What is a soft wire wheel?

[Hilton Ralphs]

I've found this from Lee Valley to be excellent. You can even stack them together to get a broader wheel. Just have some bushes/spacers handy if you only get one.

soft_wire_wheel.jpg

[Douglas Mosman]

Thank you for the warning Mike.

Well, hum. Do they throw off lots of wires? What do you think of as a safe distance for people and wood and tools that you don't want porcupined? And how do you get the wires out of your clothes?

[Ted Calver]

Do you have a Dremel? Lots of brass wheels available for Dremel tools. It's not like you are removing rust from a large object.

[Andrew Seemann]

No matter what wire wheel you choose, MAKE SURE you use eye protection. Those wire wheels often throw off a few wires and they can cause severe eye damage.

Mike

Also keep in mind they like to grab and launch small parts like screws and yokes across the shop at a zillion miles an hour. The other thing to watch for is if you push a little too hard, they can grab and slam the part down against the tool rest. Make sure you don't get a finger caught in there.

Use a wire wheel gingerly until you get the hang of it, and then keep using it gingerly. Small parts are the hardest to do, like the screws from the frog. These might be best to do in a vise with a brass toothbrush rather than a powered wheel. Even I tend to go the safe route with those


Also, when wires get thrown off, they are going fast but don't have a lot of mass, so they don't tend to go far or stick in things, unless they hit just right. But as Mike said, you don't want that thing to be your eye, so definitely wear eye protection. Regular clothes usually are good enough protection. If one sticks in, it will be only for a little bit, and can easily be pulled out. They aren't going to impale themselves a half inch in something.

One last thing, don't wear loose or hanging sleeves that can get caught in the wheel. Actually that is a good rule around any power equipment

[steven c newman]

Small parts, like bolts and screws....are best held with a pair of Visegrips pliers.....because, once that small part goes airborne....theyusually head towards the nearest "Black Hole" in the shop, never to be seen again...

Once a wheel on the grinder starts throwing wires off....time to get a replacement, anyway.......Usually I might lose 3-4 wires per plane rehab....IF you wear a shop apron, it will catch most of the wires...instead of in your shirt.

[Douglas Mosman]

So life happened and I finally got back here. Once again thanks for all the good input. I now have a couple of Dremel brass brushes to try and also some 1/4 inch shank to try in the drill or drill press (once I get the new drill press installed). So eventually, I may actually get back to this project and have something to report!

But I do have a question. The Lee Valley wire brush that Hilton recommended is not pure brass. Its 0.005" brass-plated wire? Is that what people are using to clean up planes? Because its waay cheaper than pure brass wire wheels

[Alan Schwabacher]

I went through the same process a few years ago, and then got the Lee Valley brass-coated fine steel wire wheel. It works well, and has not damaged the planes I've cleaned with it -- to my standards. I prefer it to evaporust, though I still use that for little things that are hard to hold to the wheel, or those with tight clearance.

[Jay Moyer]

They also make a wheel that has .0025" wires. Its meant to go in a drill press. I use one to card converted rust off guns(and other steel parts for my projects) when I rust blue. After boiling the red rust turns black and you do it again(and again) till it reaches the level you want. The wheels are sold by brownells as carding wheels. They are so soft that it does no damage to skin at 200rpms or so..