Question about making sanding mops

Don’t know for sure but cloth backed won’t disintegrate when you hit an obstacle. Emery cloth is available in rolls.

Hmm. The Ace hardware store down the road from my house might have it, then. I looked for emery cloth on their site and found 1 inch rolls in 80, 120, 180, and 320 grit. Not too expensive either. I think that just might be the ticket.

Thanks for the tip, Renners! (Shall we have another round of chess, by the way?)

-- Brian Timmons - http://www.BigTWoodworks.com

I’ve not done this, but if I were to try, I’d look at some of the commercially available products for reference. I suspect though, that “Renners” hit the nail on the head, cloth backed would take the most abuse from sharp corners, etc.
I assume you have already looked at this LJS project: http://lumberjocks.com/projects/38242
Good luck however you decide to proceed.

-- "I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The point is to bring them the real facts." - Abraham Lincoln

Oldtool, indeed. I actually linked to that project in my original post up top. I tried sending a PM to the LJ who did it but I haven’t heard back, thus prompting me to seek the wisdom of the forums. There are a few videos on YouTube on the subject but none mentioned emery cloth.

-- Brian Timmons - http://www.BigTWoodworks.com

When I read the email notification of your post, first thing I thought was to use emery cloth… then I checked the links and the actual post :)

-- Never discourage anyone...who continually makes progress, no matter how slow. -Plato

Ha! I love the internet and email. It’s orders of magnitude more effective than lighting up the Bat Signal.

-- Brian Timmons - http://www.BigTWoodworks.com

Brian, I have made several sanding mops in different grits and I use drum sander paper (cloth) from Industrial Abrasives. I rip the 3” down the center to make my strips. The cheaper belt/strips were very disappointing as they came apart and shed most of the grit the first time I used them. They take a bit of time to build so I would use quality paper!

-- " I'll try to be nicer, if you'll try to be smarter" gfadvm

I have made several, cloth back is the only way to go. I get it from a flooring place(leftover ends)

-- Tite Lines, May the wind be at your back

I’m not sure how wide you need the strips, but I buy cloth backed paper in rolls (for turning). Harbor Freight's stuff is actually halfway decent. 10$ for a 20ft roll of 150 ,220, 320, and 400

-- https://pinepointwoodworks.wordpress.com/

Joe, that looks like a fantastic option. And much better than paying $10 for a roll of each grit. Thanks!

-- Brian Timmons - http://www.BigTWoodworks.com

They take a decent amount of abuse too. I’m probably on my 10th box of these. If I thought they sucked I would have looked for better options. They handle heat really well.

-- https://pinepointwoodworks.wordpress.com/

I did do this last summer for refinishing my garage doors. I cut up a 6×48 belt. The backing was almost too stiff. A lighter backing would have been an improvement.

-- Visualize whirled peas