I needed to have a method of sanding in an awkward narrow square hole. Whilst visiting my local do it yourself store looking for some child safe paint (see my blog about spraying and making a box for my Granddaughter) I spotted the Black and Decker Mouse sander and saw it came with a small nose extension piece that seemed ideal.
Whilst I may well have bought it cheaper elsewhere I picked one up as the need was for a solution now. The sander is a nice fit when working with the main sanding papers but I found it more awkward when using just the nose extension piece, but to be fair that my have just been the position I needed to be in when sanding the square hole.
Its performance however, was excellent and I could not have managed to sand the square without the mouse sander. Also I like the way they have produced the main sanding sheets with two outside tabs. These when removed are used to replace the nose part of the sanding body so extending greatly the durability of sanding time since the nose area can get greater use than the main body at times. So well done for that nice little touch.
Overall for £27.99, the sander is good value for money and a very versatile tool for small scale sanding, exactly what I wanted. I have no doubt it will prove very useful over the coming years.
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The Black and Decker Sander showing extension piece.
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The kit as supplied – note the extra tabs on the main sanding sheet
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Detachable nose allows an extension to be fitted
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The nose extension fitted
About Mike Freeman
Hello, my name is Mike Freeman and I am a retired Chief Fire Officer from the United Kingdom with a keen interest in model engineering, silver caddy spoons and sea fishing. I live in the pretty fishing port of Brixham, South Devon, in the United Kingdom.
I am a sufferer of degenerative osteoarthritis, which impacts on the amount of time I can spend in the workshop, and is the reason why you will see seats and a stool in some of the photo's. I have only recently added the above sentence after a discussion with one of my Doctor's from the excellent pain clinic, based in Torbay. This does affect concentration one of the reasons why I double then re-double my measurements and set ups.
Before completing nearly 30 years of public service I and my wife Sandy, owned and ran, a small restaurant in Okehampton Devon. Prior to marriage I worked for my father in his various businesses, in the early days these were garages, which he bought in a run down state, then built them up before moving on, to start again.
I took every opportunity in those early days, to work in his workshop's
learning 'on the job' rather than as an apprentice. This, I suspect, is the reason why my building various model's in the early days, turned into model engineering, when funds allowed the required equipment to be bought.
My workshop comprises one half of a detached double garage. It has a
stud wall separating the two halves and unusually perhaps, its own
shower/toilet/washbasin compartment! (the true reason for buying the
bungalow - don't tell the wife!!!)
It is fully insulated with a ceiling and fluorescent lighting supplementing the one window. Several double electrical sockets are dotted around in
relevant positions.
Equipment consists of 2 lathes (1 Myford ML 10 and 1 Chinese variable
speed motor with etched glass DRO's), 1 milling machine (RF25 far East) floor standing pillar drill, Proxxon bandsaw, Warco bandsaw, 6" wire brush and polishing mop motor, 6" coarse and fine grinder, Proxxon mini drill, various benches and an engineers vice. I have just acquired a third lathe, a Myford ML7 which I am at present evaluating so I can decide which of the Myford's I will keep.
I have only just bought the Chinese lathe and had it fitted with DRO's prior to delivery. And what a bonus they are! So good in fact that I decided to buy another set for the Milling machine. Whilst my engineering experience can only be described as limited, I find the use of DRO's has affected my accuracy levels which have improved tremendously (although that's not saying much!) and would recommend their fitting to any model engineer.
Prior to retirement I built for my son's 17th birthday a Locost car. This
was a tremendous project and a great feeling when it passed its test. The book it was based on suggests it can be built for £250. Ours was nothing special in the sense of all new parts but still cost about £900 to build!
