Round sanding sticks

[hedotwo]

I searched and really only found one thread on round sanding sticks and it was from 5 years ago.  I probably know the answer to my question but I'll ask anyway.  It's free to ask right?  Does anyone know of a better alternative to the hard, pointy sanding sticks shown in my attached pic?  Ideally, something similar in shape but made from sponge material and coated all the way to the tip.  Not like these hard ones, which I've yet to really find a use for.  Not to mention they generally don't have much coating towards the tip.  I love my Tamiya foam sanding sheets and use them almost exclusively but there are many times I need to clean up tight convex areas that conventional sheet/pads won't do.  

Guessing they aren't available ?

[SoDak1]

I've never seen any but it's possible to make your own. You could use a strong adhesive and wrap your paper around some dowels or other round stock possibly 

[hedotwo]

I figured that was probably the route I'd need to take but I'd really like to find something pliable like sponge as a core rather than wood.  I'll experiment.

Thanks

[espo]

1 hour ago, hedotwo said:

I searched and really only found one thread on round sanding sticks and it was from 5 years ago.  I probably know the answer to my question but I'll ask anyway.  It's free to ask right?  Does anyone know of a better alternative to the hard, pointy sanding sticks shown in my attached pic?  Ideally, something similar in shape but made from sponge material and coated all the way to the tip.  Not like these hard ones, which I've yet to really find a use for.  Not to mention they generally don't have much coating towards the tip.  I love my Tamiya foam sanding sheets and use them almost exclusively but there are many times I need to clean up tight convex areas that conventional sheet/pads won't do.  

Guessing they aren't available ?

Many years ago X-Acto offered metal files in various shapes that may work. The problem now is that a lot of normal shopping places are closed. I remember seeing some at HL the last time I was there. 

[Snake45]

8 minutes ago, espo said:

Many years ago X-Acto offered metal files in various shapes that may work. The problem now is that a lot of normal shopping places are closed. I remember seeing some at HL the last time I was there. 

Yeah, I have a couple nice sets of files I've bought at (of all places) gun shows, which often have nice tool selections. One set is very small, the other set is "rifflers" (bent). BOTH sets are just the thing when common files and other things just won't work. 

[NOBLNG]

7 minutes ago, espo said:

The problem now is that a lot of normal shopping places are closed.

Yes, and it’s darn hard to pick out something over the internet! Descriptions are sometimes vague at best and the scale of items is a guess.

Re: round sanding sticks...seems to me that I have seen long round erasers that fit in a mechanical pencil that you could glue sandpaper to. Or maybe a small glue stick could be sharpened to a point. To get a sandpaper pattern, wrap masking tape around the cone of your stick slit it and use it for a pattern.

[hedotwo]

I already have quite the arsenal of files, large and small, in every shape.  I couldn't live without my rifflers, and I use them alot in convex areas.  I then hold a fine sponge sanding sheet into a tight U shape and go into the convex to try and clean up what the metal rifflers leave.  Probably what I'll need to keep doing.

I'm as much a hobby tool collector as I am a model builder ?

Edited April 15, 2020 by hedotwo
Addition

[Hermann Kersten]

In my place I can buy them in 3 differnt kind of grit.

Round sanding stick

 

At Mega Hobby they sell something similar....

Mega Hobby

 

Hermann.

[hedotwo]

1 minute ago, Hermann Kersten said:

In my place I can buy them in 3 differnt kind of grit.

Round sanding stick

 

At Mega Hobby they sell something similar....

Mega Hobby

 

Hermann.

These are the hard plastic needle files I pictured above.  You can get them (or similar) at Hobby Lobby too.

Thanks

[Pete J.]

Jewelers files would be a good choice.  You can find them in just about any size and shape and price range you want.  I have been dealing with Otto Frei for a long time and they have an amazing assortment of tools for the jewelry trade that work very well for our hobby.   You can get them for as little as a couple of bucks up to sets that sell in hundreds of dollars. 

I bought a set of swiss made Grobet files a long time ago and they have served me well.  The one similar to what you have is a round tapered file a.k.a. a rat tailed file.  I also use the heck out of the triangular and mill files.  The mill file is a nice one to have in that it doesn't have any teeth on the edge so it will file down perfectly flat without cutting into the sidewall.  

