Technique for Sanding Hard to Reach Areas?

[bstoehr52]

Say on a pair of vintage channelocks. How would I go about getting into the "nooks and crannies" in order to get a high gloss finish on bare metal sanding? I don't have access to a sandblaster :/

Have a 1" belt sander, 4inch belt sander, and elbow grease with sandpaper!

Thank you for any help!

 

[Stelzer]

Wire wheel or brass & steel brushes.

 

[whateg01]

If you are trying to remove material, you'll have limited success with wire brush or wheel. More importantly, you don't really have a lot of control over where it removes material. It'll be mostly on edges. For sanding in small areas you can take something like Emery cloth and glue it to the side of a Popsicle stick. The thinner it is the faster it will wear out but it will let you remove material.

 

[Ed in Virginia]

I've used my Dremel tool many times over the years to do work like this.

 

[bstoehr52]

If you are trying to remove material, you'll have limited success with wire brush or wheel. More importantly, you don't really have a lot of control over where it removes material. It'll be mostly on edges. For sanding in small areas you can take something like Emery cloth and glue it to the side of a Popsicle stick. The thinner it is the faster it will wear out but it will let you remove material.

Will this option work for something like the cutting area of a pair of Lineman Pliers or the cutting area of diagonal wire cutters?

 

[bstoehr52]

I've used my Dremel tool many times over the years to do work like this.

Are you able to buy various grits for the Dremel or are you stuck to the one sanding wheel they give you? Also isn't the little "thimble" looking wheel for the Dremel kind of thick to get into a small area?

 

[NORTON'S SHOP]

Say on a pair of vintage channelocks. How would I go about getting into the "nooks and crannies" in order to get a high gloss finish on bare metal sanding? I don't have access to a sandblaster :/

Have a 1" belt sander, 4inch belt sander, and elbow grease with sandpaper!

Thank you for any help!

None of these will get you a high gloss finish. You'll need to buff and polish, but then your "nooks and crannies" will have any sharp edges rounded over.

 

[Farmer J.]

Say on a pair of vintage channelocks. How would I go about getting into the "nooks and crannies" in order to get a high gloss finish on bare metal sanding? I don't have access to a sandblaster :/

Have a 1" belt sander, 4inch belt sander, and elbow grease with sandpaper!

Thank you for any help!

Inside old Britool sockets I clean them up with a little 1/4" rotary wire brush on an electric drill, then brighten the nooks and crannies up with a very thin light coat of silver paint on a little brush! I think quite a few old tools were actually supplied new like that, certainly some of the Britool stuff looks like it.

 

[bonneyman]

Don't know if this idea will work in your situation but I've taken the wife's worn emery boards and modify them for shop use. Cut the ends down the various widths with a Dremel cutting wheel and use them for cleaning buried contacts, small sanding projects, etc. I have an endless supply of them (lol), and if they totally wear out or break, no biggie.

The Mrs. knows to ask me if I can use something of hers before she tosses it. Manicure and cuticle tools, nail polish, old toothbrushes, button hooks, cotton stuffing in pill bottles. You never know where you'll find shop supplies!