Hardened steel sanding mandrels.

cuejo

cuejo

Cue Repair tech
Silver Member
I have a guy who is going to make me some mandrels from hardened steel
He says they will be 65 Rockwell

Do you guys think these will stand up?
 
For the price, I'm going to try a set and see.
He sai it would be harder than carbide, but I'm no expert either :)
I'm trying to build a 3 position finishing lathe and want to keep costs down as much as possible
 
cuejo said:
For the price, I'm going to try a set and see.
He sai it would be harder than carbide, but I'm no expert either :)
I'm trying to build a 3 position finishing lathe and want to keep costs down as much as possible
Click to expand...

I wouldn't trust anyone who thinks steel is harder than carbide.
 
Depends on how hard you use them and what grit paper.I bought a set from brianna years ago and they were around the same (65)hardness and worked good for 20 or so cues and shafts and still use them for Joint protectors.There are many cuemakers that don't use sanding mandrels,but if this is the direction you want to go then save the cash up for a nice set of ground carbide with matching taper.
 
I have a nice set from John rocker that I use now....
But if I get the finishing lathes set up I will need 3 more sets.....
Really really don't want to spend the dough on 3 more if I can get away with hardened steel though
 
Won't stand up to sanding. You could probably get away with razor blading the excess off instead of sanding and prolong the life some.

I'd still save up for carbide in the mean time.
 
pescadoman said:
I wouldn't trust anyone who thinks steel is harder than carbide.
Click to expand...

I couldn't have said it better. I run furnaces that heat treat steel, and there isn't any steel we cook that comes close to being as hard as carbide. I tried making sets of mandrels out of tungsten carbide bushings, and even those were too soft. You can sand off a thou or 2 with every use.

Joe
 
I have been using sanding mandrels for over 20 years. Started out with stainless, then hardened steel and then carbide. Carbide is the only way to go.
 
There are lots of grades of carbide and it comes in various hardness. From soft that you can turn file etc, to some very hard grades that are brittle and can easily shatter.
I use steel mandrels at the moment, have not got around to making the interchangeable set yet. I put a couple of laps of thread tape on the mandrel just back from the edge.
When you sand down through the finish to the tape you know where you are.Then just sand till it just cleans up.
Neil
 
cueman said:
I have been using sanding mandrels for over 20 years. Started out with stainless, then hardened steel and then carbide. Carbide is the only way to go.
Click to expand...

Hey Chris,

How many cues do you think you can get out of a carbide set if one sands the correct way avoiding extra needless wear to the mandrel?

Rick
 
manlsdrale

I have a set of original uni-loc radial mandrals that are about 10 years old.
I don't hit them with any thing more than 800 and they have changed less than .001. I have several of Tom's and
I abuse the hell out of them. 220 to final size stainless and I haven't seen any change of size. But they are only about 3 years old.
I'm a firm believer in Tom's mandrals. His tolerances are incredible.
 
cutter said:
I have a set of original uni-loc radial mandrals that are about 10 years old.
I don't hit them with any thing more than 800 and they have changed less than .001. I have several of Tom's and
I abuse the hell out of them. 220 to final size stainless and I haven't seen any change of size. But they are only about 3 years old.
I'm a firm believer in Tom's mandrals. His tolerances are incredible.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing that info Steve, it is nice to know. I just started using my mandrels last year and they are hold up nicely when I mic them today after about 40 cues.

So I guess I will get many years out of mine too.

Thanks,

Rick
 
cutter said:
I have a set of original uni-loc radial mandrals that are about 10 years old.
I don't hit them with any thing more than 800 and they have changed less than .001. I have several of Tom's and
I abuse the hell out of them. 220 to final size stainless and I haven't seen any change of size. But they are only about 3 years old.
I'm a firm believer in Tom's mandrals. His tolerances are incredible.
Click to expand...

Bingo!! What Steve said.
I've ordered mandrels from two other makers (I thought "What the hell, give them a shot.") and after waiting through most of a year of lame excuses from both of these jokers, I was sent plain garbage. Plus, it wasn't even what I ordered! What a mistake on my part.
Tom delivers jewelry-like quality with fantastic precision, ON TIME!
I know this last part sounds impossible, but true.
Plus, no one is more pleasant to deal with.
Order with confidence from Tom Migliore.

Robin Snyder
 
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