sanding sticks

[southpier]

i've had good luck with Stevens International sanding sticks. anyone have a mail order source for these? and how do they compare to Squadron products sanding sticks that, while about an inch shorter, are also more moderately priced and individually packaged.

thanks,

sp

[Brett Barrow]

i've had good luck with Stevens International sanding sticks. anyone have a mail order source for these? and how do they compare to Squadron products sanding sticks that, while about an inch shorter, are also more moderately priced and individually packaged.

thanks,

sp

Hi Joe,

You could order the sticks directly from us at info@stevenshobby.com, but I'd recommend ordering from someplace like Sprue Brothers http://www.spruebrothers.com/ Roll Models http://www.rollmodels.com/ or Great Models http://www.greatmodels.com/ since that's the type of business they're set up to do every day and they do it very well. Look for "Hobby Stix" brand.

Brett Barrow

Stevens International

[Jon Cole]

Meantime, hit up the local "CVS" or "Walgreens" for sanding sticks for pennies.

[highway]

Hi Joe,

You could order the sticks directly from us at info@stevenshobby.com, but I'd recommend ordering from someplace like Sprue Brothers http://www.spruebrothers.com/ Roll Models http://www.rollmodels.com/ or Great Models http://www.greatmodels.com/ since that's the type of business they're set up to do every day and they do it very well. Look for "Hobby Stix" brand.

Brett Barrow

Stevens International

Brett, I have a question with the sticks. Do you (meaning Stevens) supply MicroMark with the sanding sticks they sell? I use my Stevens sticks quite regularly for seam removal and other tight jobs and love them, and found they are quite long lasting with care.

[Terry Sumner]

I make my own. I just use thin styrofoam packaging material like disposable trays at the hospital. You can also use the trays meat comes packed in but you have to sterilize it first. Then I just put down carpet tape on the styrofoam and stick on a piece of the black wet-or-dry sandpaper of whatever grit you choose. Cut them up into whatever sizes you want and you have a cheap large supply of sanding sticks!

[Brett Barrow]

Brett, I have a question with the sticks. Do you (meaning Stevens) supply MicroMark with the sanding sticks they sell? I use my Stevens sticks quite regularly for seam removal and other tight jobs and love them, and found they are quite long lasting with care.

No, we don't supply them, but they may use the same supplier we use. We use several sources for our sanding stick line, and I've found that our "angle-cut" sticks hold up better than other sticks that look exactly alike and seem to be made from the same material. We started making our "angle-cut" sanding sticks because Creations Unlimited had gone out of business and wasn't producing the Flex-I-Files anymore and we had tons of demand for them. We had Alpha Abrasives out of Canada start making a similar stick for us. Now Alpha Abrasives has bought the rights to Creations Unlimited and is producing them again under the Flex-I-File name, so they should now be equal quality to the ones we sell(and we'll continue to sell both ours and the Flex-i-files). I don't know who makes the ones Micro-Mark sells and I've never tried them. The Squadron sticks the TS mentioned look like the same material, too, but they would always come apart easier than our sticks or the original Flex-i-files, and I found our sticks keep their grit longer than the original Flex-i-files. Our older line of sticks (the grey ones that look like wet-or-dry sandpaper) are made by a different supplier and they aren't as durable as the "angle-cut" ones.

Edited October 24, 2010 by Brett Barrow

[Brett Barrow]

I make my own. I just use thin styrofoam packaging material like disposable trays at the hospital. You can also use the trays meat comes packed in but you have to sterilize it first. Then I just put down carpet tape on the styrofoam and stick on a piece of the black wet-or-dry sandpaper of whatever grit you choose. Cut them up into whatever sizes you want and you have a cheap large supply of sanding sticks!

I make my own, too, and if it weren't for the handfuls of sample sticks I took home over the past couple years, I wouldn't use the store-bought ones either, honestly! I shoot a piece of sandpaper with spray glue and stick them to balsa wood. The store-bought sticks do last longer, though, especially if you use them wet.

[southpier]

thanks for the leads. i've made my own, but the store bought ones are best for longevity and use as my experience dictates. i'll be placing an order next as i've had good luck with the suppliers mentioned.

thanks again

[Greg Myers]

This a great opportunity to make this a family hobby. When the wife or significant other needs to go to the beauty store go along. Check out all of the aisles and behold all of the cool stuff you can use building models including all kinds of sanding sticks, some with multi grits on one stick.

[crowe-t]

I have an assorted set of the Stevens International Hobby Stix a friend sent me over a year ago and they are great. The 100/100 grit stick has the most mileage and still has some areas that still work. I have a Squadron 'course' sanding stick and it isn't as course as the 100/100 stick. The Stevens sanding stix also hold up better. I'm going to order a bag of 10 of the 100/100. I should be set for years with them.