Recyling sanding discs

[monte55]

I have many right angle grinder/sanders. Some are electric; some are air powered. When sanding I use the 4.5 to 5 inch pads. As you know, as soon as the edge of the pad gets worn down it is almost useless unless you cut a new edge around the entire pad; exposing new surface edge which also makes the pad smaller.

I have always wanted a right angle die grinder and have no idea why I have never gotten one, but I finally did. It is great for getting into smaller areas to grind or sand. I know you can buy small sanding discs for a die grinder but I came up with a solution...to use a lot of my old, partially worn 5 inch pads, cut into smaller pads for the die grinder.

I took a piece of 2 inch round aluminum..about 1 inch long (steel could also be used) and drilled a .250 inch hole dead center about 1/4 of the way through for the shaft which will be held in place with a set screw or epoxy. Drill the hole the rest of the way through with the proper size bit for the screw size you will be tapping.

I am attaching some pictures to show what I mean.

[garth]

That is one great idea nick didnt think of that before. I will start doing that now. what did you use to cut the disks out with? hole saw? thanks for sharing

[SignWave]

Great idea Monte,
Does the aluminum backing need to be so thinck? that looks like alot of revolving mass. perhaps a peice of velcro could do away with the fastener to keep the disc in place or use some super77 spray contact cement by 3M even might do the trick?

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/3M-Super-77/Super77/

[monte55]

Garth..........I used a hole saw to cut the disc from the back side.

Sinewave......... the reason the aluminum is thick is so the 1/4 " shaft can go in a ways and there is enough left to drill and tap.
I first tried using 3M disc adhesive but at high speeds the disc can fly off.
Disc adhesive works well on DA's which have more surface area and don't spin this fast plus the little disc are hard and would hurt as opposed to a thin paper disc if they hit someone.

[willy]

Great Idea - I was just picking up the shop and had 5 used discs from my 4 1/2 angle grinder that I threw away. I was thinking "What a waste". Now I'll dig them out of the trash. Thanks for sharing

[SignWave]

Just a thought Monte. Your idea is a good one.