Author Topic: Sandpaper or Scotchbrite Pads? (Read 11968 times)

Brickguy221 · « **on:** April 25, 2004, 10:17:05 PM »

I am trying to learn something about sanding balls and using a spinner. I notice that some people use sandpaper only, some people use scotchbrite pads only, and some people use both. I would appreciate all of the information I can get on the following:

1. Do you use Sandpaper and if so on what balls, reactive, particle, etc?
2. Do you use Scotchbrite Pads and if so on what kind of balls, reactive, particle, and etc?
3. Why do you use one or the other or both of the above?

All responses will be really appreciated. Thanks in advance fellows.
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Uranium and Depth Charge, a powerful combination

Nodsleinad · « **Reply #1 on:** April 26, 2004, 01:30:31 PM »

Abralon-They are the best by far.

Nod

charlest · « **Reply #2 on:** April 26, 2004, 01:50:43 PM »

For intents and purposes, with a couple of exceptions, Scotch-Brite pads and silicon-carbide wet/dry sandpaper will operate the same on bowling balls.

1. Sandpaper (apparently) comes in a wider range of grit choices.
2. Nylon pads seem to last longer per pad.
3. Some particle in older particles balls (notably TEC and TEC2 version in Columbia made ball, also used in AMF, Morich, Track balls) seem to be sanded smooth to the resin cover, when sanded with sandpaper, in effect making them into resin bowling balls. Nylon pads did not "seem" to affect these softer particles. The newer Columbia particles, Muscle and Muscle GT coverstocks, do not seem to be affected by sandpaper in the same way as the TEC/TEC2 particles.

As a safety check, except for Brunswick (& Lane#1) particle balls, I always use nylon pads when sanding particle balls. Otherwise, I use whichever sanding mechanism moves me at the time.

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"We get old too fast, and too late, smart."

charlee323 · « **Reply #3 on:** April 26, 2004, 06:31:51 PM »

I would email the manufacturer. when I emailed visionary regarding sanding a granite gargoyle, they recommended wet/dry sandpaper. They also stated that scotchbrite would sand there balls smoother than wet/dry sandpaper.

Brickguy221 · « **Reply #4 on:** April 26, 2004, 08:52:24 PM »

Quote

...."I agree with charlest. I prefer to use scotchbrite to put a final finish on all dull balls"
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Plus 40, I am in agreement on that statement "on dull balls", but what about Pearlized balls? Lets say you want a final sanding grit of 600 or 800 and polished with Black Magic or Storm X-tra Shine to a 2000-3000 shine or higher, do you use Wet-Dry Sand Paper or Scotch Brite Pads?

Charlest, when you say "Nylon Pads", are you refering to Scotch Brite Pads or is this Nylon Pad something else.

Seems my balls end up smoother with wet-dry sandpaper than with Scotch Brite Pads. Am I applying too much pressure or too light of pressure or etc? In other words, how hard should a person press on the Sand Paper or Scotch Brite Pad?

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Uranium and Depth Charge, a powerful combination

a_ak57 · « **Reply #5 on:** April 26, 2004, 09:00:43 PM »

Uh, you do realize that the two differences aren't "dull" and "pearlized", right? You could have a dull pearl ball. Just making sure that you know, I'm sure you do.
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-Andy

charlest · « **Reply #6 on:** April 27, 2004, 12:19:03 PM »

Plus40 wrote:

quote:
I usually use a high quality wet/dry paper on balls that I polish. It leaves a more uniform and leveled surface and is more exact regardless of how much pressure you use. Scotchbrite will not level a surface. It will only wear away and scratch the surface.

To be honest, I don't understand the differences you are trying to explain here.
Of course, a SB nylon pad will level a surface. Just like sandpaper, it depends on how you apply it. I usually use a damp sponge as a backing for a nylon pad in order to apply as even a pressure as I can and always use water to keep the abrasive from wearing away too fast and doing too rough a job on the surface and to keep the dust down.

A worn nylon pad will usually be a finer finish and more smooth (also possibly a slightly high grit than when new) than a new nylon pad. SMoother is usually a high grit and nylon pads are more limited in their grit range, as I first stated.

