Turners question - Sanding bowls

[Ed Marks]

I have a question for all you other bowl turners. How do you sand your work? So far, I've always hand sanded (on the lathe of course). However, it can take a while and I've been wondering about various sanding gagets or power sanding. It seems to me using a close quater drill (e.g. Souix or similar) might make the rough sanding go a lot faster. Does it really? What are the limitations?

[Patrick Smith]

Hi Ed,

I'm not a real experienced turner by any means but I was feeling the same frustration you were a few months ago. I bought the Sorby sanding tool (unpowered) and it seems to really cut down on sanding time. Other than the hex screw collar that holds the bearings on loosening up and flying across the shop last week (taking the bearings and collars with it) it's been a decent tool. It still works fine after I put it back together too :) I did see some of the other power sanding tools in action and must say, if you have the money they sure do get the job done fast.

Regards,
Patrick

[Angelo Schembari]

I've done almost all of my sanding by hand. Once or twice ive used roloc disks in a drill when tearout was really bad. The 3 thrings that I've found really help are:

1. Good sandpaper. I've been using Klingspor and it seems to cut alot faster them 3M or others

2. Proper tool use. Less tearout = less sanding. Took me awhile to get even close to good, and some days I'm not even sure I'm there yet.

3. Wet sand. I usu sand to 320, then wet sand 240, 320, 400, 500 using mineral oil. It really gives a nicer finish and cuts down on dust. I've even wet sanded w/120 if there was a lot of fibers sticking up that I couldn't get at.

While not an answer to your question, I hope this helps.

Angelo

[Diane Maluso]

Hi, Ed. I've sanded some bowls and have a technique that I'm happy with. First, I try to avoid sanding more than necessary by shear scraping the outside of the bowl with a bowl gouge and by working on scraper technique on the inside. I'm too chicken of the mess I'd make by shear scraping the inside. Once that's done, if I still think I need to start at 100 grit (sometimes yes, more often no) then I'll power sand at that grit. From then on I wetsand on the lathe using mineral oil. I start with whatever grit I think I need to get the tool marks out. Between grits I wipe the bowl dry with some shavings/dust and take a look at how it's going. I don't skip grits. And I don't skimp on the oil. I typically start at about 120 and go right on up to either about 300 for regular bowls or higher for "art." Then, a few days later when it looks like the oil has finished soaking in or weeping out, I finish with the Beall polishing system, also using the lathe. Hope this helps.

Diane

[Jennifer@Indy.USA]

Hi Ed,

A lot of my sanding choices depends on the bowl. Sometimes power sanding just isn't feesable. If you have a piece that has some bark inclusions or even a void completly through it, the power sander disk might grab and then you could have a real mess. I use both power sanding disks and hand sanding. For hand sanding I buy the Klingspoor cloth backed in 1 and 2" wide rolls.

The power sander really does cut down on sanding time. The pads and disks can get expensive but they are nice to have. I also, like some others here, like to use the mineral oil whiel sanding. I think Mr. Grumbine is responsible for that little trick getting passed around : )

I would recommend buying a 2" pad for your electric drill and some assorted disks and giving power sanding a try. If you like the results then go for a 3" and a 1" pad and sand away! I don't have a 1" pad, but used a friend of mines and lovedit for smaller stuff.

Hope this helps.

Jennifer

[Garrett Lambert]

Someone on another forum - Wood Central - said he uses cabinet scrapers on a lot of his work in lieu of sanding. I did a small bowl in arbutus (madrona) today and had 2 big sections of reverse grain with tear-out and nibs that I couldn't get rid of with either sharp tools or by sanding in either direction.

So, I tried a sharp, curved, cabinet scraper, first with the lathe running slowly and then touched up the really tough areas with the lathe stopped. Amazed is the word that best describes my reaction. The results were really quite good. I finished with sandpaper and mineral oil.

Cheers, Garrett

[Jennifer@Indy.USA]

Hi Garrett,

I can see how the rounded scrapers would be great for the inside of a bowl. I have one that I'd love to try. Are you using the tool rest while you're using the scrapers? I know Dave Peebles uses his thin wide blade parting tool, freehand for this. I've seen him do it several times but have yet to get up the nerve to try it myself!

Jennifer

[Bill Grumbine]

Hi Ed

You are getting some good info so far. Sanding has a lot of stigma associated with it, but only with those who are snobs and those who are affected by the aforesaid snobs. :) I sand with whatever grit it takes to start. If I need to start at 80 grit, I haul out the 80 grit and start sanding. Two minutes with 80 grit is much more pleasurable than 15 minutes with 120 grit just for the privilege of saying I started with 120 grit.

I like to power sand, but I have found that my sanding seems to go fastest when I power sand to do the initial cleanup of a piece - i.e level ridges, remove any tearout, do some final shaping to that hard spot, etc. - and then switch to hand sanding for the remainder. Going up through the grits is essential. I go from 80 to 100 to 120 to 150 to 220 to 320 to 400. Of course all that depends on what grit I start with, but the end of the process is always the same. Going through all the grits takes less time than trying to skip one.

Oil sanding is great if your lathe will go slow enough to handle it. The slurry formed by the oil and dust cuts faster than dry paper, the oil lubricates the paper making it last longer, and as has ben mentioned, there is virtally no dust in the air (except for wet clumps occasionally). :D

Good luck with it. I have a Sioux drill instead of one of the hand sanders, but that is mainly because I am a power tool junkie.

Bill

[Garrett Lambert]

Hi Jennifer

This bowl isn't particularly valuable to me and was turned because a friend had a set of the Hosaluk-OneWay handles and double-ended gouges, didn't like them, and lent them to me in the hope I'd buy them. I decided to try them out on a tough piece of wood.

When the 2 sections of end-grain absolutely refused to give in to either the Hosaluks or my own tools on both the outside and inside of the bowl, I went to sanding. Still no good. Then I remembered the cabinet scraper post I'd read, and rooted around in my shop until I found an inexpensive set of curved scrapers I'd purchased years ago from Lee Valley.

One is shaped as a french curve, so I sharpened it, cranked the lathe speed down low, and had at it. It was fun to do, because the scraper acted on the bowl just as it would on a flat surface, but with almost no effort on my part. It just took small shavings, and because the metal's quite thin, I was able to bend it easily to conform to the convex curves. You can't use the rest because of the shapes, flexibility, etc., but that's a good thing. Except for having to keep an eye on the bowl's rim, there's no possibility of a catch and control is absolute.

The inside was more challenging because the bowl is only about 5" in diameter and about 3" deep, so I put the scraper in a vise and snapped off the small end of the french curve. I then used it as much as I could with the lathe turning, and finished off by hand scraping.

The key to success is to touch upthe scraper's edge regularly with a burnisher - a drill bit shank works well - in order to maintain the tiny burr. Other than that, it's simple and effective.

Cheers, Garrett

[Jennifer@Indy.USA]

Thanks Garrett!

Just the info I needed. I'm going to have to try it.

Jennifer