How to Make Your Own
2″ Hook and Loop Sanding Discs

I made myself a little timesaver tody …for cutting 2″ sandpaper discs from a 5″ or 6″ felt backed sanding disk. In fact, you can cut 2″ discs from any source of felt backed sanding paper.

The original idea is not mine, I can’t remember who made one before me but I expanded a little on the idea.

Why Do I Need 2 Inch
Sanding Disks?

You ask, “Why do you need 2 inch sanding discs?”

I Purchased 2-Inch Multiple Grits Aluminum Oxide Wet/Dry Hook and Loop Sanding Discs with a 6mm Shank Backing Pad + Soft Sponge Buffering Pad, 5-pieces Each of 60, 240, 600, 1000, 5000, and 10000 Grits from Amazon a couple of years ago and they served me well.

A couple of years ago I purchased a drill powered (DISC SANDER) it came with a bunch of sanding pads …100 or more and I purchased extras. The sanding disk was pretty good but the sanding pads were garbage. Either the felt on the back of the sandpaper would give out prematurely or the sandpaper would clog up in minutes. You can see the Sandpaper Cleaner …just click on the link  …it was only 10 dollars and had everything you needed to get started using a small 2 inch sanding disk for wood turning. I was very happy with it even if the pads wore out quickly and that they were poorly marked. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a quick want to start sanding their bowls and other woodturnings.

Jeteven 2 Inch Sanding Disc 100 PCS Mix Grit Sander Disc Grinding Discs for Drill Grinder

This system will give you a good idea on how to make your own 2″ sanding discs or how to use it more effectively or purchase something you might need to meet your specific needs. I did order a 100 piece set of sanding disks called “Jeteven 2 Inch Sanding Disc 100 PCS Mix Grit Sander Disc Grinding Discs for Drill Grinder”  these satisfied my needs for the moment at the time and I still have some left, they were marked for size (grit) but they had the same problem, backing did not last too long on some, lasted forever on others …same with the grit, some lasted a long time, some clogged up and with some cleaning lasted a little longer. It doesn’t matter what type of sandpaper you use, you should invest in a rubber cleaner for sandpaper like this one  on Amazon https://amzn.to/2OvSieN

SKATECO Belt and Disk Abrasive
Cleaning Stick (8-1/2″ 2-pack)

This is one of the best deals I have found for cleaning any type of sandpaper and getting a 2nd, 3rd or more life out of your disk sander, belt sanding …really, anything with a piece of sandpaper ….works like magic most of the time and you really need to get one….especially for these little 2″ sanding disks. It is like a big sandpaper eraser.

—Increases the life of sanding belts and disks by removing residue
—Works to clean dirt and grime off of grip tape
—Natural rubber material works to remove residue off of abrasive surfaces

Back to the 2″ Sanding Disk

Although this mandrel and sanding pad work great in a cordless drill or corded drill, I think I am going to try a air powered random  rotation 2″ orbital drill from Harbor Freight…..but that’ another story 🙂

Needed Some 2 Inch Sanding Pads

So one day, I needed some 80 grit sanding pads …I was all out. I grabbed a 6″ sanding disk from my orbital sander and cut a couple of 2″ sanding disks. To my surprise they worked perfectly and lasted 10x longer than the sanding disks that came with the kit and the extra disks I purchased.

Cutting 2 Inch Sanding Disks With Scissors 🙂

So, I’ve been cutting sandpaper circles by hand. It’s pretty rough on scissors. I wrecked a pair of awesome scissors, I tried sharpening them but they had some serrations and other shapes ….just couldn’t make them work like new.

Maybe Gasket Punches Would Work?

I looked up punches, gasket punches on Amazon and Google ….a 2″ punch cost anywhere from $150 to $200, unless there is a better search term I could not find anything cheaper. So, buying a punch wasn’t the answer. I think I will have to make my own 2 inch sandpaper punch.

After seeing the post in our woodturning facebook group from someone having the same problem I started looking around to see what I had that might work.

I found some galvanized 2 inch water pipe, looked too thick to mess around with ….I thought I had some 2″ copper water pipe laying around but I couldn’t find any. I ended up digging up a piece of 2″ thin walled electrical conduit. The inside diameter was someplace around 2 1/8″ not sure exactly what it should be because it was a little beat up.

I cut off about 6″ of the 2″ EMT with a grinder, sawzall or hack saw would have worked. I took the piece to my grinder squared off the end I wanted to sharpen with the miter guage.

PICETURE OF SQUARING OFF IN GRINDER

The other end of the pipe was a factory edge so I had to pound out a ding to get it back to circular shape and I was good to go on that end.

I had about a 60 grit piece of sandpaper on my 12″ sander, set the miter guage as far as it could go and started to put a bevel on the edge of the side that I squared up. Once I got a good bevel on it I took it over to a smaller sanding disk with a 100 grit wheel and started putting a sharp edge on the bevel.

I had a nice edge but I then took it to a 150 grit belt sander and finished the edge ….nice and sharp now!

 

The inside of the pipe at the sharpened end had a nice big burr on the inside, I tried to file it down and ended up using a Dremel tool with a little sanding drum on it. I removed the burr perfectly and the inside was nice and smooth. However, now there was a burr on the front….I resharpened, removed the burr from the inside and resharpened the outside again with a file and diamond hone.

Next I wanted to make a cap for the top of the conduit. Not necessary but I was having fun 🙂

I found about a 4 or 5 inch wide piece of ash and turned it to round. I hollowed out a small opening in the bottom, about 1″ deep and then I used my parting tool to create a recess for the pounding end of the pipe to slide into. It worked perfectly. I finished sanding and shaping it, I rounded off the top a little.

Last steps involved sticking the cap in the chuck and I sanded some more and applied some of Capn Eddie’s OB Shine Juice. I like using this fininsh on my tools, easy to repair or apply another coat if necessary but it protects the wood and takes a beating.

One more step….I epoxied the Ash Cap to the pounding end of the new 2 inch punch. I tapped it a couple of times with a big heavy wood mallet, keeping the cutting edge on a piece of wood. Looks like a thing of beauty ….if I had nothing better to do I would paint it and put it on the shelp to look at 🙂 ………but, it will be used a lot!

I tried cutting some 2″ pieces of sandpaper and it worked great, I thought it should cut better so I took the pipe over the my grinder and reshaped the cutting edge, gave it a double bevel …kind of like on a bowl gouge. I had to get rid of the burr again but this time it cut the sandpaper like butter.

In fact, I didn’t even have to use a maul or hammer on it. I just put my palm around the wooden top and twisted the cutting tool on the piece of sand paper and ended up with a perfect 2″ piece of sandpaper.

If you make one of these I imagine you are going to have to find out what the best cutting edge is for you and since it isn’t tool steel you will probably dull the edge quickly. But, I’m sure you can get 12 or more sanding disks from one sharpening. ….either way, much better than using a pair of scissors 🙂

Using Your Sanding Disk Cutter

One final thing to remember. When pounding out your 2″ sanding disks make sure the sandpaper is on a piece of wood, 2×6 or some log cut off. Make sure the piece of wood is on something stable ….I”m not sure a work bench would be solid enough. Try putting on a concrete floor, concrete block…..I even cut out a few with the wood on my lathe rails …probably not the best way if you are going to be whacking it….but good enough if you are just hand twisting.

Good luck, let me know if you decide to make one?