I would say that the felt pads are unecessary if you go with the masonite option. And the holesaw would leave a hole that would affect the performance of the unit. But I could be wrong.
Simon
You would ''sandwich" the masonite tightly between wood thicker then the pilot bit is protruding from the hole saw.
Start the pilot bit into the outer wood so that the hole saw cuts into that outer wood to make a “guide” cut, BUT the pilot bit has not cut/drilled into the masonite. Remove the pilot bit and contuniue through the masonite. There, a masonite circle with no center hole.
I do not have a clue at this time when I bought my MDC ROUNDHOUSE with TRACK CLEANER stamped on the box end.
The pistons have a convex face and the “cleaning disks” are not felt but a very fine sandpaper with a sticky backing.
The pads that have been used have a circle buildup of brass and dirt 3/8’’ in the center of the face of the pads. That says that the edges of the pads do nothing. So with that, flat “pads” would be better with the whole ‘‘pad’’ being used.
I just looked at the assembly instructions for the track cleaner parts.
In reading #2 of the instructions. Attach cleaning pads (28135) to both shoes (28131). Remove protecting backing from pad and attach. Press pads firmly to the shoe; make sure that it attaches compleatly and has a &q
Ah yes, now I understand. Thanks.
OK, that rings a bell. I probably filed that surface flat in order to attach the masonite pads.
Simon
The disks/pads that came with the MDC/ROUNDHOUSE TRACK CLEANER are 17/32’’ OD.
That will be a small hole saw.
Remember that what you’re cutting is actually the ID, or ‘waste’, of the hole saw. The nominal diameter of the saw would add ‘twice the kerf’ (which is probably not a dimension you can get directly from package data). But probably around ⅝" nominal OD.
You’d probably want to sandwich at least 4 pieces of masonite and cut ‘all at once’.
I am of the opinion that you’d ‘bevel the edge’ by using fairly coarse sandpaper, to ‘raise the grain’ and preserve the cleaning action. It occurs to me that you could easily ‘dome’ the pad to the shape described by MDC if the resulting Masonite surface has the right ‘tooth’.
We’re back in the throes of the net-nanny 403 forbidden codes, so I have to try some combination of grammar to get the following across:
The sandpaper discs are likely no better than a Bright Boy for ‘track maintenance’ if that’s the only thing you use.
Note that in this discussion, the Masonite is being used first to pick up after wet cleaning, and only afterward for maintenance.
If you want sanding, use discs of 3M lapping film, perhaps attached to thin elastomer that can ‘dome’ on an MDC piston, and go through some or all the progressive stages appropriate to ‘gleaming’, followed by wet cleaning via CMX or similar to remove the residues from sanding, and then a pass with the Masonite disks to absorb the dissolved material the wet cleaning has lifted.
Then use the Masonite for maintenance cleaning of the now-smooth railheads.