Sanding may sound elemental but to get that good finish it is essential part of the process of turning to a finish. The best way to improve your finish is to first learn to turn to a better finish off your tools. This will take time so lets look at what to do till that happens.

 

Always sand from beginning grit to finish grit. Do not skip grits. My progression is 80,120,180,220,320,400,600,800,1000,2000, 4000. Unless my finish off the gouge is good those steps are followed. Might start at 60 for a bad piece of wood , yes it is always the fault of the wood . For most turnings I only go to 400.

 

How long do you sand with each grit? Answer=Till all scratches from the previous grit are gone.

 

How do you see those scratches? Answer= LOW-Angled light on the surface. Sometimes these scratches show better if you do not remove the sanding dust but be sure to check after dusting off too. There are occasions when you will find scratches after a higher grit and in this case go back two grits and continue to follow progression.

 

Is power sanding a good idea? Answer + can be used for at least part of the process. Do not power sand at full speed , a medium or low speed on the sander is sufficient. Do not press on the sander, its weight is plenty of pressure. Use hand rotation of the piece on the lathe, speed causes the sander and hand held paper to skip on the surface. Do not hesitate to work more on a problem area but be sure to feather out the area to disguise the spots symmetry . When possible sand with the grain by hand on the last two grits. In power sanding use a softer pad under discs over 180.

 

Now what do I use.  Sander Ridgid Job Max(corded) for 2 inch discs.

                              Pros orbital sander (air Powered) for 3 inch discs. Sanding mandrels for both are from WoodturnersWonders.com  in a system of Rolox pads with hook & loop.

                              Paper for sheet I use Norton 3X and pads are Mirka gold from TurningWood.Com And Abralon pads

                              Backup pads save your hook and loop on your mandrels.

                              There are many ways to mount paper on handles , and inertial sanding handles that spin from the lathes power. 

 

For sanding inside hollow forms I use long locking tongs with the paper wrapped around a foam pad. For this lathe will need to be turning at a slow speed.

 

You will find your own solutions and mine are not the only way to get there.

 

When you find it necessary to sand on lathe under power always use speeds of 250 or less.

Thank you, Gerald.  I have found through my own experience to follow this same path.  I have watched enough of Eddie Castelin's presentations to learn to sand at the lower speeds and to start about 80 - 100 grit.  I found that grit helps to finish shaping what you may not have done with a chisel for fear of doing more damage with the chisel.  When I got to 120, I try to sand out most of the circular marks.  Then I stop the lathe and sand with the grain.  I learned that last summer on something that I was working on.  It helps to disguise those scratches that go around.  It is at this point that I start looking to ascertain that my shape is still in range of my goal.  Then like you, I continue through the grits until I reach 220.  I use the higher grits while finishing.  I normally stop at 600 grit.  Of course, I don't have the experience that you have, so I am still a beginner at this.  Thanks for your clear guidance.  

May have posted part of this before but these are shots of the sanding organization at my lathe station. The Roloc pads are screwed into pegboard which has had a proper size hole drilled. This does no damage to threads and is easy to retrieve .

 

Sanders hang ready for use.

Most of my work is small and I just cut strips from 9"X11" paper.  I prefer 3M paper.

 

If all else fails I've been doing a lot of my sanding with good old fashioned hand sanding.  If you don't have the power tools hand sanding is the way to go.

Most of my sanding is done using a ROS going thru the normal grit series 80 thru 220. Hand sanding with or without a sanding block on surfaces and where the ROS won't function well.

Gerald, I like your sanding assortment.  Would you care to elaborate on sizes of the discs?  The upper panel sizes are larger than the ones in the lower section.  Do they attach to a power tool or insert into one of those hand holds like Cap'n Eddie makes?  Thank you.  

Steve the smaller are 2 inch and the upper are 3 but slightly larger since the blue is from Vince's. This is a Roloc system the pads screw onto a mandrel. In the lower photo to the right side are two round black objects with silver center, these are the mandrels. This system comes from https://woodturnerswonders.com/

He has both round shaft and new hex ball end extensions up to I think 8 inches. It could fit into any handle that has dimensions the same as the post.

But my interface pads and gold sandpaper I prefer come from SandingWood.com .

Thank you, Gerald.  The only ones that I have seen are the small ones that Cap'n Eddie uses and tells us how to build.  

 

 

 

 

On 8/1/2020 at 11:04 PM, Gerald said:

When you find it necessary to sand on lathe under power always use speeds of 250 or less.

