Call to arms out there…the title says it all.
Anyone?
Howzit DS, Don’t think it’s possible but who knows. The problem is as you know the metal is inside the rubber and it would be hard to get it straight again. I know I’ve bent a few in the past and had to just write it off. Also I have seen them warp from usage over a period of time. I stopped buying the soft ones since the rubber is so soft I think it can cause them to bend from pressure. I only use the medium and hard ones now.Aloha,Kokua
Aloha K,
I didn’t think anyone would respond…for the very reasons you state. I use the mildly bent ones on ding reparir (to a degree). But I just blew it recently and knocked off a new hard Power Pad from a table I was using…which prompted me to build a hanging rack so that doesn’t happen.
I think the only remote possiblity of straightening one would be some kind of press that one of the plates had a hole for the screw hub to stick thru while two plates pressed together with sufficient pressure to true the interior disc again…but that kind of pressure might destroy the foam…if not, what a great fix it something like this could be. I know some poeple use Disk It’s…but I have an old one in prime condition from when I had my factory and there is not bevel on the pad and I think they are inferior to PP’s.
Maybe some gear head will see this thread and offer up a surprise solution.
You don’t ask, you don’t get!
forget it,… bottom line. order you a new one. tried it, been there ten dozen times,… never gona happen.
you’ll make sure that grinder is flat on the bench from now on,… want you. 40.00 a pop for a new pad. live with it.
try a heat gun works on rigid PU foam maybe itwill work on nonrigid PU (power pads)heat it up till it almost melts then bring it up two 5000rpms to spin it back to form…my guess
wooops you meant the metal well try this…a piece of pipe a little smaller than the metal disc say a 1/4 a pieace of plywood the size of the pad 3/4 inch so she dont warp…sandwich the pad between the pipe and plywood and put into a press ,vice,preferable a press…i suposre your pipe diameter will depend on where the bend is if your reading me
I sort of envision that however remember that there is metal on the exterior part that the threaded female goes to the grinder shank…that isn’t the bent piece, it’s the piece inside the foam pad that always gets bent with they fall. So a press that would have enough pressure to flatten the entire interior disc is what’s needed. You’d have to be able to put some heavy duty pressure on this thing like heavy punch presses can do for thick stock.
But as I let this percolate up in my brain, I start envisioning some low tech way of doing if like a heavy piece of flat lumber that has a hole bored for the shank metal disc area but will press down on the foam part. Then another trued flat piece of heavy lumber or a check for flat concrete driveway that you can drive up onto the lumber using your SUV or whatever as the press. If your engine and front end is heavy enough, it just might do the job…a poor man’s press?
Sounds crazy, but stranger things have been done.
This thread should have a short life…I looked over my pads and really can see how the way they manufacture these that it is prety darn unlikely that you could straighten the inside piece. Suffice to say here is yet another example of something likely to end up in a landfill.
…man, talking about low tech…I ve got a P P in use that has this problem
I just hit a couple of times with a hammer
and I sanded the last 35 boards with it without major problems
also it has a cut in the top that I glued with 3M super 90
you can sand with one of those…the technique is the most important factor
but seems that you know what you re talking so may be the problem is not in the proper technique but anxiety
any way, no soft P P last longer than 30 or so boards in a proper way
Cool…so that sand thru was anxiety and won’t suck water?
Thanks for the tip, I gotta really big hammer.
DS and Kokua,
Have you tried a FlexPad? They’re pretty awesome and have less of a tendency to bend since the internal backer is made of extremely tough plastic. They’re extremely true and really tough. Everyone we know that has used one loves them. Check it out http://www.foamez.com/glassing-sanding-pads-c-3_74.html . The Super Soft Flexpad is pretty rad for shaping, really soft and flexy.
Let us know what you think-
Brad
B-Rad…thanks for the link…always love to see and try new stuff.
Thanks from me and I’ll Mahalo for Kokua
P.S.
You’re saying the softie is for rails, yes?
Quote:
Call to arms out there…the title says it all.
Anyone?
Hi DeadShaper, Sorry you drop your Power Pad, Please PM me and I will take care of the Power Pad for you. I am also the Guy that Manufactures the Power Pad. The Power Pad in some cases can be bent back, the polisher at Mangelli Glassing has done this. Now that this thread has come up I will take some pics of the Power pad with no foam and give you guys some tips on them in a couple of days. Mahalo, Larry
DeadShaper,
The SuperSoft (blue) FlexPad is pretty versatile and was developed mainly for shaping. People use them at various steps but most common after the board is roughed out. Some shapers use them to put in concaves (doubles and singles) and also for the dome on the deck out to the rails. I don’t think this pertains to you but shapers also use them to take down the ridges after they come off the machines.
That will be cool when Larry posts pics of the inside of the PowerPad and gives some insight on possible ways to straighten them.
I hope that helps. Let us know if you need more info.
Take care-
Brad
Reverb Probox and all…PP’s have been considered The Standard for a very long time…those flat faced diskets suck…literally (no bevel) and the brand new PP I bent was the blue faced hard pad. Your soft (yelow face) PP will last much longer if you don’t exceed recommended RPM’s…I used many a soft pad using a Milwaukee polisher and reostat to slow it down to a crawl w/out tripping circuits or blowing fuses. Even those super soft big thick foam pads (great on rails) worked using this set up.
