sanding across grain

[paul wiser]

am making turned nutcrackers, and am having a little problem with grain. tried mixing white glue with water, and brushing on surface to raise grain. seems to work. any other ideas???

[robert hainstock]

Not sure what you are asking, but it is almost always a bad idea to sand cross the grain. To raise the grain, I just use a wet (water) rag over the surface. I made a stave constructed urn, (walnut) and had to hand sand the vertical parts of the thing by hand. :eek::):)
Bob

[Jim Underwood]

You don't mention what problems you're having...

[paul wiser]

that is actually not right. i am making nutcrackers. am gluing up stock and face plate turning it. so i end up with end grain to sand on opposing sides fo item. that is where my problem is. have sharpened my tools, and sand them but some times the end grain doesn't cooperate. that is my problem any help appreciated. thanks

[Jim Underwood]

Is the problem the raised grain? Or is the problem tearout on the endgrain? Or is the problem sanding scratches? Is the problem bruised wood?

That's what I mean by telling us what the "problem" is.

Most bowls are turned side grain so every 90 degrees of rotation you have a chance for tear out. The fix for this problem can be attacked in several areas. The tool must be sharp and a fine cut taken on the finish cut. To get a good cut, even with a sharp tool, it must be presented correctly. If you "scrape" instead of "shear" or "cut" with a bowl gouge, then you'll run the risk of tearout. Then the other way to take care of that problem is with sandpaper. Sometimes you have to start with some 100 or even 80 grit, and work your way up to 320 or 400 (some folks go past 600 grit even).

Most turnings are sanded on the lathe, and so you have quite a few chances for sandign scratches to appear. If you don't keep the sand paper moving around or you press too hard, or you skip grits you run the risk of having concentric scratches that are as hard to get rid of as the tearout.

As for raised grain, the solution seems to be to wet the wood and let it dry enough to sand again. Perhaps two or three times. And then apply several coats of finish with light scuffing in between.

Another possible problem you might have is rubbing the bevel too hard, and bruising the wood. This problem usually only shows up in certain woods and only after applying the finish. It's a bummer because the only way to solve this problem is to cut away the wood...

[Curt Fuller]

A lot of woods are just difficult to avoid that tearing at the endgrain. What is easiest and fastest is to use a sanding disc in a drill with about 80 grit sandpaper. Sounds like you already know about sharp tools, light shearing cuts, etc. You can also try wetting the wood lightly with a spray bottle before the last cuts. But if you want to just get it done, rotary sanding with 80-100 grit, then working your way up through the grits will always work.

[paul wiser]

jim, thanks for the come back. as you describe it , it is tear out on the end grain. i also might be putting too much pressure withe the tools, and sanding. did the last one and used a mix of wht glue and some water, brushed it on let it dry then sanded. that did work better. thanks for the suggestions.

[Wes Henson]

Can you make the pieces with the grain, like spindle work, rather than face grain? That would mostly eliminate the end-grain problem. Or is it a construction concern when you put them together?

[paul wiser]

because of the way the pieces go together, it has to be face grain. think i have a handle on it now. am using a shear scraper. also wetting it before sanding seem to be working out . thank you

[curtis rosche]

what kind of wood are you using, and what speeds?

[paul wiser]

curtis- i am using padauk. lathe at about 1300rpm. have found it is just the padauk i have a problem with. it sands great if it is spindle turned.guess i will not use it in the nutcrackers. thanks