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Recommend me some sanding sticks


NormanD

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Hi Guys

I've had some squadron sanding sticks for many years and they've been excellent, although worn, I've downgraded them to polishing tasks now, so I replaced like for like with new ones, thing is, these new ones are wearing away quicker than I thought and only after a few uses.

I've been to a few nail salons shops in the area and asked if they sold the ones they used (raised a few eyebrows asking) but they don't sell to the public and the manufacturer she gave me will only sell in bulk.

So what's the best out there at the moment, that fellow modellers recommend.

Thank you in advance

Norman

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I picked up a mixed pack of 40 nail sanding sticks [various grades and lengths of stick] for £1 in a Poundshop.

Sometimes I make my own by gluing, or using double sided tape, wet & dry paper to McD stirring sticks or lolly sticks.

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Although you say that salons won't sell these and manufacturers only sell in bulk there is actually a third way.

I use a hair and beauty supplier called Hairways in Colchester. It's the sort of place where the smaller salons or self-employed therapists buy their supplies. These sort of suppliers are all over the country so yell.com one in your area.

You can get cheap good tweezers, surgical spirit as well as sanding sticks and buffers in many grades, shapes and sizes. My favourite is a square white foam block that conforms to odd shapes making hiding fuselage seams a doddle.

I was going to suggest it's a good way to meet a hairdresser but then I saw your profile photo - doh!

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Don't overlook the pound/99p shops. I have also found Boots to do. Nice range, their buffers and polishers are good. I suspect Superdrug will be similar as will 'good chemists everywhere'. Often a lot cheaper than specific modelling supplies.

That being said I do like the Squadron sanding sticks although they are difficult to get in the UK these days. I managed to get one when on holiday in Philadelphia though. Wouldn't recommend just going for modelling supplies, although it's a nice place to visit.

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Try The Body Shop sanding sticks. I think they are some of the best out there, especially as they do not fall apart if used wet. That and they last a long time too!

As an added bonus you could pick up SWMBO something nice...

Christian exiled to africa

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Cheers Wyverns4 for the tip, bought some today from the body shop and they do look like they'll last :thumbsup2:

Thank you all for your input

Norm

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Ultimate sanding sticks are very expensive and very quickly disintegrate when wet. If you like wet sanding to reduce dust etc, avoid them.

Shame you can't get MasterCasters sanding sponges anymore. They were fantastic.

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I like the ones called Flexi-File. They come in various grades. There is one that is used for finished, it has three fine grades on that one stick, one of them being polish.

There is also a variant in which you place a thin band of Flexi-File sanding paper onto a thingy you hold, making it easy to sand around rounded parts.

Edited by Housesparrow
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  • 2 weeks later...

This is the sanding kit I use...

FL6010_2501.jpg

It's 10mm wide, although they do different widths, it's sprung loaded, and you can rotate the band of abrasive around when it wears. It fits nicely in my hand, and is good for rapid material removal. It only cost me £4 from hobbycraft, and you can get packs of different grades of bands.

Here's the manufacturers website.....

http://www.shesto.co.uk/Hand-Tools-Abrasives-Abrasives---Hand-Use/c227_44_100/index.html?page=2

No affiliation to the company, just a pleased user.

Matt.

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We sell micro mesh ones, last ages especially when you use them wet:

http://www.modellingtools.co.uk/sanding-62-c.asp

Price £1.25 each.

We have round ended, one end pointed, small ones, multi grit ones, tiny ones and now five new duel angle files, that cover the range 60MX to 1200mx, in sandpaper terms about P240 to polishing.

Mish should be reviewing them shortly.

Ta,

Paul

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Starting to sound like Paul & Little Cars fan boy on this site but I use their micromesh ones, (double sided with different grades, one rounded end and one pointed end) and have no issues with them at all. The coarse ones eat plastic quickly and the fine ones do a great job at smoothing then polishing the area. I haven't tried them wet as I have sheets of wet and dry sandpaper for wet sanding resin, but can't see why they would react badly to water.

Just my tuppence worth

DC

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