Dale Winburn
07-19-2013, 9:55 AM
This post is in response to Reed Gray Slow Speed Sanding (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?205594-Slow-Speed-Sanding&p=2132851#post2132851) and Eric Gourieux Reducing my lathe speed (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?205626-Reducing-my-lathe-speed&p=2133181#post2133181).
Occasionally I turn natural edge bowls green to final thickness and then leave them to dry for one to two weeks before final sanding and finishing. Some times these bowls warp considerably making it impossible to sand with the lathe running.
As I was sanding these bowls, on the lathe but not running, I would have to stop sanding and rotate the bowl every few seconds. I thought what if I could turn the bowl at a very slow RPM I could continue to sand as the bowl turned.
I had an old gear motor I picked up somewhere, maybe at a garage sale. The output shaft turned at 30 RPM so I mounted the motor on a piece of plywood and connected it to my bowl lathe through the existing four step pulley system, I’m using the lathe motor as a jack-shaft. With this set-up the bowl turns at approx four RPM, this lets me continue to sand as the bowl turns. It’s also very easy to follow the natural edge of the bowl even with warping caused by the drying. I’ve tried this on a couple of bowls so far and it works very well.
Let me know what you think.
Dale
Occasionally I turn natural edge bowls green to final thickness and then leave them to dry for one to two weeks before final sanding and finishing. Some times these bowls warp considerably making it impossible to sand with the lathe running.
As I was sanding these bowls, on the lathe but not running, I would have to stop sanding and rotate the bowl every few seconds. I thought what if I could turn the bowl at a very slow RPM I could continue to sand as the bowl turned.
I had an old gear motor I picked up somewhere, maybe at a garage sale. The output shaft turned at 30 RPM so I mounted the motor on a piece of plywood and connected it to my bowl lathe through the existing four step pulley system, I’m using the lathe motor as a jack-shaft. With this set-up the bowl turns at approx four RPM, this lets me continue to sand as the bowl turns. It’s also very easy to follow the natural edge of the bowl even with warping caused by the drying. I’ve tried this on a couple of bowls so far and it works very well.
Let me know what you think.
Dale