Sanding sticks

[crazyjim]

I'm almost out of the sanding sticks I bought from Scale Dreams a few years ago and am wondering what to get to replace them. 

Squadron units are quite expensive as are the Flex i Flie units. 

Going to a Sally's Beauty Supply is a strong possibility.

I was really wondering about these handles with sanding belts in a variety of colors/grits.  Does anybody use them and are they worthwhile?

[Jantrix]

 

Going to a Sally's Beauty Supply is a strong possibility.

 

I've been using sanding sticks from Sallys for a long time they are great. I usually cut them long-wise about 70/30 so that I have a wide and narrow sander.

[MrObsessive]

Jim, I'm not sure how much you want to spend, but I ran across this on MicroMark's site. Might be worth a look. 

[Crazy Ed]

  Jim, just wander down to your local Dollar Store variant and go to one of those isles "Real Men" don't go to. Rob's Oval 3 can befound there for .... Oh ~$ 1or 2

[Kit Basher]

Those Sally's sticks look interesting and I think I will give them a try. I'm guessing they are soft and flexible. If you need something rigid, I've had good luck attaching regular sandpaper to various shapes and sizes of wood sticks, using carpet tape or spray adhesive. I've also used sticky back sandpaper, but I've only found it in limited (relatively coarse) grits.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I just did a quick Google image search for "nail file sticks" and came up with a remarkable array of tools for doing this kind of work.

Like Rob (Jantrix) apparently, I use metal files for a lot of my shaping, and only resort to flexible files rarely. Also like Hugh (Kit Basher) I use regular or self-adhesive sandpaper stuck to a variety of backers for fine work. Cut-up credit cards make an excellent, flat-but-flexible and waterproof backer.

Klingspor (among others) makes self-stick sandpaper up to at least 2000 grit. 

Rubber cement makes a good removable adhesive, and contact cement makes a good permanent one (if you want to use non-adhesive-back paper).

[Snake45]

The stick that takes the belts is VERY useful in certain circumstances, but I don't use it routinely.

Check out the nail care section at Walmart. They have some Trim labeled stuff that works VERY well and is quite reasonably priced. Buy one of each and when you decided what you like best, go back and buy up a bunch of THAT before they discontinue it.

You can also make your own sanding sticks with 3M Wetordry sandpaper, rubber cement, and various sizes and shapes of wood or strip plastic. I do this quite often.

[fseva]

Try NailFiles.com... They are a wholesale manufacturer, and I especially like their Sterifiles which also come tapered with 2 grits per file Sterifiles Tapered. The most useful for me are the 100/180 and the 180/240. You can also get generic files 240/400 and 180/320 Mylar. The tapered files are useful because the end that is narrow is easier to get into cramped spaces. The dual grits allow you to have one side for rough sanding and the other for putting a polish back on the spot.

[High octane]

I've been using the Flex-I-File products for a few years now, and I'm very happy with them.

[BubbaBrown]

Try Googling Sanding Files , these are made for modeling

[disabled modeler]

I just use the wife's emery boards/sticks...there cheap and work great. 

[eferrari]

Jim,

      Burbank Hobbies has them. They are $2.97 for a pack of 15. They are called "swizzle sticks.

User ID burbankshouseofhobbies

 

Best,

Ron Berke

[1930fordpickup]

Jim these are what we use at work . They are not cheap but they work good. The only problem  is that they do not offer 180 grit. 

http://www.gesswein.com/p-10301-belt-sticks-sets.aspx?cpagenum=&sortfield=&sortdirection=&perpage=