1/01/2001
I use a lot of sandpaper. I have disc sanders, rotary sanders, I have 1x 42 inch delta sander with a 8 inch disc attached to it that I call my cheater (my term of endearment for it). I have home made ones etc. The common denominator is they all need sandpaper. I was turned on to this little trick about a year ago. I use it each and every time now when I use my palm sanders or orbital sanders. Instead of buying preformed cut sandpaper for these, I use what I believe is called double-sided carpenters tape. (shown below)
I have a little sander that happens to be my favorite of my hand held sanders, mainly because of its little size and how light weight it is. (I have extremely small hands)
It is one of those kind that has like velcro on it , and then that's the kind of sandpaper one is suppose to purchase for it.
Take yourself an old piece of sandpaper that belongs to the machine but use one that is used up and place on the bottom. Add your double sided tape to it.
DO NOT add the tape to this velcro material on the bottom of the actual sander, you would end up with a mess. Just place it on an old used piece as I have done (below)
This is all I do. I place a longer piece on one side and a shorter piece of this double sided tape on the bottom. It may be hard to see as the piece of sandpaper is black just like the bottom, I think you ought to be able to see the outline of the "used" sandpaper.
As can be seen I traced the outline of the sander on the upside down piece of sandpaper I would be choosing to use. Normally I actually lay the sander with the tape already applied to the sander directly on the piece of sandpaper , and instead of outlining this with a pencil to cut after, I take one of these "disposable" utility knives that I always get a bunch of when I am down in southern Ca. visiting my dad at the La Mirada swap meet. You can get a whole bag of them for a buck. They come in all sorts of different sizes and each tip is actually an individual blade that just snaps off when dull and produces a new blade.I just run the blade around the edges and cut her off. (the excess). I always leave a bit extra at the tip . I find I use this tip ALL the time on my intarsia projects. It gets into places that may be hard to get to by hand or if you can get there by hand you may not have the power to do what needs to be done.
A person can get a bunch of these sheets of sandpaper for just a fraction of the cost it takes to get the pre-form made to fit paper. I also would like to say I have never had a mishap doing this. Never has a piece flew off of the sander during sanding.
I am not writing this because I am cheap (But I am) it is mainly to do to where I live and how hard it is for me to get a simple set of pre-formed sandpaper for all my little sanders. I realize there is mail order, something I do use, however it makes no sense to do it for sandpaper if that's all you need. I do not have the luxury (although for the most part I do not mind) of a Home Depot, etc. around here. This is one tip I will always use.
