Friday, October 9, 2009

Create a Defuzzer!

Last week I was at the Gathering of Woodcarvers (GOW), held in Sandwich Ill. In addition to having a great time and learning lots of new techniques I learned some very useful tips. Dick Allen shared an excellent idea with the group. He makes defuzzers with 3-M scratch pads and pop rivets. As he states, this allows you to make defuzzers and not depend on the mandrel and screw. And who can pick up that little screw anyway? Tools needed: small hammer, needle nose pliers, wood block with a metal plate over a hole in the block. Use a pop rivet with the shaft that will fit your rotary tools' collets. After the pad has been worn down, the whole unit can be discarded and replaced with a ready made new one. To make the unit, place the rivet in the block with the shaft into the hole in the block. Select the pad desired, and place the center of the pad over the tip of the rivet. Force it down on the rivet. After the pad is in place, place a washer on the rivet and hold down firmly with needle nose pliers. Using a hammer. tap the rivet to fasten the washer in place and hold the pad firmly on the rivet.

5 comments:

Robert Cahill said...

This sounds like a great idea. Will give it a try.

Gene said...

what a great idea Tom

Gene

Thomp said...

tom,
might you set the rivet with pop rivet tool before pounding to achieve a tight fit before pounding it?

just dont set it hard enough to pop the shank off?

may be easier handling and less blood blisters for those without needle nose pliers?

Marcia said...

Do these 3M pads leave color on your carvings do you know? I once used a pad in the mandrel..not sure if it was 3M.. and it left a dark smudge like color on the wood.

I like this rivet idea.. thanks. That IS one tiny screw that comes with the madrel. uffda.

Marcia.

Tom H said...

Marcia,

I've only had that trouble with the Green pads...