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OT Disc sander adhesive

hkcarbine

Aluminum
Joined
Feb 8, 2010
Location
Las Vegas, NV USA
I have the 10" sanding discs with adhesive. Everytime I use one the bloody thing flings off. Used infrequently and I hate to change discs before worn out. I should say first use is ok, but adhesive seems to dry out or lose stick. Any suggestions, ie what kind of glue could I use to restore adehesive? Very dry here Las Vegas

Roger Q.
 
3M used to make an adhesive specifically for that purpose. I assume they still do. Available at any body shop supply house. Its a contact type adhesive, in that you put it on both surfaces and wait until its dry to the touch before installing the disc on the platen. With adhesive backed discs whose adhesive is old and weak, you can often just put the 3M stuff on the platen and it'll work with the old adhesive on the disc to hold just fine. And yes, its made to allow the disc to be peeled off later without having to break out a scraper. You can also change discs without having to re-apply the adhesive with each change.
 
There are also the regular 3M spray adhesives, which I've gravitated to. These, however, require me to break out the scraper metlmunchr mentions.
 
I've used the 3M disk mount spray adhesive for years whenever I get a disk that looses its tack. Its also a good idea to be sure that the sander's metal disk is clean and warm before you try to mount a new disk. I usually use a heat gun to warm the disk until it feels warm to the touch, probably about 110 - 120 degrees. I also place a block of wood against the disk when I have it mounted, and tap the wood with a soft hammer to be sure that the disk is making contact in as many places as possible. The first time I use a new disk, I never stand where a disk could hit me if it comes off - after a few uses, it's anchored pretty well.
 
I will mention the "old school" method, probably devised before 3M was created. I got my first wood lathe in 1953. I also got the disc sanding equipment, a cast iron disc or platen, some plain back sanding discs and a stick of solid glue cast into a cardboard tube. You held the glue stick against the rotating platen until the glue had melted onto a large portion of the platen. Then you stopped the lathe and pressed the sanding disc against the platen. It worked pretty well. Sometimes I had to heat the back of the platen with a torch to improve the bond.

Larry
 
I think you're right - it must have been some sort of hide glue. The stick type disk adhesive was usually cleaned off when it was time to change the disk by holding a chunk of wood against the rotating disk. This wore off any abrasive disk residues. To really do it right, you needed to remove the disk sander's platten after the old disk was removed, warm the platten, apply the cement, then put the platten & disk in a screw press to ensure that the two were well bonded and flat (lumps were not good...). My pattern-maker uncle modified his disk sander so the disk was held on with 3 flat heat screws, which let him remove the platten easily. After he mounted a new disk, he'd use a utility knife to cut out the holes for the 3 screws, then he'd remount the disk on the machine. He usually had several disks ready to go, so he could switch from fine to coarse abrasive in a minute or two. I still have the disk press he built - since he was a pattern maker, it was all nicely finished cast iron and sized to hold a 12" diameter disk. It is totally useless for anything other than mounting sanding disks, but it is too good to throw away, but not good enough to keep.
 
About 25 years ago, a patternmaker (in his 80's and still running his shop) showed me how to put disks on using a stick of belt dressing. He had a 36" diameter disk sander. My disk sander is only 12". It helps if the disk is warm. Rub the stick of belt dressing across the disk while it is spinning to put a coat of belt dressing on the disk. Use a blunt piece of wood to help spread it evenly across the spinning disk. I also rub the stick of belt dressing around the circumference of the back of the sanding disk. Firmly press the sandpaper to the disk. Turn the disk sander on and lightly sand a piece of wood to firmly press the sandpaper on to the disk. Occasionally the disk will fly off and you will have the put the sandpaper back on, but most of the time it works the first time. Occasionally, under heavy use, the disk will get too hot and the disk will fly off. Put it back on and let it cool down. Just last night I put on a new disk. Over the years, I have probably installed over a 200 disks and it has worked good for me. Most of the time I am using a heavy cloth backed 36 grit disk for heavy metal sanding.

Bruce
 
Way back in my days of production fiberglass boat building we used a stuff called Glop that worked perfectly. I never found out what it was really named or who made it, we got it in plain pint cans with the word glop written in felt tip pen so I'm sure it came in bulk and was being decanted at the store. I just checked with Crystaliner in Costa Mesa and they no longer sell it. Maybe someone else out there knows about it.
 








 
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