Smoothing curves

[billw]

Just bandsawed a curved piece that has two concave surfaces and now I’m wondering what the best way of smoothing them out is?

Cabinet scraper? Abrasives? Run a chisel over them? It’s right how I wish I had a spokeshave obviously.

 

[Droogs]

Depends on how close and how well you followed your line. Any big bumps in the curve a chisel bevel down to smooth out and then a scraper if you don't have a shave.

 

[bjm]

Could be a combination of all three? You don't say what the material is. If it's mdf you might be better sanding but if it's got a grain you'll have to see how that reacts to, eg scraping. If it causes too much tearout (try scraping from opposite directions) go back to sanding. I would personally first try scraping with a new utility knife blade (they make excellent scrapers). No simple answer I'm afraid

 

[Ttrees]

Don't know the size, but Bill Carter's blunt chisel method might be another option.
Guessing you don't have a pile of gouges but...
Has anyone done so to a large drill bit or other hard round steel?

I might guess that if you have things like this planned in future,
you might want to take a look at a Millers falls cigar shave.

Tom

 

[Yojevol]

What sort of radius is it? Is it constant? How wide is it? You could make a curved sanding block to match the workpiece.

 

[Trevanion]

I tend to use a bit of the curved offcut as a sanding block or cut a new piece to match the curve.

 

[AndyT]

In the absence of a spokeshave and a half-round rasp, some coarse abrasive paper wrapped around an offcut of plastic waste pipe can be useful.

 

[AES]

Or something like this?

 

[transatlantic]

If you want to go the electric route and don't have a drill press or drum sander, you could knock some of these up.

 

[sunnybob]

This is when you need that bobbin sander.
But I keep a selection of different diameter tubing on hand and wrap sandpaper around them. Anything from 12 mm studding, and all old chrome stuff like towel rails, toilet roll holders, right up to 2" diameter chrome coffee table legs.

 

[AndyT]

But I keep a selection of different diameter tubing on hand and wrap sandpaper around them. Anything from 12 mm studding, and all old chrome stuff like towel rails, toilet roll holders, right up to 2" diameter chrome coffee table legs.

While I agree with the method, I now feel like a cheapskate with my bits of old plastic waste pipe. Is there a way to get them gold plated?

 

[billw]

Some nice suggestions there, thanks!

They’re very shallow curves.

 

[sunnybob]

Glad now I didnt mention the platinum bar.... I do have a small solid titanium item though

 

[That would work]

A compass plane.

 

[NickWelford]

I use a small drum sander (various diameters) in my pillar drill