Shopsmith Forums

So I have a Mark V I got from my Uncle which he got in 1983. It has probably had a total of three papers stuck to it and the last has probably been on there since the late 1980's.

So I'm in the process of doing a Mark 7 upgrade to the whole thing and I'm at the part where you replace the spindle on the sanding disc.

On problem...getting off adhesive backed sandpaper that's been on there for over 20 years.

Oh, the sandpaper part came off easy enough, but it left a layer of paper and the plastic film with the caked on adhesive behind it.

Here is what I want to share if anyone else comes upon the same issue.

Get yourself some Rapid Remover (http://amzn.com/B006RUJ2D8), I happend to have this because I use it to remove stickers from vehicle bumpers and fatory emblems that I don't want.

Well, this stuff also works great on this residual sand paper adhesive!

Get it really soaked and let it dwell for 15 minutes or more, just be sure that it doesn't dry up while you're waiting.

Then get after it with one of those plastic SaferScrapers (http://amzn.com/B005DVHV0S)with the plastic blades and the stuff comes completely off with just a little effort.

Thing looks practically brand new at this point and ready to have the velcro sanding package applied to it...cause I don't want to do this again

Hope that helps someone else who might be facing the same issue.

You shoulda tried heat before peeling the paper off.

Shopsmith has not always had the self-stick disks that they do now. At one time they had this stick of black stickum and after that another product that reminds me of contact cement. I don't recall the change over years.

The newer disks respond well to heat, either a warm oven or sun light or even a hair dryer. They pull off and in some cases you can save them and change grits or reinstall them.

I got more disks so I could have one of each grit mounted. I added a Velcro system and that works for some applications but not all. The velcro is a soft backing so it tends to round things which can be good or bad thing.

I also have disks for sharpening so again I can keep a bunch of papers on disks and just pick the flavor of the day for the application and then switch disks as needed.

If you have to swap the center out it may or may not be so easy. Most of my disks were the old shorter shaft ones so I got to do that many times. A few come out fine, a few were difficult and a few were drill outs. It seem to the luck of the draw on which was which.

Ed

Thing looks practically brand new at this point and ready to have the velcro sanding package applied to it...cause I don't want to do this again

The Velcro is not the answer IMHO, I thought it was, my nephew got it for his SS, it is toooooooo soft of a backing for really getting flat/sharp edges.

ERLover wrote:Thing looks practically brand new at this point and ready to have the velcro sanding package applied to it...cause I don't want to do this again

The Velcro is not the answer IMHO, I thought it was, my nephew got it for his SS, it is toooooooo soft of a backing for really getting flat/sharp edges.

I find that the velcro mounted disks work fine if I do not apply too much pressure. Let the sand paper do the work.

DO NOT use velcro mounted disks for sharpening. The heat built up during sharpening is neither your friend nor the velcro disks.

Really appreciate all the sage advice.

I think I'll add a couple more disc to my next order and sounds like they've made improvements to the new stick on paper, so I'll give it a try.

Thanks everyone.

I have bought so many used SS and ERs that I have about 6 sanding disc, I gave a couple to my Nephew, and have the conical one.I just have them set up with different grits, BAM just change the disc.

The stick adhesive was called Distic. It melted with heat.
Back in the day, one would hold a piece of soft wood against the disk as it turned creating sufficient friction and heat to apply the Distic. It was a form of a shellac and using the wood to assist spreading it evenly across the sanding disc allowed it to get it even as you worked from the outside to the center.

One would then push the carriage away, and apply the abrasive sheet in place while it was still warm. It helped if you would take the abrasive beforehand and place it abrasive side down between two sheets of plywood and place weights on top to keep it very flat. It went on easier.

The Distic (shellac) could be removed with alcohol or another solvent.

The Liquid adhesive was painted onto the sanding disc as evenly as one could apply it. It could be removed by rubbing it off with your fingers.

Allowing the disc to sit in full sun, or in a 300° oven for 10 minutes would generally help soften aged adhesive with abrasives left on for years allowing the abrasive to be peeled away.

Best practice was not to leave any of the older adhesives on the disc before applying new adhesives.

Today those adhesives are available in spray cans, or based on Shopsmith’s advertising today: “Shopsmith's Velcro® Disc Sanding System provides a cushion for cooler, more efficient sanding. It lets you change sandpaper discs from grit-to-grit in seconds.”

Kindest Regards,

Everett

I remember the days of painting on the rubber cement to both the disc and sandpaper. What a pain that was. I use the PSA discs now and they are easy to deal with compared to the old days. I use a heat gun (actually an old hair dryer) to remove the old one and then lay the disc out in the sun to heat up a little and pour acetone on the disc, let it sit for a few minutes and then wipe off the old adhesive residue with a terry cloth rag.
Paul

good post