[Thomp]

I got a 1/2 hp 1175 rpm motor' pullies to slow it down an arbor if needed and 25 two and three inch leather disks cut out.

i want it as perminate as possible, but am wondering if i should attach the leather disks to a shaft with epoxy or just attach them to each other with leather - rubber glue on a threaded rod then tighten them between fender washers?

anybody made one have any suggestions

[AlArchie]

Thomp, here's what I did for a power strop.....the wheel onthe left is medium hard felt, the one on the right is laminated from two 3/4"disks of plywood. since this was taken I've added a leather strap on the circumference of the wood disk. The jacobs chuck on the left attaches to a flex shaft for power carving. If I were you, I'd put the leather disks on one of the arbor shafts by just running the nut up tight, but you could glue the disks together, too.

Click here Food Processor Blades
Hope this helps.

Al

[Thomp]

ALA

i love that setup, but i need to keep it small. im running out of usable space. and bench space is at a premimum..

I love to carve but hate to have to stop and sharpen or hone tools but its a necessary evil, as i find you cut yourself less with the sharper tools as your not using as much force.

i got a couple 3 inch power hones made, one on a harbor freight mini variable speed bench grinder the other one from a salvaged redmond brushless 110 vac motor no hp rating, out of a old style lazy boy recliner used as a vibriaibrator motor in the back with the offset weight removed it turns 600 to 800 rpm and loads down to stall, if you get too heavy handed,

I made the wheel is whatever they call that pressed paper stuff they are making furnature out of like hard temper board 3/4 inch thick 3" dia and just epoxied to the shaft, then trued with a 4" grinder to shape, but its small and takes a long time to get round a blade with,

i was thinking this leather would allow me to cut in profiles for my tools to be more managable for them to have their own shape.. to keep from having to judge if i was keeping the wear even on the tool...

but no motor shaft is long enough to accomidate the 3 inch stack of leather and of course no motor shaft is threaded naw that would be too easy!


.... just hit me.
i could drill a 3/8" hole in the leather disks and mount on a threaded lamp stem (steel thick tubing,) fender washers and jam nuts, like what you mount a light bulb receptical to on a table lamp, and still get away with using the small 1/4" shafted sweing machiene motor with foot petal if necessary, for the lower rpm, i have some berings to support the ends, with a piller block effect...
let me work on this couple days and ill send pics.
---
Final Q: Stropping compound question?
tell me if im doing wrong i have been using white and red jewlers rouge as a compound, on my hard wheels rougr bought from sears i have several other colors like the black,grey,green they say were not suppose to use due to helth ... is there better stuff on the market?

the hones currently whip a dull blade into shape quickly and they are sticky sharp cut before you know it sharp... so i guess i aint doing real bad with my home made setups.

it would just be more convienent to have an all in one...... if you know what i mean.

[AlArchie]

Sounds like you'll do just fine with that setup, and as far as the honing compound goes......use what works for you! Tere are probably a dozen or more "best compounds ever made", and any or all of them will work just fine.

Those polishing compound sticks from Sears, or other hardware stores are also just fine. The red stuff is jewelers' rouge, the white is a bit courser. The brown stuff is usually called Tripoli and falls between the white and red as far as grain size goes. The black is most likely the coursest of the compounds. I really wouldn't worry about the toxicity of any of the currently available compounds, unless they are posted with a warning on the package.

I use only jewelers' rouge for stropping, with a touch of that fine white abrasive powder added every so often (once or twice a year) to my hand strops, and never on the power strops.

As for results, most any of the bar abrasives will work, with red jewelers' rouge or some of the green stuff marketed strictly to carvers, putting on the finest finish, with an abrasive size in the range of .5 microns. The others generally range from 1.5 to .5 microns so any of them is really fine stuff.

Just about everybody has their own favorite compound, and I really don't think there is a "best" for all carvers.

Al

[Tom H]

Thomp, Don't forget to keep posting your progress and finish with a photo and explanation. This is something that I need to do also, but I feel comfortable letting you be the R and D as well as the prototype dept. Tom H

[Thomp]

Originally Posted by Tom H

Thomp, Don't forget to keep posting your progress and finish with a photo and explanation. This is something that I need to do also, but I feel comfortable letting you be the R and D as well as the prototype dept. Tom H

GEE THANKS A LOT BUDDY!
ok no problem, im headed off to lowes for them as well as other parts right now....

[decoycarve]

Thomp,
I put a drop of Gorilla Glue on the shaft just where the wheel touches the shaft. It holds great. As far as compounds go I buy mine bulk as I do a lot of polishing on motorcycle parts. I buy most of mine from Caswell plating. What you pay for a couple of ounces you can buy a 3lb bar of it. Go in with a couple of carvers and split the cost and you will have enough for a lifetime. I just put an old bandsaw blade in the bandsaw and cut pieces off the bar of compound.
http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/buffing.htmHeres the one I built from an old dc motor.
http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.co...1&d=1117407535
Goody

[Thomp]

Mission to lowes home improvement center successfull. i got all i think i need, for about $7,00
now to dig out the berings tomorrow,,
the rod is 6" zink coated steel all thread fender washers bigger hole than i wanted but will have to live with it.
the nuts are all solid brass, hopefully they will give before a tool chips if i somehow wind up with a tool in the works.

tomorrow i will dig out the berings and make a pully probobally using a vaccume cleaner rubber belt i know theres several round here, like a big o ring
photo of supplies below.

[AlArchie]

Looks like you're getting the right stuff togethere, Thomas. Be sure to post the finished product!

Al

[Thomp]

finished as it will get for now.

guess ill run it in my drill or use it on a old amt lathe head on a 1/2 drill chuck.. using the tail stock for stabilization as the threaded tube will be a lot weaker than a solid rod...
next will be built out of solid rod 1/2 or bigger. with piller berings.

construction:
3m spray adhesive between fender washer and each leather disk, double nutted for security & jam nuts locked, to prevent any slippage. as slippage might cut the shaft in too. or polish untill it vibrates

25 leather and one 3 inch disk of that pressed paper hardboard material spacer and a buffing wheel made of stuff like 3m scotchbright, see pic

it will hone better than my current hard wheel as it asorbs the jewlers rough and slower rpm don't sling off the abrasive,, like on the hard wheel currently dose..

had to shape the disks again on the drill press, (I got the center hole off a little on the disks. and it caused out of round vibration)

so to cure it , i carefully shaped the hone with a 4 inch side grinder with a 40 grit disk.. while it was running in the drillpress.
"man-o-mee" did that stink!, powdered leather dust- burnt cow hide smells like branding time in the ok corral... pewe!! wear a mask....!!!!!!

as the drill press at min speed turned the shaft using the grinder i ground downards i made it slowly grind across the face of the spinning hone until it got smooth and stopped vibrating, then cut the smaller groves in the wheel for the 1/4 gouge and v grove tools leaving flat for knives.

if you decide to make a power hone.
REMEMBER "using the tool you will have to remember it turns backwards to a bench grinder",
a bench grinder pulls things towards the rest, this hone rotation turns the other direction, and you work on the topmost of the wheel. as to throw anything it grabs away from you,

some folks use a bench grinder but turn them around backwards...

good luck.


suggestions:
when i make another one i will seek out shoe sole leather, as its from the back of the neck of the cow its really thicker and you dont hace as much give in the thicker leather,
folks out in the great plains area might look into the old harvesters they had 1/2 inch thick leather belts flat on them i think that leather would ne something great for such an application....if its not rotton..

check boot and shoe repair shops as well as saddle repair shops for learher.

as this was a low cost experiment using what i had or could obtain quickly. plan yours better and make it from good quality stuff. no need to pay twice for the same material.

any questions?