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I have some 12" Shopsmith sandpaper discs that do not have any adhesive on the back. What is the best way to attach these discs to the sanding plate?

I am a newbie to the SS world but when I was younger and had no interest in woodworking I was forced to help my dad do some sanding (boy was I stupid) my dad used rubber cement , I don't know if that is Kosher but it worked for what we were doing. (My dads been gone almost 30 years) wish he has some more work for me...

bigeddy wrote:I am a newbie to the SS world but when I was younger and had no interest in woodworking I was forced to help my dad do some sanding (boy was I stupid) my dad used rubber cement , I don't know if that is Kosher but it worked for what we were doing. (My dads been gone almost 30 years) wish he has some more work for me...

FWIW back in the 1960's latex(rubber) cement was SOP! It was an improvement over the stick adhesive that you applied by holding it against the disk, the heat melted it and you quickly placed the sandpaper disk on the 'melted' glue b4 it cooled. Removal was in interesting experience!

rcmyer wrote:I have some 12" Shopsmith sandpaper discs that do not have any adhesive on the back. What is the best way to attach these discs to the sanding plate?

I'm not being a wise guy or trying to insult you but I do hope you know the disks came with a very thin and very hard (sometimes) to see film over the adhesive that needs to be removed before the disks will stick.

The disks are die cut from stock where the protective film has already been applied so it is a perfect fit. In some cases the film is transparent and in other the manufacture has stamped the same info on the film as is normally found on the disk themselves. I know I have played around with a disk for a long time trying to find an edge to pull the protective film off. More than once I was nearly to the point of declaring the disks defective as not having a protective film and adhesive only to finally find a way to separate the two.

Ed in Tampa wrote: I know I have played around with a disk for a long time trying to find an edge to pull the protective film off. More than once I was nearly to the point of declaring the disks defective as not having a protective film and adhesive only to finally find a way to separate the two.

I have played around with this same problem with sanding discs and double sided tape. Trying to catch an edge of the film can be really frustrating, especially as my fingers become older and less nimble.

I have found a solution that works purt near every time for me. I use the point of an xacto knife to seperate the film; not in the way you would think by trying to insert it between the film and disc from the edge. The way I do it is to hold the knife at a 10 to 20 degree angle with the tip of the knife pointed toward the edge. Gently pierce the film about 1/4" from the edge and lift up. This will almost always lift the film.

[quote="tdubnik"]I have played around with this same problem with sanding discs and double sided tape. Trying to catch an edge of the film can be really frustrating, especially as my fingers become older and less nimble.

I have found a solution that works purt near every time for me. I use the point of an xacto knife to seperate the film]



But that would mean that I would have to remember where I last laid down the Exacto knife.
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In the boot and shoe trade we use an "all purpose" urethane flexible contact adhesive for many jobs including sole attachment and laminating. It is extremely strong but is fairly easy to remove by heat activation. The most common way to soften it is with a heat lamp. "activation machines have heat lamps on timers (to keep from over-cooking shoes) and a place to position the shoes at the proper height etc.
If you want to Google it the best known brand name is "Barge all purpose cement". There are many others and they mostly function the same. You will also need the thinner for it since it needs to be kept fairly thin. With proper thinning a can goes a long way. Don't buy a giant can to last for years because it won't... It does have a good shelf life and I mostly bought it by the gallon but a pint of cement and a pint of thinner would last a long time gluing sanding disk in place. Use only with good ventilation. Be careful about having everything lined up right. Once it is stuck it is stuck unless heated again.
I should warn you though that once you get used to having it on hand you will find a zillion uses for it.

tdubnik wrote:... Gently pierce the film about 1/4" from the edge and lift up. This will almost always lift the film.

A cautionary note: seems to me the edge is the most vulnerable area for the adhesive, especially (maybe only) for the Velcro system. The idea to go in 1/4" or more sounds like a winner to me. Best if the edge is touched but once, by anything.

But back to the original question: the best way to attach. Is there something different in this area about the conical disc? When I got mine I cleaned it, mineral spirit-ed it, dried it, cleaned it again, handled it like it was made of filo dough, and babied the PSA disc onto it.
Before I even got to abuse it on the machine it had already started to peel. With gentle and gradual pressure it came all the way off, so I can start all over again, probubbly with the 3M spray glop. (Although I am now tempted to go get some of that Bilge cement.)
Am I missing some halleluiah secret step?

keakap wrote:A cautionary note: seems to me the edge is the most vulnerable area for the adhesive, especially (maybe only) for the Velcro system. The idea to go in 1/4" or more sounds like a winner to me. Best if the edge is touched but once, by anything.

But back to the original question: the best way to attach. Is there something different in this area about the conical disc? When I got mine I cleaned it, mineral spirit-ed it, dried it, cleaned it again, handled it like it was made of filo dough, and babied the PSA disc onto it.
Before I even got to abuse it on the machine it had already started to peel. With gentle and gradual pressure it came all the way off, so I can start all over again, probubbly with the 3M spray glop. (Although I am now tempted to go get some of that Bilge cement.)
Am I missing some halleluiah secret step?

About 3-4 years ago, a few of us had the same conical disc sandpaper attachment problem. We believed it was a bad batch of glue on the sandpaper or the glue life was over aged even through Shopsmith did not find any problem in their current stock. We were able to get replacement sanding discs from Shopsmith and never saw the problem again.

We were never able to get these few sandpaper discs to stay sticking to the conical sanding disc regradless of what glue or spray we used. Just be careful when first using a reglued sandpaper disc as it did cause cuts and bruises to our arms and face when it suddenly detached/explosed from the sanding disc when being used.