Sanding Mop Or Mac Mop??

[kmmcrafts]

Getting ready to place a order for sand paper from Kingspore and always wanted to try one of these sanders. I'm not sure what the bigger difference is between the two.. my plan is just to chuck it into my old drill press for help with "taking the edge off" of clock bases and whatnot since I don't really use a round over bit etc. in a router. Currently just hit them with hand sanding. I keep reading about how nice they are to use etc. 

My biggest question is what is the grit you most use? I've been buying these from HF. These are cheap but work well so long as you get the proper grit for the job. With these I buy the 80grit ( I think ) and was surprised at how little they are in the aggressive point.. You'd think 80grit would remove a lot of material and fast.. just not the case with these.. I don't know if these sanding mop things are like that as well? Hate to spend the $40 + on 80 and have it be too aggressive or whatever grit I get I'd like to have an idea of what grit to buy, LOL

Thank you all for your input on these

 

 https://www.harborfreight.com/4-in-80-grit-abrasive-ball-61182.html  

[Denny Knappen]

I use only 240 grit on the Mac Mop

[OCtoolguy]

Kevin, as you know, I'm a cheapskate. I webt to H/D abd bought a Ryobi mandrel for $6 and a refill pack of 240 grit from Klingspor. I put it all together forming an 8-point star and cinch it all down tight. I use it in a hand drill and it worked well enough that I bought 2 more mandrels and a 180 & 320 grit refill pack. I take a wood scrap and run the sanders hard against the wood to "soften" them up. Once broken in they work great. I don't have problems with fuzzies on the things I make so I can't say anything regarding that. Also there is some confusion over the different types of "mops". Mine are a star wheel type. I've not been able bring myself to pop for the style that mounts to a bench grinder.

[kmmcrafts]

37 minutes ago, OCtoolguy said:

Kevin, as you know, I'm a cheapskate. I webt to H/D abd bought a Ryobi mandrel for $6 and a refill pack of 240 grit from Klingspor. I put it all together forming an 8-point star and cinch it all down tight. I use it in a hand drill and it worked well enough that I bought 2 more mandrels and a 180 & 320 grit refill pack. I take a wood scrap and run the sanders hard against the wood to "soften" them up. Once broken in they work great. I don't have problems with fuzzies on the things I make so I can't say anything regarding that. Also there is some confusion over the different types of "mops". Mine are a star wheel type. I've not been able bring myself to pop for the style that mounts to a bench grinder.

Is this what you are referring too as star wheel? https://www.woodworkingshop.com/product/dy93022/

This is what I was looking at and what I thought would work best for the type of sanding I'm looking to do.. I don't have a issue with fuzzies much either and when I do they are easily wipe clean with my orbital sander and or hand held map gas torch.. https://www.woodworkingshop.com/product/fs36999e/

I'm a cheapskate too, or at least try to be.. gotta splurge once in a while but.. LOL.. anyway that is why I have not bought a sanding mop yet, wanted one for about 10 years now.. but these HF sanding balls are cheap, last a long time.. but I wish it was a bit more aggressive.. 80grit is the most aggressive one they sell.. and in my orbital sander papers it would be more like 280 - 320 grit instead of 80 LOL.. 

The HF ball is on a mandrel.. I've thought about taking an old one apart and using sanding mop refills on the HF Ball mandrel.. Not sure if it'd work right for me.. not wanting to spend 2 hours fiddling with it to save $20 -$30, LOL kind of pointless then. LOL

 

[Denny Knappen]

In all my years, I purchased only 2 Mac Mops.  The second one is still going strong.  At $43 for many years use, it is a bargain.  This is the one I purchased.  Klingspor Abrasives Spindle Mounted Mac Mop, 240 Grit 7"x 2"x 1/4" Spindle (woodworkingshop.com)

[OCtoolguy]

1 hour ago, kmmcrafts said:

Is this what you are referring too as star wheel? https://www.woodworkingshop.com/product/dy93022/

This is what I was looking at and what I thought would work best for the type of sanding I'm looking to do.. I don't have a issue with fuzzies much either and when I do they are easily wipe clean with my orbital sander and or hand held map gas torch.. https://www.woodworkingshop.com/product/fs36999e/

I'm a cheapskate too, or at least try to be.. gotta splurge once in a while but.. LOL.. anyway that is why I have not bought a sanding mop yet, wanted one for about 10 years now.. but these HF sanding balls are cheap, last a long time.. but I wish it was a bit more aggressive.. 80grit is the most aggressive one they sell.. and in my orbital sander papers it would be more like 280 - 320 grit instead of 80 LOL.. 

