Sanding Problem

[robinthebevel]

Hi All,

Pretty new to turning so sorry for the newbie question.

When turning hollow forms everything goes great right up to sanding. The whole surface will be gleaming apart from the end grain. This is fine and I'm used to dealing with this in carpentry... but... when I sand on the lathe it will simply feel smooth in one direction and rough as hell in the other. Obviously due to the direction of the lathe. Now, other than reversing the lathe or reverse chucking the piece... is there a way to overcome this without sanding off the lathe?

Thanks for your help everyone

 

[CHJ]

Easiest option is to sand by hand with lathe stationary.

Sanding with a rotary motion with a slow speed drill and sanding disk is the usual way for fastest results.
If you are oiling or using sanding sealer then try soaking in either before final sanding.

 

[paul-c]

sorry about this - i dont mean to hijack your thread but i have to ask chj a question.
in your picture you appear to be running a cordless drill from a corded power which i assume is a transformer - am i correct? and if i am how have you done this?
thanks and sorry
paul

 

[CHJ]

sorry about this - i dont mean to hijack your thread but i have to ask chj a question.
in your picture you appear to be running a cordless drill from a corded power which i assume is a transformer - am i correct? and if i am how have you done this?
thanks and sorry
paul

I use a DC power Pack, Just a basic Old Style Battery Charger with Transformer and Full Wave Rectifier.
Don't try to use a modern auto sensing electronic control type.
Be aware that even a small hand drill can draw considerable current 6-10 amps when running is not unusual.

 

[paul-c]

thanks chas
i have a couple of old cordless drills with knackered batteries.
cheers paul

 

[razornut]

That drill thingie is shear genius;-) gonna get me one of those...

live life to the fullest. You only get one. at least in most cultures. :-S

 

[HeliGav]

I used drill sander for a bowl the other day the difference is unbelievable, used to always struggle with circular lines but now the finish is so much better!

 

[CHJ]

I used drill sander for a bowl the other day the difference is unbelievable, used to always struggle with circular lines but now the finish is so much better!

I think a lot to do with visible line scratches is that the brain computes what the eyes behold and based on life's experiences completes the picture to that which is most likely.
So even a faint intermittent peripheral or cross grain line can be visualised as a continuous unattractive anomaly.
I find small semi-circular scratches are often ignored presumably because there are no contiguous marks aligning to be joined up.

Sanding with the grain structure of course does not prevent scratches, but the brain does not seem to compute them to be any difference to the wood structure.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

I used drill sander for a bowl the other day the difference is unbelievable, used to always struggle with circular lines but now the finish is so much better!

You're probably already doing this so at the risk of granny's eggs......you are using mask/extraction etc aren't you? I just remember my first power sanded bowl that's all....it was like a fog had entered the workshop