Results 1 to 18 of 18

Thread: Wilderness Sandpaper

  1. #1

    Lightbulb Wilderness Sandpaper

    I thought I had posted about this before, but I guess I haven't. So, here is my recipe for making wilderness sandpaper.

    I take a piece of scrap tanned caribou hide (deer or elk or other hide will work too) about 4"x4" (you can use a bigger piece of hide, but I find the 4"x4" is the best size). Once I have the hide I collect some sand from surrounding streams and rivers. There's various coarse grades of sand around me, so I gather these various sands and keep them in jars labeled "Fine" "Medium" "Coarse".

    Next, I mix-up some deer dung, wood ash, sinew and pine pitch glue. This type of glue works very well for all types of adhesion, and it makes my wilderness sandpaper last the longest. (deer dung is a generic term I use.*) I take 4 parts pitch, and 1 part of each of the other ingredients. I bring the pitch to a boil in a can of water. Once the pitch is softened I add each of the other ingredients, one at a time and mix them thoroughly before adding the next ingredient. Once all ingredients are mixed, and the glue is the consistency of honey, it is ready to use.

    *Elk, caribou, mulie, or any other "grass" eating herbivore dung can be used to make a good glue. The dung acts as a binder and makes the glue much stronger, as does the sinew, and wood ash.

    Next, I take a stick, dip it in the glue and coat one side of the hide. I then dip the glued hide into my fine, or medium, or coarse sand.

    Now with the hide ready to sand, I can either use it as a profile sanding cloth, or I can wrap it around a block of wood and I have a wilderness sanding block.

    Give it a try! It's cheap, easy to make, and lasts every bit as long, or longer, as commercially made sandpaper.

    Oh, BTW, you can re-use the hide after the sand wears off to make a new piece.
    Last edited by Nativedude; 01-26-2010 at 09:20 PM.
    Everything I have posted is pure fantasy. I have not done any of the things that I have claimed to have done in my posts. I actually live in Detroit.


  2. #2
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    SE/SW Wisconsin
    Posts
    26,866

    Default

    Well, thats a different idea that would have never thought of.
    Good job, good to know.
    Thanks
    Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
    Evoking the 50 year old rule...
    First 50 years...worried about the small stuff...second 50 years....Not so much
    Member Wahoo Killer knives club....#27

  3. #3
    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    North Florida
    Posts
    44,846

    Default

    That sound like a cool idea.
    Can't Means Won't

    My Youtube Channel

  4. #4
    naturalist primitive your_comforting_company's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    31º4.3'N, 84º52.7'W
    Posts
    3,969
    Blog Entries
    7

    Default

    have you tried this with rawhide? sounds like a great idea to try with some scraps. thanks for sharing the glue recipe and tute!!
    Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. Helen Keller

    My Plants
    My skills
    Eye Candy
    Plant terminology reference!
    Moving pictures

  5. #5

  6. #6
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    SE/SW Wisconsin
    Posts
    26,866

    Default

    ND, any historical reference for glue-on abrasives?
    I have used wet sand as a cleaner for the knees of my buckskins.
    Kneeling around the fire pit and other chores seem to blacken up the knees pretty good.

    As a couple of Rendezvous are held on the banks of major rivers and in hot weather, it was kinda customery to wade in the river wash/scrub the skins with sand, then wear dry.

    Have also used wet sand and block as sort of a sanding block for wood.
    Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
    Evoking the 50 year old rule...
    First 50 years...worried about the small stuff...second 50 years....Not so much
    Member Wahoo Killer knives club....#27

  7. #7

    Default Have you tried this with rawhide. . . .?

    your_comforting_company wrote: "have you tried this with rawhide? sounds like a great idea to try with some scraps. thanks for sharing the glue recipe and tute!!"
    No I haven't tried rawhide. To my thinking it would be too stiff to be usable?! And you're welcome about the glue. This glue works well for other things as well.

    hunter63 wrote: "ND, any historical reference for glue-on abrasives? . . . ."
    No historical reference. It happened quite by accident actually. One day, a couple of years ago, I was gluing some pieces of hide together; I dropped a piece with glue on it in the sand. When I picked it up, it had sand all over it. As I attempted to brush it off it felt like running my hand across sandpaper. So I took a piece of wood and sanded a small section of it. It made the surface quite smooth; born was my first piece of "wilderness sandpaper"!
    Everything I have posted is pure fantasy. I have not done any of the things that I have claimed to have done in my posts. I actually live in Detroit.

