it can work. The main problem is that it's too gentle: it can't be a substitute for sandpaper. Any idea about improving this method?
I have to try it with an half diamond to verify its effectiveness.

Cheers

[LocksmithArmy]

Very cool,

If there were some way to compress the sand while you did this... but now were talking about a big machine instead of an at home job...

insert the pick into the drill head inside a box, fill the box with sand, turn it on... the box compresses the contents while the drill spins the pick...

that was a really good Idea mate

[Jaakko]

femurat, very nice idea! I would like to improve that by saying that substitute the sand with aluminum silicate sand, the one used in sandblasting. You can get it cheap in huge cans and it is good abrasive.

[roxylass]

silicon sand that they use for mono- blocking, or the wieghted sausage inside traffic cones, my friend uses both for sandblasting, just a thought.

[femurat]

Thanks to all for your support! I'll try to find some aluminum silicate sand or a broken traffic cone.

Cheers

[NanoDuke]

Put the sand in oil, or soap, or something with a bit more viscosity.

[raimundo]

Potters use steel blades to manipulate clay, and these tools wear to a very smooth patina.

I have long wondered if I got some terra cotta and mixed in some carborundum grit if this would make a good sanding paste. The tools to be sanded could be just used to cut into the clay block and after the sanding the bloc could be rewetted and pushed back together.

Only question is, is it easier or better than sanding sticks.

[femurat]

I like the idea of a fluid with more viscosity. This could reduce a lot the time needed to get a good finish. I'll think about it.

The terra cotta and carborundum grit sanding paste could be a drill-free option. Interesting. I guess you must be careful to avoid bending the pick while "cutting" the paste.

Raimundo, I don't think a sanding blob or paste could be better than sanding sticks.
A stick helps you to refine the pick's shape, and nobody knows this better than you.
It's easy to control the stick action, not the sanding blob action: it smooths all the edges without distinction, you get a uniformly sanded shape. This is ok unless you have a thin and narrow tip that could be sanded too much.
Also a stick is quicker than my method (for now). This is just an experiment, I like to try different options. Anyway I like the idea of a "magic" paste that can smooth a pick within 2 minutes, so I'll keep on trying till I get a good result or till I got bored by unsuccessful results.

The best option ever is to roughly shape some inox picks, throw them into the sea from a lonely beach and go back after a month with a metal detector to find them well sanded and tanned

Cheers

ps: sorry for hijacking your tread Xarragon.

[Xarragon]

ps: sorry for hijacking your tread Xarragon.

No need to apologize, I found your discussion very interesting and I am already starting to itch to build and test new sanding devices myself. But I do appreciate the gesture.

[raimundo]

about that sanding blob, you say its too gentle, but you also say you only ran that pick in it for a minute.

If its too gentle, then just use it for final finish sanding.

In designs where there are parts that could be worn down while sanding, do what I did when I was a jeweler, build up metal on (leave metal in place) on the area that that will be most exposed to the buffing wheel, such as if you have a face, make the nose longer or fatter so that as you buff, this part that gets the most buffing and wears down, having started oversized, wears down to approximately what you intended.

sand blasting is different, you can aim the tool and affect the areas you intend to affect.

[femurat]

I made another experiment with the SandingBLOB: I added some soap to make it more viscous.
I roughly shaped an half diamond with my wet grinder so it's a more known shape and it's easier to understand what happens to the pick shape. The pick edge is more or less 45 degrees because it's for dimple locks.

The first picture shows the pick just after the grinding process.
The second is the result after less than 10 minutes in the SandingBLOB (4 minutes CW and 4 minutes CCW).
The last picture is the pick after 10 minutes of sanding with a piece of 600 grit wrapped around a wood stick.





You can clearly see the SandingBLOB effectiveness compared to a classic sanding stick within the same time.
In the SandingBLOB the pick is just a bit rounded but still not functional.
Even with a sanding stick 10 minutes aren't enough to properly sand a pick, but are enough to have a working pick.

I think my experiment ends here I was looking for a different way to sand a pick, this was funny but not useful as I thought.
If I came across some aluminium silicate sand or similar maybe I give it another try.

Cheers

[NanoDuke]

Is 600 grit the highest you can go to?