MicroMesh Drying Frame

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egnald

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Jun 9, 2017
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Columbus, Nebraska, USA
Yesterday was a busy day in the shop for me. In addition to re-finishing a Zen and building a modified Premium Designer, I replaced the belt on my benchtop belt sander and realigned everything, and I made a drying frame for MicroMesh pads.

For the MicroMesh drying frame I cut up a 1/2-inch square dowel to make a base frame the size of a "select-a-size" Bounty paper towel. I also made a small face frame from some 1/2-inch by 1/4-inch beaded molding. Then I sandwiched a piece of aluminum gutter screen in between them. My intention is that this will cut down on my paper towel usage. I typically had been using two sheets of paper towel as a blotter to lay my wet MicroMesh pads on. I am hoping that the air circulation below the drying frame will let me eliminate at least one if not both of the sheets of paper towel. (I will probably mask off the aluminum and give the wood frame a couple coats of clear lacquer just to protect it a little).

Regards,
Dave

PS No, you are not seeing double. I use two of the number 1 (Coarse - Rust - 1500) MicroMesh pads in my wet sanding regimen. I suppose I could get by with just using the first pad twice the time on the blank, but I find it more convenient to sand the same amount of time for each grit and simply double up the first pad. (Instead of the 2 x 2 inch pads with rounded corners, I buy the 3 x 4 inch pads and cut them into 4 sets of 1.5 x 2 pads. I find it to be much more cost effective).

IMG_3678 Cropped.jpg
 
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Great idea, I do the same..dry them on a couple of paper towels.

Also, love your tip on buying the larger micro mesh and cutting them down to smaller. I will for sure do that, it's time to order new.
 
Great idea, I do the same..dry them on a couple of paper towels.

Also, love your tip on buying the larger micro mesh and cutting them down to smaller. I will for sure do that, it's time to order new.
You might want to shop around (or of course use your preferred supplier). I was fortunate enough to find them on clearance once and wound up buying a lifetime supply. They were only &12 per set (about half price) so my little sets of 1.5 by 2 pads were only $3 each. - Dave
 
I found these in my "shopping around" mode. They look like what you use Dave and if I cut them up into fourths (and get 36) that makes them .42 cents each. And if they are on Prime..free shipping.

I'll put this here in case it's helpful to anyone else.

One word of caution. I have purchased some of these directly from a Chinese company (Rizheng) and they look almost identical to the Micro Mesh sets but they are not the same quality. Several of the pads are different color but they seem to be the same grit. Out of the 9 pads it seems like there are about 3 or 4 different grits.

If you look at the reviews on Amazon some people are saying this. So, I'm wondering if these might be the Chinese knock-offs.

Hopefully they're not - that's a great price - but you might want to buy one set and check the quality before you load up on your stock.
 
Well that's a bummer, I think I'll stick with micro mesh. I haven't placed any type of order yet, so thanks for the info.
 
Just to throw it out there, for those that have access to a 3d printer, there is a great model on Thingiverse for micromesh bath/drying station that fits the standard 2x2 pads. I've used it for the last few months, and really like it. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4241957

The creator - Frank Aloia - also has a wall mounted design (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4241982) and a drying-rack-only design (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4317187)

If you don't have access to a 3d printer, check with your local library.
 
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