I have numerous left over hard PP’s with different degrees of bend and/or wear but as far as technique…I wold be hard pressed to feel my Mil 5500 RPM grinder float along a deck or bottom while holding it with one hand (not suggesting one hand sanding, I’m just sayingif you know what you’re doing, you should be able to do this).
Why am I sanding them? Because I can.
Sanding is final shaping. The design features I am putting on my boards very defintively demand this (at least right now). Am I a nut case? Probably…but my board’s thank me for it, esp. when they are extensively blocked out with the edges I’m demanding.
I suggested CNC sanding after glass and this is certanly achievable, but the program would have to realize what I did with basting rails and other features so as not to obliterate what I set up as a glasser to achieve as a “finish shaper” aka sander. Either that, or the CNC could do the “roughs” in sanding and leave the detail to me (much like what happens with all you ‘ridge shapers’ out there).
In previous threads I’ve accused water of being a “big fat lazy molecule”…which anatomically is true, but it is also true that water knows and responds very willing to manipulation. The ‘greatest solvent on earth’ is capable of wondrous things and if we didn’t have it, none of us would exist.
So I’m in awe of it and feel very honored I get to work with equipment that plays in concert with it.
Anyway, the day starts, so enough of waxing rhapsodically and I will PM Probox-Larry.
Hasta la Pasta
Stu from Ice Nine says you’re testing some of thir blanks and he will p/u a pad(s) for me to try out.
I very much trust the PP’s as we go way back together. However, for shaping, these pads you mention sound inviting. What’s the recommended rpms for these? I have a 1750 Mlwaukee and a Makita dial adjustable speed (lighter weight plastic housing) same shank size as Mil’s…
The Cane Ice 9’s are shaping better and better (much less tearing), and the Mowses is a dream, but I still have all the blending to do and have to speed up…everyone is telling me 10 customs a day to be for real (gee thanks guys).
Anything you can offer up to “make me for real” would be hugely appreciated.
P.S.
I think you automatically get to be famous when you can do 50 a day?
Howzit DS, When ever I order a Powere Pad from F.H. I ask them to check it first because I have gotten brand new ones that had a wobble to them. I was told that temperature can affect them, heat/ cold will supposidly warp them some times. Aloha,Kokua
DS,
Let me know when Stu is coming in and we’ll hook you up. I suggested the shaping pad but you should also try a sanding pad. We’ll sell them to you at just over cost since you’ve never used one. If you want to get them sooner email me all your info or email your ph # and I’ll call and take your order. In this case you’ll have to pay for shipping ($7.00).
Be sure to give us some feedback after you get them.
Take care-
Brad
No worries or hurries…Stu implied he would drop by sooner than later. I’ll forward the message to him. He’ll be up her probably end of week with a special designed blank I’m doing for them. I’ll have him conect with you.
Thank You
Thanks to everyone that made different sandng pads available.
There are actually some petty good pads available and I’ve had a chance to try the different ones since my new hard PP took its dive into early retirement.
I had forgotten how nice the softee’s can be for rails until I stuck one on my slow Milwaukee polisher and saved a heluuva lotta hand work. I accidentally over triggered for a split second too long with one hard pad on my 5500 Mil grinder and…damn, the pad separated internally (must’ve because it was out of round directly after that but still somewhat functional). That was a Flexi Pad and it was intended for 2800 rpm so it didn’t take much to overjuice it with my big grinder…if I’d had a reostat it wouldn’t have happened (dumbshit). Oh well.
Another word on abrasives…which we all have preferences and you should always consider the expense when doing it for a living…how good are yours? How fast do they cut, and how long do they last? One option I have tried recently is some cushioned purple flexible sanding pads from 3M called “Sandblaster”. These come in a variety of grits, the coarsest I’ve seen is 80 grit for “paint stripping”…it cuts fast like a coarser grit would and last 7 times longer. Other grits are 120, 180, 220, and 400. I took some Tacky and glued them to sanding blocks and they’re been great for shaping, sanding hotcoats and ding repairs. One of the nice things about them is if you get them gummed up from sanding hotcoats or dings, you can take a stiff brush and some acetone and brush them clean and they are good as new.
You can find these at Ace Hardware or Home Depot…try one, you might like it.
Update:
I tried the Flexipad for 2800 and liked it a lot. over revved it on my 5500 rPM Milwaukee and thought it internally separated but using my polisher it seems fine at 1750 RPM.s, I also had some Ferro Pads sent to me (thanks to Melville in SD) and the softie 858V MOS 3200 was cool but the backing peeled off after just a few uses…no abuse…bummer! Never heard from Larry on the Power Pad offered tha started this whole thread in the 1st place, but I’d love to see the internal pic that he was going to post.
I’ve had good luck straightening out bent Power Pads.
Just find the high-spot with a pencil mark on a spinning pad, then bend the steel backing plate with your fingers.
It’s quite soft which is why it’s easy to get them bent in the first place (unless they’ve changed them over the last few years – mine are close to 20 years old and have done hundreds of boards).