Rubber feet for sanding as seen in TWW Live


bfiedler

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I like the painters pyramids for finishing but don't sand or press down cause you can leave little dents on the underside. I wasn't impressed with the bench cookies. I use the rubberized open weave kitchen shelf liner that I get at Target. Keeps small and large parts from sliding around while sanding. It's cheap and you can cut it to any size you want. When you flip the sanded face down onto the liner to sand the other side it prevents scratches in your smooth face.

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I'm with Steve...I bought a set of cookies a long time ago and hardly ever use them.  Be careful - the rubbery stuff tends to leave an imprint of itself behind.  I don't know if it's because they're a petroleum product or what, but they'll tarnish a flawless, finish-ready surface...almost as if they're greasy.

 

I use the pyramids often.  You can get a lot more of them for a lot less.  But they're not as "cool" as the cookies, which is, I'll admit, what made me buy them in the first place.  They just kind of sit there in their rack, collecting dust.  Occasionally I'll use them for routing an edge profile...but only before my final sanding so I can get rid of the spots they leave behind.

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I made my own "Bench Cookies"/"Painter Pyramids".

I had a few circles that were drop from hole saw cuts (about 3" in diameter) and glued in a short piece of 1/4" dowel into the existing center hole. I rounded off the end of the dowel with sanding before gluing and glued some shelf liner to the bottom of the circle.

The rounded end of the dowel doesn't poke into the bottom of the project like a pointy thing does, and the shelf liner keeps the whole thing from sliding around the bench quite so much.

 

Rog 

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My impression of the triangles was that they are intended only for the underside of projects.  Basically, areas where it's ok to have tiny finish flaws, such as the bottom of a table.  Using them allows you to finish both sides of your workpiece in the same session.   Start off by applying finish to the bottom of the workpiece first and when doing so you shouldn't be using the triangles.  Then, flip the workpiece over so the freshly finished bottom side is laying on triangles.  Now you can finish your top panel without waiting for the bottom to dry first.  The bottom will end up with flaws from the triangles, but they'll be small and only on the underside of the workpiece.

 

If the workpiece has two visible sides then it may be best to try to finish both sides separately or attempt to hang it and use a spray applicator.  

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Bench cookies are my best friend when using the random orbital sander.  Worth the $10.

 

I do also use the weaved foam you buy to put under a rug to keep it from sliding in a multitude of non-slip applications.  Pushsticks/blocks, on top of my sawhorses, where I stand in front of my ts, etc. 

 

After having my own bench top betray me by marring my hard work when I was rounding third on the project, my best solution was to just cut 'bench toppers' of tempered hardboard that sit flush on my benchtop and gluing/finishing table.  They don't leave much of a footprint on their side behind the bench, and I throw em' on top when I need a non-marring surface, or surface I don't mind spilling finish/glue. 

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I have bench cookies, and they're great if you keep them clean.  Otherwise they don't grip right.  I only ever had an issue with marks when they were brand new, and had a lot of pressure on them.  For the painters points, have you tried putting a drop of water on the divot to pop it back out then re-sanding that area?

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