Power sanding solutions.

[Chris Studley]

Hi all,

My knuckles have lodged a formal complaint about the working conditions when sanding so I have appropriated some funds to adress their concerns.

I have been using a Homemade sanding disk holder modeled after the common Hook and Look style holders. I have used this in a hand drill with decent enough success (considering the $0.50 investment), at least on the outside of a bowl. I plan on replacing the homemade version with a regular Hook loop disc holder from PSI.

Which brings me to the question... What is the best solution for sanding the inside?

I was looking for the Sanding pad holders mentioned above and found that they offered a flexible shaft which attaches to a drill that can hold disc holder.

see here: http://www.pennstateind.com/store/SP2KITX.html

I find the idea intriguing, I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this or something like it? Or any better ideas.

There is also the sorby sandmaster (or equivalent) http://www.woodcraft.com/product/2000275/26292/sorby-sandmaster.aspx

Fire away...

[John Keeton]

Chris, from postings I have seen, most folks use an angle drill, similar to this one (http://www.amazon.com/Close-Quarter-Right-Angle-Neiko/dp/B005P1CG9C). For sanding supplies, extensions, pads, paper - I have found Vince Welch (http://www.amazon.com/Close-Quarter-Right-Angle-Neiko/dp/B005P1CG9C) to be a great source of information, and supplier of quality products. He seems to have a good following on the creek, as well.

Personally, I don't think a flexible shaft would work very well. One would not be able to maintain consistent control of the process, and I could see possibilities of the pad getting a "catch" easily, causing deep scratch patterns.

[mike ash]

Ditto on John's recommendations for angle drill as sander, and for contacting Vince on a process he has evolved to. I'd been abusing my knuckles for quite a few years and had tried just about everything I saw at the woodworking stores and on line. After talking to Vince and grasping his process, I ordered all I would need for a year or so, and I have been absolutley happy. I spend alot of time changing grits, but overall, it is much faster, easier on my hands, and very seldom do I get down to the finer grits and find out that I have to go back and start over.

[Jamie Donaldson]

As is so often the case, I just happen to have a flexshaft sander like that and will make you a good deal!! It's very lightly used, because I found it was very awkward to maneuver, and was like handling a live snake! Inertia sanders are also less than useful, and I have used powered angle sanders and Vince's blueflex discs and backing pads for years, actually since before Vince was even a dealer. I have a holder for each grade of sanding material so that no time is wasted or discs damaged by frequent changes.

[Steve Schlumpf]

I use the cheapest 3/8" variable speed drill I could find - coupled with Vince's Blue Flex disks. Works great!

Also, I had one of the Sorby sanders you linked to and the problem is that it uses a bronze bushing - not bearings - and in a matter of a couple of months use I scored the bushing bad enough it was no longer useable. Another thing about inertia sanders is that you have to get the correct angle on the disk in order to get the thing to operate correctly. Sometimes that is much more difficult than you would like! An electric drill takes away all those problems!

[Joe Meirhaeghe]

Chris, I use a inertia sander from ( The Sanding Glove ) called the sanding solution and love it. I use it on every piece I make. It's a little pricey but it does use a ball bearing head. I know many folks here don't like this kind of sander, but most of them have not used the Sanding Solution. They have used the Sorby or Penn state model with disappointing results. Believe me they don't compare to the one I use. Call Bruce Hoover ( owner of The Sanding Glove) and talk to him. Bruce is also a excellent wood turner who does high end gallery quality work, who uses what he sells.

[Mike Peace]

I have had pretty good success with an inertial sander for bowls at med and fine grits, but for the starting couple of grits an angle drill works better. It allows for you to spend a little bit of time on just your problem areas. Like lots of other things in woodturning, there is no right way but a lot of personal preference as to what works best for you.

[Reed Gray]

With the power sanders, you can stop the lathe and sand problem spots, which you can not do with inertial sanders. I have never tried a flex shaft. They just don't look like they would hold up to production situations. I would also think that a lot of energy is wasted on powering the shaft when compared to the drill motor/mandrill which has a direct connection.

robo hippy

[Roger Wilson]

A mike mahoney video on Power Sanding:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY3JHxa7HwA

[Bob Bergstrom]

I power sand with the lathe off quite a bit. I own two close quarter drills and a straight shaft drill. I use the straight shaft one on the outside or the inside of big open bowls because faster rpms. The close quarter are much more handy on the inside. The close quarter drills allow a lot of control of the drill and the paddle triggers allow speeds from a crawl to full speed. The close quarter drills are much easier to control than the right angle one also.

[David Gilbert]

Chris,

I was at the Penn State store outside of Philadelphia and bought a larger version of what you show. Here is the link: http://www.pennstateind.com/store/SPSFLEX.html I attached this to an old sump pump motor and hung it from the rafters with a bungee cord. I like it very much. I tried hand sanding but that was too hard on my hands. I have a close quarter drill and use it when the flex shaft system won't reach the sides of a bowl. I don't like the close quarter drill mostly because it is too noisy and I find that I sand too aggressively with it. I also built an inertial sander and it works wonderfully but doesn't work in every situation.

I have a Jet 1642 with variable speed so I run the lathe at 51 rpm (it's minimum) and the sump pump with the flex shaft is at 1750 rpm. I'd like this at a slower speed but that is what this motor runs at. I read about someone hooking this up to a drill press to get the variable speeds. The only problem with that would be moving the drill press when its not needed. On other thing that I have done is oil the flex shaft every few weeks when I am using it. I think it would hold up to a production environment pretty well. One of the guys commented that this flex shaft was like a live snake. It was twisty until I built a collar that fixed the top of the shaft to the motor casing. Now it doesn't wrap itself up and is a lot easier to use.

Cheers,
David

[Harry Robinette]

Check out Bill Neddow woodturner from Canada he has a thing with high speed sanding with a angle grinder and a router speed control. I've been trying it sanding at about 4000 rpm and it works great. I cut my sanding time on my big bowls 20" and over into less then half.

[Chris Studley]

Thanks all...

[Neil McWilliams]

Jamie, I love your organizational skills. I am not as well organized and get frustrated with replacing discs in the right place. I wish that all manufactured would stamp the grit size on each disc. I still hand sand a lot, with a purple 3M pad to avoid the frictional heat and that almost dislocating snap when you sand the center of a revolving form, but also spot sand with the angle drill and sanding mandrel. Rotating a bowl by hand with the drill braced against my body pretty much avoids sanding gouges and flat spots.

[Olaf Vogel]

Hi Chris,

I used a Lee Valley version of this attached first to an old furnace motor (too slow), then an old bench grinder (ok).
Its occasionally useful for the bottom of bowls or the edges. If you need a small flap sander to do small, tight areas, this works well - basically its a large Dremel.

However, it does not work well on the inside or outside of the bowls. Additionally, the flexshaft doesn't transmit much torque, so you're stuck with small pads only.

As others have suggested, I find an angle drill much better. Good handle, torque, right angle, larger pads, speed adjust.

I use this one: http://www.dewalt.com/tools/drills-38-vsr-drills-dw160v.aspx, because is cheaper than the Makita (http://www.mytoolstore.com/makita/mak06-04.html), and the trigger is further back, keeping my fingers safe(er)
(http://www.mytoolstore.com/makita/mak06-04.html)
Both will fit all the standard Home Depot parts making the disposables reasonable in cost.

Olaf