Henry David Thoreau once wisely proclaimed: “Our life is frittered away by detail … Simplify, Simplify.”
A new Houston-based company has developed a product that simplifies the life of every woodworker. Attach a Cut-n-Sand abrasive disk to any saw blade and it sands while you cut. Simple!
Cut-n-Sand CEO, Al Cisneros, told us the need for the product came to him two years ago while he was cutting some crown molding. Tired of the hours he spent sanding off scratches left by the saw blade, he wondered why there wasn’t a product that could eliminate the step. Since there wasn’t, Al started sketching some ideas in his free time. Three months later, he came up with the design for Cut-n-Sand.
“We refined and redesigned the product twice” Al recalled, “We tried different types of sandpapers. One of the big breakthroughs was finding an easy-on and easy-off glue. Each disk is only used once, so we came up with an adhesive that can be removed from the saw in one piece and with minimal residue left on the blade.”
Al also wanted a product with outstanding durability. To find out how it would wear he decided to test the product at Bison Lumber, a huge mill in Houston.
“We put it on five 12″ compound miter saws which were in continual use in their shop, all day 9 to 5. Our disks lasted as long as the blades stayed sharp, and we only changed the disks, when they took off the blades for re-sharpening.”
Al indicated that the best use for the disks was on trim and finishing and on fine woodworking where precision is critical. The company also recommends that the disk be used with a 42-count or better carbide-tipped blades. Though the disks add little thickness to a cut anyway, the carbide tips stand out well beyond any width added by the Cut-n-Sand.
“It’s designed to stick to the blade of any circular saw, miter saw, radial arm saw, and table saw,” Al explained. “So it comes in three sizes: for 7″, 10″, and 12″ blades. And beyond woodworking, Cut-n-Sand also provides a smooth cut on PVC, soft metal, fiberglass, and foam.”
Each disk comes with 80 grit standard. The company experimented with a finer grit, but found that the results were little better than what a blade achieved alone.
Al explained that they first applied for a patent for the utility of the disk’s sanding but when tests soon showed that it also stabilized the blade, the patent was amended. And upon the eve of its debut, Al lists five efficiencies provided by Cut-n-Sand:
1. You sand while you cut, saving a step.
2. It reduces total time and labor required for a job.
3. Vibration and noise are minimized, creating a safer working environment.
4. There’s less electricity used and less wear and tear on motors and blades.
5. Since there is less waste, fewer raw materials are used.
