Why and How? Sanding in Reverse.

[curtis rosche]

on the lathes we have at school, i sand with the reverse. it speeds sanding up by a large amount. the first sanding grit is in reverse, the next in forward, the next in reverse and so on. the last grit gets both directions. it works so much quicker. if your faceplate/chuck stays on your lathe tightly without using the special screw, you can sand in reverse with out it. but just be careful. the lathes we have at school dont have a screw or anything to hold the faceplate on. so we just tighten them down first.

[Chip Sutherland]

NOPE. Sit and think about it........

[Mike Minto]

bill, great idea - now if i could only get the math i have to do to balance my checkbook to follow that kind of 'logic' - mike

[Hilel Salomon]

Well, I tried reverse sanding and it does help matters. Problem is that I tried it w/a Vicmarc chuck which has no hole for a grub screw and twice the chuck came off. How slow is "slow." If I turn at 375rpm or slower, it can stay on. Otherwise.... Yikes.
Regards, Hilel.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Hilel - I turn with the speed turned all the way down. On the high range on the Jet that works out to around 127 rpm. Slow but it keeps the wood from heating up and cracking. Also, I have seen where folks mentioned switching directions on their drill when sanding. I do that all the time but still find I have to reverse the lathe direction as well.

Hope you get all this sanding stuff figured out! Looking forward to seeing some more of your work real soon!

[Nathan Hawkes]

Well, I tried reverse sanding and it does help matters. Problem is that I tried it w/a Vicmarc chuck which has no hole for a grub screw and twice the chuck came off. How slow is "slow." If I turn at 375rpm or slower, it can stay on. Otherwise.... Yikes.
Regards, Hilel.

Hilel, I do a lot of mildly warped bowls, and natural edge bowls--I like turning green wood. If its just so-so stuff, I turn thick then let dry, but its so much more forgiving to get clean cuts in wet wood that I don't care so much about the warp anymore. I sand at 50rpm, and I wish that the 3520 went lower. Reed Gray has talked about this before at length. Even if it isn't warped that much, I feel like it takes less time sanding really slowly, or even with the lathe stopped. I've actually been at it sanding bowls since about 9 this morning. I find it very difficult to judge when you've gotten all the scratches from the previous coarser grit as you go to progressively higher grits. By sanding with the lathe off, (which sounds like a pain until you do it for a while), I think I actually end up spending less time on an average 12" or so bowl than if I'd spent a couple minutes on each side of the bowl with each grit and the lathe running. The sandpaper lasts a lot longer too. I even keep a crepe rubber stick to clean the paper between inside & outside surfaces. I'm pretty adamant about switching to a new piece between each bowl unless its a very small bowl with little sanding required. Sandpaper is cheaper to me than the time required to remove small scratches left by worn paper....
Sorry, I get a bit off track easily. Anyway, about that vicmarc chuck....Does it have a threaded adapter or is it a direct-thread attatchment?? The reason I ask is because it probably wouldn't be that difficult to put it in a vise on a drill press & tap some threads in the side. Starting this weekend I'm going to be out of town 'til the third, but after that I might be able to help if you're going to be in VA...

[Mike Lipke]

Well, Problem is that I tried it w/a Vicmarc chuck which has no hole for a grub screw and twice the chuck came off. How slow is "slow." If I turn at 375rpm or slower, it can stay on. Otherwise.... Yikes.
Regards, Hilel.

Try making a washer, or maybe two washers, out of a plastic milk bottle, or some other plastic that is a little thicker, and place these between the chuck and the spindle. Tighten the chuck up good against the washers, and you will probably not be bothered with the chuck coming off.

[Ed Heuslein]

I was taught years ago by an old sage to reverse directions with each grit. I've been doing it on several lathes now - starting with an old Shopsmith which I twisted the belt into a figure 8 to get it to reverse. I have never had a piece come off when sanding in reverse. I find that switching the pneumatic drill to between fwd and rev useful depending on what part of the piece I'm sanding. Also, on the advise of Russ Fairfield, for whom I have a tremendous respect, I sand s l o w . Try it - it works.

[James Roberts]

I don't know if this is a good idea or not but I have a JET 1220 and I loosen up the motor and liftit like I was changing belt (speed) settings then put a half twist in the belt which causes the spindle to go in reverse. I only do it for the last grit and raise the grain with a damp towel. Has anyone else tried this and is this a big no no?

Jim

[James Roberts]

I forgot, I only do this on the lowest speed setting.

[Scott Hackler]

I sand using reverse as well. I have been sanding with the same grit in both directions and then move on to the next higher grit.

Lately I have been using my new right angle drill and 3" pad. Holy moly does that help speed up the sanding process and it makes a better finish. One note, I usually sand a the same turnng speed (around 1000-1400 rpm), unless its pretty out of round and too thin to turn true again. Then I slow it down to 300-600 rpm. So far so good, but maybe I should try the lower speeds all the time.

Oh and I almost forgot. No set screw equals high pitch wining sound, a second of "what the heck is that" and the chuck flying off the lathe. Mine is cranked down hard now. (I dont ever remove my chuck)

[Tim Thornton]

My lathe does not have a reverse. Would standing on the other side of the lathe not be the same as the lathe running in reverse??

Unfortunately, standing on the backside will reserve the direction the wood is coming at you (will be coming up instead of down), but the grain will still be layinging down in the direction the wood is coming at you. It may be that the best way you may have is to stand where you normally do, and just concentrate on putting the pressure on the side of your power sander pad that turns against the grain, and manually turn your piece.

[Jeffrey J Smith]

Tim - did you realize this thread is over a decade old? I know I’m using my isolation time to catch up on email, but that seems extreme.

[John K Jordan]

Tim - did you realize this thread is over a decade old? I know I’m using my isolation time to catch up on email, but that seems extreme.

Some concepts are timeless.

I sand spindles in reverse, or rather, alternate the direction and further alternate circular sanding with sanding with the grain by hand. Platters and bowls? I haven't power sanded in a long time. I use negative rake scrapers to remove most tool marks then remove the piece from the lathe and scrape smooth with hand scrapers then sand by hand.

[Alex Zeller]

My Vicmark chuck came with a plastic washer that goes between the chuck and spindle. I've never had it loosen up as long as I snug it down by hand. I do reverse sand because it throws the dust right at my dust collection chute. But I don't bear down hard while doing it and find that sanding perpendicular to the rotation of the lathe much more effective but not as easy.