Vince Pitelka on fri 18 jun 04
Lili wrote:
"FLAPWHEELS are available in hardware and auto parts stores. They are round
(aha! what insight!) wheels with a center shaft that fints in an electric
drill. The flaps are folded over pieces of sand paper --it sorts of all
looks like a metal and sandpaper daisy."
Lili -
That is a different animal altogether. The proper abrasive flapwheel is the
size and shape of a 6" diameter grinding wheel, and when installed on a
bench grinder will smooth the bottom of a pot much more quickly and
effectively than the small drill-mounted wheels you refer to. The ones you
speak of are good for sanding irregular surfaces and for removing rust, and
in a pinch might be okay for a rough area on a pot, but they should not be
confused with the flap wheels that I am referring to.
To use an abrasive flap wheel effectively, you want to be holding the pot
with both hands, and you want a powerful motor turning the wheel at high
speed. Bench grinders normally develop at least 1/2 horsepower and turn at
3450 RPM, while drills are far less powerful and turn much slower. And when
you are holding the drill with one hand, it is pretty hard to make the flap
wheel do what you want to do on the surface of a pot that you are holding
with the other hand.
Hope this clarifies things.
Best wishes -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/
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