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"We get old too fast, and too late, smart."

charlest · « **Reply #7 on:** April 27, 2004, 12:19:14 PM »

Plus40 wrote:

quote:
I usually use a high quality wet/dry paper on balls that I polish. It leaves a more uniform and leveled surface and is more exact regardless of how much pressure you use. Scotchbrite will not level a surface. It will only wear away and scratch the surface.

To be honest, I don't understand the differences you are trying to explain here.
Of course, a SB nylon pad will level a surface. Just like sandpaper, it depends on how you apply it. I usually use a damp sponge as a backing for a nylon pad in order to apply as even a pressure as I can and always use water to keep the abrasive from wearing away too fast and doing too rough a job on the surface and to keep the dust down.

A worn nylon pad will usually be a finer finish and more smooth (also possibly a slightly high grit than when new) than a new nylon pad. SMoother is usually a high grit and nylon pads are more limited in their grit range, as I first stated.

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"We get old too fast, and too late, smart."

charlest · « **Reply #8 on:** April 27, 2004, 12:35:57 PM »

quote:

Plus 40, I am in agreement on that statement "on dull balls", but what about Pearlized balls?

If I may offer an opinion also.
A ball is a ball, for sanding and polishing purposes.

quote:

Lets say you want a final sanding grit of 600 or 800 and polished with Black Magic or Storm X-tra Shine to a 2000-3000 shine or higher, do you use Wet-Dry Sand Paper or Scotch Brite Pads?

Either one. I see no difference as long as you use the grit you want, water and no do not use too much pressure for too long a period of time.

Don't forget that theoretically Black Magic does not change the grit of the ball; so, you need to use BM on the surface whose grit is what you want to end with.

Most other polishes have grit in them; so you will change the surface with which you start, if you use enough pressure to change the surface to where you want it to be. These grit changes you will need experience in order to get it where you want it to be, because your eyeball is the only gauge you have, until some physical gauge is invented.

Storm's Xtra-Shine is good stuff; you can easily get a 1000-1500 grit polish with not much work. However if you want to get to 2000-3000 grit level, you need pressure and heat. I have to believe if you need 3000 grit polish, you need another ball or another drilling; playing with it is educational, however.

quote:

Charlest, when you say "Nylon Pads", are you refering to Scotch Brite Pads or is this Nylon Pad something else.

I believe there are other brands, but "nylon pad" is quicker to write than writing "Scotch-Brite nylon pad" everytime.

quote:

Seems my balls end up smoother with wet-dry sandpaper than with Scotch Brite Pads. Am I applying too much pressure or too light of pressure or etc? In other words, how hard should a person press on the Sand Paper or Scotch Brite Pad?

Very possibly you are applying too much pressure to sandpaper. remember that it wears away VERY fast, especially the fine grits. Actually 600 is pretty fine. You have to be very careful how hard you press for how long. As yo ukeep pressing you are basically making the sandpaper finer and finer. You may start with a piece of 600 grit, but if you press long enough and hard enough, you're into 1200 and 1500 grit territory veyr quickly.

Nyln pads do wear away away but slower and they last longer. I'd guess 3-5 times as long as a piece of sandpaper.

Example:
When I sand with 600, 800, 1000, 1200 or 1500 sandpaper. I cut the sandpaper into 1/4 of 9"x11" sheet, roughly 4.5"x5.5"; I fold that 1/4 sheet in half, back it with a damp sponge, just slightly larger than the 1/4 sheet. I wet the sandpaper and the ball on the spinner. I sand the top half with one side of the 1/4 sheet; then I turn the ball over and sand the other side of the ball with the other side of the 1/4 sheet. I use medium-light to medium pressure for about 25-40 seconds per side, sprtizing with water as I go along. Then that 1/4 sheet goes in the garbage.

These light grits do not last long at all. Any longer use than that, 25-40 seconds, and you've turned 600 grit into 1000 or 1200 grit.

