Just got hit by the age effect...
Most of the enclosures I got lately are dinged and banged up. Sanding them down for a minute or two doesn't cut it anymore as gashes are deeper than I'm used to. A tendonitis I've developed in my right elbow makes it impossible to fix the enclosures with elbow grease alone. Any tips on using machinery to make it easier on my elbow?
Tried one of these at a buddy's house, no luck. It just scuffed the pedal some and I daresay it made it worse.
(http://www.teleshop24.co.uk/tvshoppinguk/bilder/K_H_Specials/9907779_bilder/9907779_renovator_deluxe.jpg)
I use a small palm sander and it works well for me. It does take a while to get the deep gashes out but it does the job. I have issues with my wrists (carpel tunnel?) so I can relate to the pain your experiencing but I just go easy and let the sander do most of the work. If you decide to grab one I would recommend spending the extra cash to get the smallest one possible.
A random orbit sander? A round one or a rectangular one?
Which one would you recommend? This seems to be the kind of pain that's gonna be around for the long haul, I may as well get the good stuff right away and skimp with corner cutting that won't work anyways.
I bought a cheap Black and Decker Mouse for $30. In hindsight I wish I would have spent another $50 on one of the smaller brand/models. It works great but I do wish it were a bit smaller. If you have access to a store that sells a variety I would suggest finding the one that fits best in the palm of your hand. Maybe someone else can chime in with suggestions???
How about this one, I can get it for $100ish locally (I know, local dealers overcharge quite a bit).?
http://www.makitatools.com/en-us/Modules/Tools/ToolDetails.aspx?Name=BO4556
Maybe a smallish handheld belt sander? From what I gather, it removes material fastest of all the sanders?
Also, what grit paper do you use for aluminum?
In one posters etching instructions they used 800 and then on to 1200. I have wet sanded with 800 and it gets all but the deepest gouges out. Takes ~10 minutes and no real pressure on my part.
so 10 minutes with a 800 paper in a finish sander?
I use a dental laith with a satin finish buff wheel.
Something like this: Belt sander (http://www.lowes.com/pd_91036-46069-PCB420SA_4294607794__?productId=3163789&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar%7C1&pl=1¤tURL=%3FNs%3Dp_product_qty_sales_dollar%7C1&facetInfo=#BVRRWidgetID)
A belt sander can remove a lot of material in a hurry. Or you could get a handheld one and rig up a stand (http://blindwoodworker.com/Jigs/belt_sander_jig.htm) for it. Useful tools to have around a shop anyway.
For painting an enclosure I light sand with 200 grit, clean up with acetone, self etch prime then prime with a heavy bodied primer, BIN Primer/Sealer, much easier to sand back to smooth then sanding aluminum, sand back a bit, prime-sand.
Now if your needing a smooth bare aluminum enclosure, i've a belt and a palm sander but the Hammond enclosures i use are pretty much unscathed, never had an issue.
Small Bear used to sell polished enclosures, whether that's a feasable alternative... and whether or not they still do...
dave
right now i'm thinking small beltsander because for some reason all the enclosures i'm getting are really scuffed and way beyond what the powdercoat can fill.
my elbow is in a bad place so i need to work this out, and soon.
keep it coming, folks!
those of you who use handheld beltsanders, how do you fix the box to the workbench?
For a belt sander much better to affix the sander to the bench or big vise and take the enclosure to it. Thats also a better way to hand sand, stick your sandpaper to a perfectly smooth surface and move the enclosure on the stationary paper.
+1 on a bench mounted belt sander as that would be the least stress for your hands/arms.
Any handheld rotating tool will be more stress than that on your hands/arms.
That rotating sander you pictured first would be really bad for you long term if you're already having issues.
For fine sanding, as Dave suggested sticking a larger piece of sandpaper with double sided tape or so to a flat surface / piece of timber and hol/ move enclosure across to sand.
Thanks folks!
A jig would be nice but that would necessitate a workshop, which I don't have. ::) I need something portable that can be put away after a sanding session on the dinner table.
I'll be visiting a hardware store this week and see what's on offer. There usually isn't much but I never actually took a closer look at belt sanders, time to correct that...
