Thread: Cork pressure Mat for Makita sander

G'day Bob, in the past when I needed cork I found bit and pieces in a number of places. Not sure of what is around your location but your fingers can do the walking as they used to say.

Check out REPCO, you used to be able to get a variety of cork sizes which mechanics used for gaskets, check out your local boot maker/repairer, if it is one of the old fashioned types, he will have a roll of cork used in boot/shoe repairs. As a last resort, the green box will probably have packs of fine grained, thin cork tiles, have looked at them before but have not used them.

Thanks for the lead on sources, what I was really after is if someone has actually tried using any of these?

Apologies, thought you were chasing cork.

I haven't used cork before on a sander but I have a Makita palm sander which is orbital but not random, it doesn't use cork but felt under the sandpaper. When the edges and corners went soft it was replaced with a piece of indoor outdoor carpet - I picked it up at a chandlery as apparently the "marine" stuff is better than the stuff you get in the usual places.

Only use this Makita for the first sanding as it can leave "pigtails" on the surface if you get heavy handed with coarse paper. The Makita ROS is not a problem and has a rubber pad with Velcro hooks.

Originally Posted by Bob38S

Apologies, thought you were chasing cork.

No worries Bob. It's still good to know some sources. I'll watch out for them and if its cheap enough I'll buy some and try it out.

I haven't used cork before on a sander but I have a Makita palm sander which is orbital but not random, it doesn't use cork but felt under the sandpaper. When the edges and corners went soft it was replaced with a piece of indoor outdoor carpet - I picked it up at a chandlery as apparently the "marine" stuff is better than the stuff you get in the usual places.
Only use this Makita for the first sanding as it can leave "pigtails" on the surface if you get heavy handed with coarse paper. The Makita ROS is not a problem and has a rubber pad with Velcro hooks.

The cork is for a Belt sander.