Ninja 'Forge

I finally broke down and bought myself a Jooltool - a fancy power sander/polisher that I’ve been coveting for years. I’ve got about 6 hours worth of hand-sanding and polishing to do: a stack of polymer clay trinket boxes and a lamp crying out for attention, but my hands and arms are a mess, so I can’t justify doing anything non-essential with them. So, it was a Self-Pity Powertool Purchase (I’m sure I’m not the only one here to ever do such a thing… SPPP should be added to the list of the Glossary of Abbreviations: Glossary of abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms in wiki) :disappointed: :confused::rolling_eyes:


The sanding disks have this cool design, which allows you to see the work as you sand. (work is held below the spinning “ninja” disks which have cut-outs allowing you to see through them as they spin)

Last night, I realized I have a drawer full of regular wet/dry sand paper and polishing papers in a bazillion grits, and when the Jooltool arrives, I won’t be able to use them. I’ll need to purchase the Ninja shaped discs. So, I figured I’d give them away on http://www.levitada.com.

Ah, but then I remembered this post:

Continuing the discussion from Light Pads are handy:

where @volivaa captured the shape of an item on a light pad and used it to 'forge a relica. (and we realized that a laptop monitor works great as a light pad, so I already have one!). Eureka! When my Jooltool arrives, and when my GF arrives, I will try that trick with the Ninja disk shape, and I will cut sanding pads to fit from my current stash of sand paper. s w e e t . . .

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Brilliant! (Except that i could have used your rejects on levitada.) :smiley::open_mouth:

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Let me know how that Jooltool works out - might need a powered sander if this wood working kick I’m on keeps up. :wink:

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will do - I’ve tried a lot of cheaper substitutes, dremel hacks and such, and nothing worked as well as hand-sanding. I didn’t mind taking the time to hand-sand/polish given that the quality of the result was so good, and it was psychologically relaxing to do (but, sadly, brutal on repetitive-stress injuries). I’ve seen videos of the Jooltool used on polymer clay, and they just make me drool… ha, the drool-tool! :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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I’m not sure it’s needed. Go with the “guy rule” that any new job deserves at least 1 new tool, and 3 trips to the hardware store.

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Did not know this was a thing…but should have suspected. :neutral_face:

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good rule to keep in mind :+1:

but, this isn’t a “new” job - it was one of those situations where it’s a job I’ve done a zillion times before and I could no longer stand to do it without the power tool and was sulking at the thought that maybe I just can’t physically do it without the power tool anymore (reality can be difficult) … the sulking bit is where the “self pity” part comes in. A spoonful of power-tool purchase helps the reality sink in.

and I was Oh SO tempted to spend the money on a 3D printer instead so that I could start making robotic hands for http://www.enablingthefuture.org (I know there are enablers on this forum - way to go!). What a great group, and a good reminder for me to not sulk too much - I do still have use of both hands.

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Kind of why I joined - puts an awful lot of my issues into the “first world problem” bucket. It’s also nice to be able to make things that are more useful than the normal plastic doo-dad.

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I’m sorry, I didn’t want to make you feel bad or worse.

Tools are there to help us whether we’re able bodied or otherwise. I would go with the sander just because it would give me more time to do other things​, and because my hands trend to want to cramp up. And because it’s a pretty cool looking sander! Let the tools help you do things you enjoy, and then create or buy new tools when the old ones don’t work as well for you.

FWIW, I’ve got the urge to do the 3D printer thing for the same reason.

And reality can be cruel, but I love that tech let’s us all do things that we might not otherwise be able to do :grinning:

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The editorial rule of the old Weekly World News was, never question your way out of a good story. The tool corollary is never reason your way out of the need for a new tool.

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I bet if it was called ‘Joolstool’ you’d get it in an instant!

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Oooooo, congrats on the new tool! I’ve seen that in the Rio catalog, looks like fun. Would duplicate too many tools we already have though. Be sure to write a review for us when you get it!

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Took me a second but I got it! :grin:

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This is exactly the point that I was hitting with hand cutting leather … and what lead me to buy a Glowforge.

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I didn’t know what this was 10 min ago, now I have to have one. But $1500? Ouch!

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Ooooops, wrong thread - serves me right for reading/posting before I’ve got dressed.
Must take my pill and have breakfast :wink:

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Bookmarked, have been looking for something like this as I have a 3d printer…and soon a GF.

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no problem - you didn’t make me feel worse. I need to resist the urge to take any opportunity to complain a little more :slight_smile:

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$400 at Home Depot, but depends on what other accessories you want w/it.

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No, not at all. This is a great place for that. :stuck_out_tongue:

There are more than a few of us that have had to find different ways to do things we used to do before.

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