I have one similar to this, it is still portable and doesn't need to be screwed down on you dining table (well, that wouldn't go down well I 'spose...). You just need some space preferably outside so you don't have the dust floating in the house.
http://image.classictrucks.com/f/tech/1110clt_basic_tig_welding_101_with_inverter_machines/33796024/1110clt-12-o-%2Bbasic-tig-welding-101-with-inverter-machines%2Bbench-sander.jpg (http://image.classictrucks.com/f/tech/1110clt_basic_tig_welding_101_with_inverter_machines/33796024/1110clt-12-o-%2Bbasic-tig-welding-101-with-inverter-machines%2Bbench-sander.jpg)
hah, cool!
will look for it, seems like just the ticket.
I think a belt sander would be way overkill. The belts only go as high as about 120 grit. You'd take off too much material with one of those and end up with some pretty deep grooves and you would still need to sand those out with some other method. A random orbital sander is a good tool to have if you don't already have one and could be used on a variety of different projects. That would be my suggestion. I love my Bosch and it got very good reviews from Fine Woodworking.
If the scratch/gouge is that deep could you just fill it with a filler and sand it down? I'm thinking like Bondo or J-B Weld.
Cody
220 belts are easily had around here.
I'm guessing any sort of motorized heavy hand held tool is going to be as detrimental to muddyfox's condition as the handsanding is. I really like Cooder's linked tool, an already mounted inverted beltsander. Easy to control the sanding as you only hold the lightweight enclosure, a perfectly flat platten to sand against and easy setup and take down.
The disc would be the ideal ticket for final sizing/tweaking of etched pcb's.
dave
And then there's Amaazon, if they have others will, 600grit.
http://www.amazon.ca/Magnate-R4X36S60-Closed-Sanding-Aluminum/dp/B008XEAYO2/ref=sr_1_9?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1409618814&sr=1-9&keywords=600+grit
I agree with the bondo idea for those cheaper, badly-gouged enclosures. Sometimes it looks like they hit 'em with 10 grit sandpaper and still can't get the bottoms to line up. The other option is to go with real Hammond enclosures from Mouser, made in the U.S. They're a little more expensive, but the quality is 20x better than the Taiwan knock-offs. The 1590B's I received recently were practically polished aluminum right out of the wrapper.
I'm not in the US. Mouser is prohibitively expensive shipped to my neck of woods ($130 flat rate no matter how little I buy) so I'm stuck with crappy boxes.
Amazon also only ships books and dvds to me, no tools or electronics.
I'll look into belt sanders locally because any sort of tool vibration just aggravates the pain and this seems to be the least invasive option.
As things stand right now, I can build but I can't box so it's kinda pointless to even build. I need to get this sorted out but at my age, the aches and pains rarely go away so I need to find a workaround.
Thanks all, I'll report back when I buy something.
Muddy, would it be worth paying some trustworthy, energetic young person who is good with their hands to do the sanding part, then? ("Always two there are, a master and an apprentice...")
Good call!
I don't have any such individuals living in the vicinity but I'll look around 4sure...
OK I just ordered this thing sight unseen. Mostly because it's the only one available locally ::)
http://www.fervi.com/ita/macchine-e-accessori/macchine-lavorazione-legno/levigatrici-a-nastro/levigatrice-a-nastro-da-banco-inclinabile-pr-3972.htm
The specs seem right to handle the enclosures of needed size and the price is a bit steep but doable.
The sales guy told me that it normally comes with 60-80-120 wood belts but 240 and 400 for metal can be ordered. So I did. ;D
It's gonna take a fortnight or so as it's not in stock locally, will post my "review" when it gets here.
I wold think that will be a good one for you.
If you have deep gouges and marks on enclosures you will need to sand first out with 80 grit or so and then work your way over 120 to 240 / 400.
The stop bar on belt sander part will make handling/working pretty easy, not much stress on hands at all.
Quote from: lars on September 02, 2014, 05:35:09 AM
I agree with the bondo idea for those cheaper, badly-gouged enclosures. Sometimes it looks like they hit 'em with 10 grit sandpaper and still can't get the bottoms to line up. The other option is to go with real Hammond enclosures from Mouser, made in the U.S. They're a little more expensive, but the quality is 20x better than the Taiwan knock-offs. The 1590B's I received recently were practically polished aluminum right out of the wrapper.
Last Hammonds i received were labeled as Taiwan made too... started the hobby with Canadian made, next they started coming EU labeled now we're into Taiwan.