Unfortunately, the slowest my lathe will go is 450.  Disadvantage of the Reeves drive.  Maybe I'll upgrade and get a lathe that isn't hamster powered.

2 hours ago, PostalTom said:

Unfortunately, the slowest my lathe will go is 450.  Disadvantage of the Reeves drive.  Maybe I'll upgrade and get a lathe that isn't hamster powered.

...Tom, your lathe must be older than mine.

Mine's at least got an electric motor for power. 

 

BTW what are you feeding that poor hamster to get 450 RPM out of it?

Edited August 5, 20205 yr by Larry Buskirk

I generally take my finished flat stock to flatness on the jointer, to thickness with my planer, send them thru the belt sander with 220 grit both sides. Then I do my part sizing and joinery. Then I use my random orbital sander with 320 and hand sand with the grain with 400. After the 1st coat of finish I smooth with steel wool with the grain and/or 400 grit backed with a standard kitchen sponge between coats. I usually apply three coats finishing with 0000 steel wool followed with Johnson's paste wax if I am looking for more gloss but generally I go for a softer finish. It generally looks pretty good to me but I am sure the fine craftsman here could give me the "tas,tsk,tsk" and the dreaded head shake upon close inspection. Finishing still scares the crap out of me.

 

I am currently working on a walnut pool cue rack where the final assemble is only screwed together so I will apply the finish before assembly. I am halfway done and I will be showing everyone this project by the weekend. Here again it will be a hand rubbed oil finish. I tried it out on a sample piece and the finish is just what I am looking for. We will see how it turns out.  

Edited August 6, 20205 yr by junglejohn

3 hours ago, Larry Buskirk said:

BTW what are you feeding that poor hamster to get 450 RPM out of it?

I keep threatening to get a hungry cat.

3 hours ago, Larry Buskirk said:

Mine's at least got an electric motor for power

I would have one, but I'm too lazy to put a fresh battery in the hamster.

Gerald - I don't need to sand my work.  I get such a beautifully clean cut from my negative rake carbide cutters I go straight to finishing!***

 

***Please Note - this is a joke, just for Gerald to enjoy***

 

Don't EVER lose your sense of humor!  

@Jim from Easy Wood Tools  I've gotten that maybe ONCE so far on a pen LOL.  I've basically had to sand though. 

We ALL have to sand my friend...   all of us!

12 minutes ago, Jim from Easy Wood Tools said:

Gerald - I don't need to sand my work.  I get such a beautifully clean cut from my negative rake carbide cutters I go straight to finishing!***

 

***Please Note - this is a joke, just for Gerald to enjoy***

 

Don't EVER lose your sense of humor!  

Most say we have 5 senses. We have been told that since grade school. Sight, smell, touch, hearing and taste. There is a 6th one that can make issues with the other 5 much more endurable. That is a sense of humor. I refuse to turn into that grouchy old man who keeps yelling at people to get off his lawn. To me living is all about laughing. If you cannot laugh, especially at yourself, are you really living or are you just existing?  With that I will go with this. A woodworker, a machinist and a plumber walk into a bar ..... never mind I am sure you either have heard it  - or - you can make one up yourself.

1 minute ago, junglejohn said:

Most say we have 5 senses. We have been told that since grade school. Sight, smell, touch, hearing and taste. There is a 6th one that can make issues with the other 5 much more endurable. That is a sense of humor. I refuse to turn into that grouchy old man who keeps yelling at people to get off his lawn. To me living is all about laughing. If you cannot laugh, especially at yourself, are you really living or are you just existing?  With that I will go with this. A woodworker, a machinist and a plumber walk into a bar ..... never mind I am sure you either have heard it  - or - you can make one up yourself.

Those that did well mentally in Iraq were the ones that could tell and enjoy a good laugh. 

 

My friend and I were well known for jokes.  We put a sign out in front of medics office one morning. The medic was a straight face by the book quiet guy.

 

Sign said:

 

Temptation

Tim's

Topless

Tavern

 

Base Commander cried he was laughing so hard.

Hey guys lets get back to work now. How do YOU tell it is time to change the sandpaper?

46 minutes ago, Gerald said:

How do YOU tell it is time to change the sandpaper?

I never really look at it, especially the higher grits like say 800 and up.  Watching the piece I can see it is not doing anything.  So for myself, a feel really.  Next time I turn something I will pay closer attention.