Reverse sanding

[tony tomlinson]

i'VE READ SEVERAL POSTS HERE THAT REFERENCE SANDING IN REVERSE AS A FINISHING TECHNIQUE. MY LATHE WILL RUN IN REVERSE AND WHILE I DON'T DOUBT FOR A SECOND THAT IT IS EFFECTIVE(BECAUSE I READ IT HERE) I HAVE NO IDEA WHY IT IS EFFECTIVE. THANKS FOR YOUR THOUGHTS.

[David E Keller]

I'm not sure I know why it helps, but sometimes it does. I've mainly noticed a difference with soft, tear-out prone woods like maple burl and spalted stuff. Since Wally recommended wet sanding, I find I like wet sanding even better than reversing... Maybe for some real excitement, I should wet sand in reverse!

[Scott Hackler]

Tony, the reason why myself and others sand in reverse is because if your sand paper goes only one direction across the grain it lays the wood fibers down in that direction. Sanding in the opposite direction trims off those stray fibers and makes for a better / smoother finish. I always sand in both directions, use a right angle drill when possible to power sand and wet the wood down once I get to 220 grit to "raise the grain" and then finish sanding to a minimum of 400.

For a hands on example. Sand only in one direction then stop the lathe and rub your hand in both directions. You will generally feel smooth in one direction and not as smooth to rough, in the other direction.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

My opinion on why this works is that sanding will cause the fibers of the wood to lay in one direction. Reversing will cause the paper to sand against the laying of the fibers, and getting "under" them and sanding them away much better.
How's that for a theory? I always reverse (because now I can) sand all grits.
Wouldn't wet sanding rust your lathe?

[David E Keller]

...Wouldn't wet sanding rust your lathe?I use BLO usually for the 'wet' part.

[Steve Vaughan]

What they said exactly...'cept I don't wet sand until I'm putting my second coat of DO on.

[Roger Chandler]

I put an old hand towel down on my ways, then I wet sand.........I generally use mineral spirits to wet sand, and it is a great way to get that pesky end grain :mad: to cooperate!

[John Keeton]

+1 for wet sanding with BLO or MS, and I generally forward and reverse sand from 320 up.

[Bill Neddow]

I use a mixture of Roger and John's techniques when I wet sand. One day I was finishing a cherry platter with a lot of deep discolored cracks -- enough to make an interesting pattern and make it worth trying to finish the piece. I looked for my mineral spirits can but could not find it. A can of Minwax wood conditioner (meant to go under stain on softwoods) was sitting open. It is thin. So I tried it. It worked like a charm. I seem to get less spray and guck sticking on the wall behind my lathe when using mineral spirits rather than BLO -- but better crack filling with the BLO. In this case, I got the advantages of both. Then I looked up the spec sheet for the Minwax product. It is, basically, 90 per cent mineral spirits and 10 per cent BLO. I have been mixing my own ever since. Great stuff. And the cherry platter is beautiful.

[Don Alexander]

i prefer clear Danish Oil to BLO for wet sanding as it doesn't change the color of the wood like BLO tends to

[Bernie Weishapl]

+1 on what Scott said. I use walnut oil or antique oil for wet sanding.

[Michael Mills]

It’s not that I never use reverse when sanding but I usually don’t. I do agree with soft wood the chance of the fibers lying over is enhanced. That said, I find spending and additional 25 cents to make sure I am using sharp sandpaper solves the problem. A light touch is also needed as the fibers can be crushed (laid over) if excessive pressure is used.
Also, make sure you use the setscrew on the chuck to insure it does not unthread from the spindle. Now how do I know that? :o
On the positive side I find it much easier to position the dust pickup when reverse sanding.