Making Scales 109

Now that we have one "temporary" scale, it is time to do something with it. The outsides should already be parallel and rough sanded.

Go ahead and sand the profile the scales using the tools of your choice...

This is where it would be nice if you had one of these as a partner... However, do not despair... you could use the trusty old Sears sander/grinder similar to this one below.


If you don't have one of these either, you may want to limit your scale making to, like, 3 sets a year.

You can do the work with a Foredom or rotary tool, but it will take much longer to maintain the same quality. Make full use the different portions of the machine's work spots to do your sanding.

Definition: Before I forget. When you are working with metal, the machine/work is called grinding. When you are working with wood or other organic matter, the machine/work is called sanding.

A work spot is defined as follows:

• The supported platen area directly behind the flat work table.
• The slack portion of the belt that is between upper and lower pulleys/contact wheels.
• And the most important area for me, which is the contact wheel at the top/front of the machine. This area is not considered a working surface on the Sears model, I'm sure.

On the burr king, this upper wheel is hard, but flexible, rubber. It reduces chatter when sanding/grinding. Chatter is not your friend... remember that. This upper contact wheel area on my Sears grinder is mostly covered by a protective hood. It is for safety and it keeps the ground debris from flying all over the place.

If all I had was this Sears model, I would use a hack saw to remove as much as I could of this hood area to provide access to that wheel. The part that needs to be removed extends back to the tangent of the top curve and the sloped back area. Somewhere around 2.5 to 3 inches. Don't cut any of the supporting wall on the left, just the hood area. You do realize that this little maneuver just might void your warranty on the machine, no?

The upper contact wheel is the area where inside curves are finished. If you do not want to change the grinder, then you will have much hand work do do with rotary tools and files. If you want to do something like this and still don't know what I am saying, email me and I will try to take some photos for you.

I got carried away talking about machines, so I will end this section and pick it up again on the next go-around...