  8. #8
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    SE/SW Wisconsin
    Posts
    26,866

    Default

    Well done, and thanks
    Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
    Evoking the 50 year old rule...
    First 50 years...worried about the small stuff...second 50 years....Not so much
    Member Wahoo Killer knives club....#27

  9. #9
    Senior Member Ted's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Bryant, IL
    Posts
    804

    Default

    Dude, you are so fricken cool! Thanks for the info!
    I'm a simple man, of simple means, turned my back on the machines, to follow my dreams.

  10. #10

    Default

    Thanks to Ted, and everyone else, I appreciate the kudos!
    Everything I have posted is pure fantasy. I have not done any of the things that I have claimed to have done in my posts. I actually live in Detroit.

  11. #11
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    SE/SW Wisconsin
    Posts
    26,866

    Default

    FYI
    I am reading People of the Thunder, by W.Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear, right now.
    Referenced the sanding of a "Chunky" lance using wet sand and a piece of old leather.

    Not glued, though.
    Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
    Evoking the 50 year old rule...
    First 50 years...worried about the small stuff...second 50 years....Not so much
    Member Wahoo Killer knives club....#27

  12. #12

    Default

    hunter63 wrote: "FYI. . .I am reading People of the Thunder, by W.Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear, right now.
    Referenced the sanding of a "Chunky" lance using wet sand and a piece of old leather. . .Not glued, though."
    You can do it that way, but the sand falls away very quickly. I have used this method for sanding the legs on some stools I made, was very frustrating!

    Once I discovered gluing the sand to the hide it worked very well and lasted a long time.

    There is a lot of silica in the sand around me and it works great for sanding. Makes the wood very smooth for finishing.
    Everything I have posted is pure fantasy. I have not done any of the things that I have claimed to have done in my posts. I actually live in Detroit.

  13. #13

    Default

    Very nice idea, thanks for sharing!

    In Australia, people used to (some still do) use shark and stingray skins for fine sanding, also the leaves of the Creek Sandpaper Fig either with or without added fine sand, or coarse ash for smoothing.

    That and a LOT of scraping and stone or bone burnishing.
    my sense of self approval is bigger than yours. and I chose to be born in the most stupid country ever.

  14. #14

    Default

    I just use the nearest rock. If I need a coarser one I just break open a piece of quartz.

  15. #15

    Default

    I know this is a little late, but thank you for sharing. That is a great tip!

    This thread brought back something I remember from a story years ago. I can not remember if it was a movie or a book.

    The story goes that this guy got tore up by a grizzly. Some Indians found him and he had to have his leg amputated. The Indians took a leather thong and soaked it in his blood and then coated it with sand. When the blood was dry they used the thong coated in sand to cut through his leg bone.

    Now I bring this up because it is similar and I was wondering if blood would glue sand too and how well the thong would work for shaping stone, metal or just details on wood.

    What do you guys think and does anyone else recognize the story?

  16. #16

    Default

    That story seems way far out there. I don't think blood will glue any better than elmer's glue would.

    surely not enough to hold up to extreme pressure, heat, etc.

  17. #17
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Central Indiana
    Posts
    58,832

    Default

    I agree. They had been cutting through bone with knapped rock for a long time, I"m sure. Now, about that thong.
    Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.

  18. #18
    Senior Member Ole WV Coot's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Southern WV , raised in Eastern KY up a holler
    Posts
    2,668

    Default

    Sounds like a solution for " Northern Toilet Paper ", maybe a little softer.
    Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he's too old
    to fight... he'll just kill you.

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •