Author Topic: Electric File Sanders (Read 3007 times)

dannylj · « **on:** December 24, 2019, 10:52:13 PM »

I know it is a sacriledge to even ask but has anyone found the electric 1/2" x 18" file sanders useful in stock shaping?

smallpatch · « **Reply #1 on:** December 24, 2019, 10:57:14 PM »

What the heck is an electric file sander?

T*O*F · « **Reply #2 on:** December 24, 2019, 11:50:40 PM »

Too small. An 1-1/8 x 21 Makita is the standard shaping tool for the Corinth School of Gunmaking.

Waksupi · « **Reply #3 on:** December 24, 2019, 11:58:31 PM »

I use an electric plane for basic wood removal.

tim crowe · « **Reply #4 on:** December 25, 2019, 12:53:12 AM »

I use my Grizzly 1/2" x 18" for stock shaping, metal filing...you name it!

LynnC · « **Reply #5 on:** December 25, 2019, 12:57:06 AM »

Are we talking a filing machine? Or is this some kind of hand held filing rig....how bout a picture?

tim crowe · « **Reply #6 on:** December 25, 2019, 12:59:42 AM »

https://www.amazon.com/Grizzly-Industrial-T10745-1-Handheld-Sander/dp/B0121U1GI6?SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-d-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B0121U1GI6

Stophel · « **Reply #7 on:** December 25, 2019, 02:38:53 AM »

That looks like a real good way to screw something up REAL fast.

WKevinD · « **Reply #8 on:** December 25, 2019, 02:56:38 AM »

151 spoke shave and a #50 rasp after chisels and bandsaw.

I have a 1"x40" belt sander but use that mostly for brass and iron.

Kevin

LynnC · « **Reply #9 on:** December 25, 2019, 04:36:06 AM »

I will stick with my rasp and file......

dogcatcher · « **Reply #10 on:** December 25, 2019, 06:17:11 AM »

About 45 years ago I watched a gentleman shape a stock using disc sander, not a muzzleloader, it was a modern rifle. He was a gunsmith in west Texas. He had the barrel and the trigger mech all fitted. Down to the nitty gritty of just shaping the squared off stock. About 40 grit sand paper, he went from a squared off stock to an almost finished stock in record time. Then he finished it with spoke shave, rasps and files to the sanding stage.

flinchrocket · « **Reply #11 on:** December 25, 2019, 07:17:00 AM »

http://ec-i21.geccdn.net/site/images/n-picgroup/333_60440273419.jpg

I use a flap sanding disc on a angle grinder. I do this outside with a good wind to blow the dust away. You better know where your going before you start or you might end up with a big toothpick.

Eric Kettenburg · « **Reply #12 on:** December 25, 2019, 07:40:11 AM »

There are a LOT of guys using those flap sanding discs.

Mauser06 · « **Reply #13 on:** December 25, 2019, 07:45:45 AM »

Came across some YouTubers using angle grinders and such. I couldn't watch. Lol.

To each his own. I'd definitely wreck the plank doing anything like that.

flinchrocket · « **Reply #14 on:** December 25, 2019, 08:20:07 AM »

I use it to get the big stuff out of the way and then clean it up with a rasp. If you try to get to close with the grinder you will get into trouble.

rich pierce · « **Reply #15 on:** December 25, 2019, 10:16:24 AM »

I’m sure such tools save time. So does getting a barrel inlet and ramrod groove done and hole drilled, or starting with a precarve, or a kit. Whatever works and gives the desired results. I bet some guys are good with a chainsaw to 1/8”.

On the table at the shows it’s the results that seem to matter. There’s a mighty few buyers who want and are willing to pay for a gun which they’re pretty sure was made using a lot of traditional handwork and techniques.

But if the tools used seem to make all the guns look the same, that’s not interesting to me.

flinchrocket · « **Reply #16 on:** December 25, 2019, 07:52:10 PM »

It's a lot safer than trying to saw wedges off the buttstock with a bandsaw. Keeping all my fingers are more important to me than what someone thinks about my techniques.

hudson · « **Reply #17 on:** December 25, 2019, 09:49:42 PM »

Was given one years ago when in the machine shop, retired and it came home with me. Tried it then tried it through the years at home seldom gets used, maybe that is the problem.

dogcatcher · « **Reply #18 on:** December 25, 2019, 10:19:08 PM »

Go to YouTube and search for tobacco pipe making videos. Most custom pipes are shaped using power sanders. Like what has been already said. it takes practice and experience to do it.

heinz · « **Reply #19 on:** December 26, 2019, 12:19:46 AM »

Whatever works for you. I use a hand saw, draw kife and planes. Some folks include a hatchet
Note, it takes a rip saw

Craig Wilcox · « **Reply #20 on:** December 26, 2019, 02:59:56 AM »

Heinz, that is a heck of a good-looking ripsaw. Where did you come across such a beauty?

Stophel · « **Reply #21 on:** December 26, 2019, 04:09:13 AM »

I don't mind power tools at all, but sometimes they can be very dangerous. Especially a sander.

Power tools allow you to screw up at 3250 rpm.

Scota4570 · « **Reply #22 on:** December 26, 2019, 08:08:45 PM »

For rough stock removal I have used the bandsaw and a power plane. You better be sure where you are headed. Hatchets and draw knives tend to make a mess then the grain changes direction.

Now I use a big hoof rasp, a spokeshave, and then rasps. To true up and flatten the long surfaces I use 60 or 100 grit paper backed by a piece of wood.

WadePatton · « **Reply #23 on:** December 26, 2019, 09:10:32 PM »

Quote from: Craig Wilcox on December 26, 2019, 02:59:56 AM

Heinz, that is a heck of a good-looking ripsaw. Where did you come across such a beauty?

Yeah that saw plate looks like a winner.

alacran · « **Reply #24 on:** December 27, 2019, 01:52:46 AM »

In the right hands, experienced hands, all power tools are perfectly fine. I am quite experienced using an angle grinder to rough shape volutes,custom transition parts, goose necks, etc on stair rails. I could apply that experience to gun building if I chose and do not see anything wrong with some one choosing to do so.
My biggest complaint and the main reason I choose not to do so, is the inordinate amount of sawdust that such methods generate.
I know of three different builders that that use an angle grinder with 18 grit discs to shape their stocks. All three take it too far , they leave flat spots and wavy horizontal highlights. Really what is the rush?

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Author Topic: Electric File Sanders (Read 3007 times)

dannylj