I am sure you can find these at Harbor Freight or other cheap source, but frankly, you get what you pay for.  I have always paid good money for my tools and find that they work with me.  Cheap tools seem to work against you.  Take care of your tools and they will last a lifetime. 

https://www.ottofrei.com/jewelry-tools-equipment/bench-tools/files

[Fat Brian]

I like the jewelers files also for super tight sanding. I've also glued sand paper to a bamboo skewer or around the end of my Xacto handle.

[hedotwo]

I've got a good selection of jewelers files and I find I use rifflers as often as not.  For tight to get at convex's I use these two rifflers.  Hard to see, but the one is like a half round and the other is a plain rat tail.  They're not as coarse as they look in the pics.  I'm thinking I may try attaching fine paper to a q-tip shaft.  Hopefully it would then be flexible enough to get a bit of a bend to it when you apply a bit of pressure.  Kind of into a riffler shape.  You can even pre-bend them before using maybe, as they tend to hold their shape.  If I'm successful I'll post a pic.

[hedotwo]

So I made one from a q-tip shaft.  Nice and flexible and it holds its' bend nicely.  Trouble is the paper I used is pretty stiff and bulky so it didn't make a very tight circle.  Plus, having a pointy tip would be nice.

I may experiment more.

[espo]

1 hour ago, hedotwo said:

I've got a good selection of jewelers files and I find I use rifflers as often as not.  For tight to get at convex's I use these two rifflers.  Hard to see, but the one is like a half round and the other is a plain rat tail.  They're not as coarse as they look in the pics.  I'm thinking I may try attaching fine paper to a q-tip shaft.  Hopefully it would then be flexible enough to get a bit of a bend to it when you apply a bit of pressure.  Kind of into a riffler shape.  You can even pre-bend them before using maybe, as they tend to hold their shape.  If I'm successful I'll post a pic.

That looks like a neat tool to have. 

[Hermann Kersten]

6 hours ago, Pete J. said:

I am sure you can find these at Harbor Freight or other cheap source, but frankly, you get what you pay for.  I have always paid good money for my tools and find that they work with me.  Cheap tools seem to work against you.  Take care of your tools and they will last a lifetime.

 

In general you are right, at times the cheap ones are also handy and useful and, of course,  it is also up to the user whether he uses the tools correctly,  in this case it doesn't matter whether they are expensive or cheap tools.

Anyway, i invest in good files also ....

 

And some times I use also the plastic round sanding sticks which Rich is looking for.

 

Hermann.

 

[ChrisBcritter]

I've seen plastic sanding sticks that have small peel-and-stick bits of sandpaper that roll onto the tip in a cone shape - probably at Hobby Lobby or Hobby Town USA.

[misterNNL]

9 hours ago, ChrisBcritter said:

I've seen plastic sanding sticks that have small peel-and-stick bits of sandpaper that roll onto the tip in a cone shape - probably at Hobby Lobby or Hobby Town USA.

I tried those about a year ago and consider them a complete waste of money. The adhesive on the supplied paper does Not hold it to the plastic  sticks in the kit. I tried a couple types of glue that didn't work at all. I trashed them and went back to my proven six decade old technique of wrapping the sandpaper around the flexible ends of the fingers I was was born with. I used that low tech method just yesterday and it still works pretty well.

[hedotwo]

On 4/15/2020 at 7:15 PM, Hermann Kersten said:

 

Anyway, i invest in good files also ....And some times I use also the plastic round sanding sticks which Rich is looking for.

 

Hermann.

 

I actually have a couple of pretty good riffler sets in two different lengths that I find I use at least as much, or more, than conventional files. I'm not looking for plastic needle files (found easily and have little use IMO) but rather something flexible in roughly that shape that ideally would come in various grits.  

[Fat Brian]

Hobby Lobby sells very narrow sanding sticks. They have two different grits on each stick and come in a couple different ranges. They're not round but they are thin and flexible. 

[NOBLNG]

Pete W. (peteski)  just posted a link in my thread to this site. They have some cone sanding sticks.
https://www.flex-i-file.com/

Edited April 19, 2020 by NOBLNG
Add info.

[hedotwo]

23 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

Pete W. (peteski)  just posted a link in my thread to this site. They have some cone sanding sticks.
https://www.flex-i-file.com/

Might be worth a try.  Thanks!

[randx0]

You can get these rubber contour sanding blocks and cut them down to a more usable size or even at an angle . Perhaps not what you had in mind but definitely a good tool to have . 

[hedotwo]

More possibilities....  Thanks Randy.