Sanding intarsia

[misterfish]

My elderly father in law enjoys using his scroll saw for various intarsia projects but is currently having problems sanding curves on some sycamore - either burning the wood when using a small sanding drum or having very little effect when trying by hand. He has seen sanding blades in American magazines but was wondering if such things are available here or if there are suitable alternatives available. Any advice would be welcome.

Misterfish

 

[StevieB]

Hi, I am not aware of sanding blades over here, but a lot of us buy blades from the US anyway so if I was looking to get sanding blades I would probably buy from the US also.

As to the specific sanding problem - how much is he trying to round over? If it doesn't sand easily then the standard technique is to use a small bearing guided round over bit in a dremel tool or similar. Make sure this is fixed in a table though (hand made is fine, doesn't need to be fancy) and keep fingers away from the cutter obviously. Because you take off so little material this is fine for surprisingly small pieces of intarsia, although clearly use your own judgement as to how small a piece you want to go down to. The limit of this technique is usually the internal radius of the piece you are trimming - there may be areas the cutter cannot reach and its then a case of sandpaper or files to get at those bits specifically.

Steve

 

[misterfish]

Thanks Steve, many of the pieces have fairly contorted edges and the roundover bits would be too big. I'll pass on your suggestions and see if he wants to get any saning blades direcly from the States.

Misterfish

 

[thearkman]

Try using J flex cloth backed abrasives,(available down to 400 grit). It comes in metre long rolls so you can cut a length and can tear it into thin strips.These can be clamped in the blade clamps of your scroll saw or use it like a flexible rasp held between finger and thumb of both hands and "see sawed" around curves in both directions. I love the stuff for all sorts of detailed sanding. GOOD LUCK

 

[stevebuk]

gone..

 

[misterfish]

The J flex cloth sounds worth a try - F-i-L is quite keen to try it so it looks like an order to Axminster is on the cards. So I now need to add a few extras to take it over £50

Misterfish