The HF ball is on a mandrel.. I've thought about taking an old one apart and using sanding mop refills on the HF Ball mandrel.. Not sure if it'd work right for me.. not wanting to spend 2 hours fiddling with it to save $20 -$30, LOL kind of pointless then. LOL

 

Here is what I have bought in the past from Klingspor. As you can see, if you buy the starter kit, it's pricey. So, as I said, I buy a mandrel and make my own. Even spending the $20 plus shipping is against my grain so to speak. I have toyed with making my own from emery cloth but so far haven't attempted it. Anyway, this is what I have purchased.

[Dave Monk]

Kevin, I have sanding mops and mac mops but this is my go to in several grits. Takes a bit to break them in. https://www.woodworkingshop.com/product/fw98069/

 

[John B]

I have both, the Sanding mop and the Mac Mop. I have found that a 180g Mac Mop is suitable for everything I do. It will soften the edges of puzzle pieces, knock the fuzzies of fret work etc. 240g is just too fine, however if you only wanted to use it on large portrait style fretworks pieces to get soften the face, it would be good.
I have not used the Sanding mop for awhile and can't remember what grit that is. I did make one using 120g belt and it works fine. A little aggressive however just the shot for rounding over those V's cnrs on toys where the router bit won't reach .

[OCtoolguy]

12 hours ago, Dave Monk said:

Kevin, I have sanding mops and mac mops but this is my go to in several grits. Takes a bit to break them in. https://www.woodworkingshop.com/product/fw98069/

 

That looks like it would last a good while too.

[Dave Monk]

1 hour ago, OCtoolguy said:

That looks like it would last a good while too.

The ones I am using I use every day and they are over six months old. I use the 100 grit most of the time. The 60 grit I use a lot for shaping intarsia pieces. After they are used for a bit they are not near as aggressive as the grit indicates. For me they aren't as apt to grab my work  as a mop is. I don't use them as much on baltic birch fret work. On that I like to lay my piece flat on my bench  and run over it with a mop chucked up in my cordless drill. 

[kmmcrafts]

I ended up ordering the Mac Mop. 

The Flap Wheel thing Dave mentioned really reminds me of the same thing as those sanding balls from HF.. they do last a long time however for what I use them for they aren't as aggressive as I'd like so that is my reasoning to try the Mac Mop.. will see how I like that I suppose. Thinking when I order again I might try buying the refill kits as Ray mentioned. The sanding ball from HF comes on a mandrel that comes apart so I'll just use a old one and instead of tossing it into my metal recycle bin I'll take it apart and try the refill onto the mandrel. 

Thanks for all the info everyone

[Dave Monk]

8 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

I ended up ordering the Mac Mop. 

The Flap Wheel thing Dave mentioned really reminds me of the same thing as those sanding balls from HF.. they do last a long time however for what I use them for they aren't as aggressive as I'd like so that is my reasoning to try the Mac Mop.. will see how I like that I suppose. Thinking when I order again I might try buying the refill kits as Ray mentioned. The sanding ball from HF comes on a mandrel that comes apart so I'll just use a old one and instead of tossing it into my metal recycle bin I'll take it apart and try the refill onto the mandrel. 

Thanks for all the info everyone

Not even close to the same. I had one of those ball from HF. Didn't use it long. Didn't care for it a bit. The one I use has sandpaper and scotch bright pad and sandpaper. They come in 60, 100 and 150  grit. This is my assortment currently.

Edited June 11, 2022 by Dave Monk
Add photos

[OCtoolguy]

Years ago I had a Sand-O-Flex unit that could be used in a drill or on a bench grinder. It had a cartridge that had the slit emery cloth that was on a spool and as you used it and it wore out, all you had to do was loosen the center hub nut and turn out some fresh cloth. It was a neat deal and as long as I had it I never had to buy a refill for it. I don't know if they are still available. Anybody ever seen one? Mine got sold when we sold out to go full-time RV.

Edit: I just did a quick search and found a bunch of pics and sources. This is a pic of what mine looked like. Sort of.

Edited June 11, 2022 by OCtoolguy

[John B]

1 hour ago, Dave Monk said:

Not even close to the same. I had one of those ball from HF. Didn't use it long. Didn't care for it a bit. The one I use has sandpaper and scotch bright pad and sandpaper. They come in 60, 100 and 150  grit. This is my assortment currently.

Edited 1 hour ago by Dave Monk

I also have pretty much the same, The supported flap disks, I find are not supple enough for my type of work and the brush type, I have and use them very ocasionally. I dont think they do anything that the Mac Mop and sanding mops can't do better. JMHO

[Dave Monk]

7 hours ago, John B said:

I also have pretty much the same, The supported flap disks, I find are not supple enough for my type of work and the brush type, I have and use them very ocasionally. I dont think they do anything that the Mac Mop and sanding mops can't do better. JMHO

I don't use the brush very much either. Now and then when there are  fuzzies in veining left by a spiral blade it comes in handy.