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"We get old too fast, and too late, smart."

charlest · « **Reply #9 on:** April 27, 2004, 05:25:58 PM »

Plus40,

I think you may be going to extremes here. If you take a block of wood or other hard object to back sandpaper in order to TRUE a ball, you may not be able to do that to a ball more than once. Additionally, it makes the sandaper contact the ball at one very tiny point, which is more likely to create flat spots or areas; besides, you will be wearing away far too much material from the ball.

With a spinner, most drillers, before the advent of machines like the Haus machine used their hands, quite a "spongy material", did not do a bad job of re-surfacing balls. Besides with all the flaring on balls these days, most balls do not get very compressed on their track, like the old plastic and urethane days, where the track never moved. I think that only plastic spare balls' tracks get compressed and out of round these days.

I have to believe that a spongy material like a damp sponge behind both sandpaper and nylon pads is a good thing, not a negative.
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"We get old too fast, and too late, smart."

Brickguy221 · « **Reply #10 on:** April 28, 2004, 08:24:51 PM »

Charlest and Plus 40, thanks a bunch. Let me sort thru this and see if I have any more questions. If I do, I will message both of you. Again, many thanks.

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Uranium and Depth Charge, a powerful combination

Ric Clint · « **Reply #11 on:** May 02, 2004, 04:19:01 AM »

Just curious as to why guys use Sandpaper on Particle balls to resurface them? Doesn't that just "wear down" and "smoothen out" the particle's?

PS... When I e-mailed Ebonite about the Hook Again process, they told me themselves that when I go to resurface a Particle ball that I need to use Scotchbrite to sand down the ball because Sandpaper they say is not hard enough to cut down the coverstock. You can quote me on that... that's what they told me!

Edited on 5/2/2004 4:14 AM

Brickguy221 · « **Reply #12 on:** May 02, 2004, 09:23:27 AM »

Rick, Mr. Buzzsaw just answered your question before you asked it. See post right above yours.

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Ex Member of Lane 1 Clique

MI 2 AZ · « **Reply #13 on:** May 02, 2004, 01:28:18 PM »

I used to use sandpaper for most jobs and then used Scotchbrite to finish off particle balls, but recently I find myself using scotchbrite for everything. As others have said, it lasts longer and will cover most needs.
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I just want 2C was'zzub.
____________________________________

I am the SGT Schultz of bowling.
"I know nothing!"

Brickguy221 · « **Reply #14 on:** May 02, 2004, 02:11:27 PM »

I think the two biggest problem I have with Scotchbrite are:

1. Is the listed grit for each color of each Scotch Brite pad really the true grit, or is it close to that grit? I have every grit available between 320 to 1200-1500. On some pads, just the feel of some of the new pads feels coarser on a higher grit pad than it does on a lower grit pad and this is one reason I question the accuracy of the grits. For me, the White Pads don't seem to do anything to the surface of the ball.

2. For me, the Scotch Brite pads leaves worse sanding marks in the surface of the ball. Is this so, or could I be pressing too hard or what?

I do know that with 3M wet/dry sandpaper, I have to use 6 pieces to do a 6 side sanding job. Each piece is a lot smoother after use than it was before starting. To sum it up, if I for example started with a piece of 600 grit on one side and used the same piece on a second side, the second side wouldn't be 600 grit because sndpaper wore out on first side.....Should it be this way? I sand each side approx. 30 seconds or so. Could I be pressing too hard to wear out the piece of sand paper on one side?....And one more thing here and that is, if a person took a piece of 600 grit sandpaper and sands for 30 seconds or so and the sand paper wears smooth, the final sanding won't really be the ball surface wouldn't really be 600 would it?

.....It is easy to feel a piece of sandpaper and tell it is worn out, but how do you tell a Scotch Brite pad is worn out? To me it is much-much harder to tell if it is worn out than with sandpaper.

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Ex Member of Lane 1 Clique

Author Topic: Sandpaper or Scotchbrite Pads? (Read 11968 times)

Brickguy221

Sandpaper or Scotchbrite Pads?

Nodsleinad

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charlest

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charlee323

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Brickguy221

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a_ak57

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charlest

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charlest

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charlest

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charlest

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Ric Clint

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MI 2 AZ

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