Sanding questions

[TobyB]

I'm making a large mirror on request, and have a couple of novice queries ...

It's made of ash, and I've kept the waney edges. I want to sand these smooth and clean. I can't think of a power tool that will help - is doing it by hand with Abranet held over a soft pad so it'll follow the contours the only way?

I have an old Bosch 1/3 rd sheet orbital sander which I was going to use on the front/back/insides - I've planed them pretty smooth already - with fine sandpaper. I was wondering if the Fein Multimaster might be better - or whether this was a time to invest in a random orbital sander of some sort (read that the Festool is good but very expensive, wondered about the Metabo or similar as being well thought of but affordable) and then see that most of these only have 180 or maybe 240 grit as the finest dics - I think I found the odd source of 320 g.

I've mainly experience with DIY jobs using 80 and 120 grit when preparing for repainting doors/skirting/etc, or on the lathe where I start at 120 or 180 and work down to 600. Does no-one sand furniture, boxes etc with 320, 400, 500 and 600 grit papers? What does everyone here do?

 

[big soft moose]

i would have thought you could use a foam sanding arbor or drum held in a power drill - you'd need to be careful on the coarser grits not to dig in.

if you used an arbour you can buy foam backed pads indebed for turners in 120,180,240,320, and 400G

 

[Grinding One]

Ever seen a flap sander?? Maybe you do not have them over there? Its a few ,10 or more sheets of paper,flipped back and forth in an arbor cut to 4" x 1"strips of sanding paper.You use a drill to sand uneven places works a treat.

 

[John. B]

I think I would use an abrasive flap wheel, having the longest flaps I could find.

http://www.3m.com/product/information/c ... wheel.html
This would be ideal but it is of course American

But these people do them it seems up to 80mm which is close to 3 1/4.
A mild abrasive would not move much of the surface and these are cheap.
www.thesitebox.com/Category/3973/flap-wheel.aspx

(looks like G1 just beat me to it Aint choo got nuthin better to do G1 this time o morning :lol: )

John. B

 

[TobyB]

Thanks for those ideas - I tried the soft arbour I use for the inside of bowls, and it was OK for the simpler/flatter contours but cut an edge into more complex curves.

I'd not seen the abrasive flap wheels - managed to find one (fairly coarse) and got better results - good for the clean-up - maybe still need to finish finer layers by hand.

Coming back to that - is 240g or 320g as far as anyone needs to go as a rule? Am I wasting my time with thinking about 400g, 500g and 600g as I would on a bowl or whatever on the lathe?

 

[nicewood]

The flap wheel will get you so far but youyou do need to finish the sanding by hand
I don`t think there is any need to go past 240grit with the grain on Ash

 

[woodbloke]

Coming back to that - is 240g or 320g as far as anyone needs to go as a rule? Am I wasting my time with thinking about 400g, 500g and 600g as I would on a bowl or whatever on the lathe?

I usually finish projects at 320g and see no point in going further. Open grained timbers like ash or oak can be finished at about 180g - Rob