Let me play my “tool-geekery” card today. I like tools, especially ones that are easily modified and do good quick work. One of my favorite tools in my foredom arsenal is the Snap-on Disc.
Let me give you my top 3 reasons I like them so much:
The first reason I like them is that they come in a large variety of sizes and grits, but I pretty much gravitate towards 4 different kinds.
- For quick grinding and fast metal removal, I use a Moore’s Adalox Course Snap-on Disc
. I like the 7/8″ size for most of my discs because I like to trim my wheels as I go. I will show how a little later in this post.
- For medium grinding and blending, I like the Moore’s Adalox Medium Snap-on Disc
. (also the Blue Zirconia Discs
work about the same)
- For taking out smaller scratches and smoothing, I like to use an Aluminum Oxide Medium Disc
. The medium grit on these are finer than the medium grit on the Alalox discs.
- Last, I like to use the Aluminum Oxide Fine Disc
for smoothing and preparing for polishing.
The second reason I like the snap-on discs is that they are easy to trim. I have mentioned before that I like to reuse many or most of my tools and I have a huge pile of #12 Curved Surgical Blades
To trim these discs once the edge gets dull, I mount these on a snap-on mandrel, back side out, and run the foredom at a pretty fast speed and trim off just a small amount of the disc. This enables a fresh cutting surface. Sometimes when the disc edge is a little out of round, I run the disc at a high rate of speed and rub it up against my bench pin. This wears the edge down and gives it a true running edge. I can now run this with confidence, very close to polished surfaces and stones. Once the “wobble” is out of the disc, I can do this easily.
The third reason I can’t live without these amazing tools is the fact that you can use them with the grit on either the inside or outside of the Snap-on Mandrel
Well, there ya have it, a little tool-time today.
Thanks for being patient with me as I share. I have said it before, The daily information on this site will be all over the spectrum of jewelry making. It won’t be for everyone, but it will be for someone Every Day! …..And you might just get hooked!
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Now go Make Something Shiny…… and do something great and make someone’s day!
Doug