[Jewelry making - Article 00045] - Re: [Orchid] Sharpening disc punches

[R . E . Rourke]

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    Carla, you cant really use most sandpaper unless you have an
    absolutely flat surface & it is more likely to dull than sharpen
    them... However- 3M makes a brand of polishing papers and films that
    are great for exactly this purpose..not sand-paper but microfine
    particle papers, most distributors carry them, or write to Rich Boer
    at 3M's creative arts division and request some samples..they come in
    a variety pack of, I think about 8 grits and are colour coded. I
    think they tri-m-ite or either tri-zact, the films are ready to load
    on holders or come in a psa sheet for applying to glass, which is
    probably about as flat as you'll get readily and cheaply without a
    machined steel block..Just adhere the papers to a sheet of glass (
    tape the edges with blue painters type tape for safety) and with the
    cutters as vertical as is possible pass them over the surface as
    long as you care to. The theory is to go from coarser to finer papers
    and with the 3M products using only a grade or two is all you'll
    really need to restore a perfectly honed edge. If the punches/cutters
    are out of shape (perfectly circular), and worth the cost of taking
    them to a machine shop, you may want to have them re-turned to remove
    any nicks or flares you may have gotten from trying to cut metal
    materials harder than the punches. also if you live in a humid area
    don't forget to coat them with some type of water proofing oil or
    wax, or dry oil ( readily available at hardware stores) as rust is
    the most common ruination of most shop tools that were once polished
    nicely! Keeping a keen polished edge on them is relatively easy as
    opposed to resharpening them and the 3M products out preform any
    other products i have tried in many years of -trying! If you can't
    find the exact name of the films or papers I'd be happy to look them
    up for you as I'm in another part of the house at the moment but
    have lots of packets of the stuff in the studio..let me know.
    Additionally, there is a great book you may want to get for general
    reference"sharpening small tools, by:. Ian Bradley..it may help you
    maintain other things in your shop that you hadn't considered.
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