i,m new to power sanding :cool2: and would like to know is there a certain speed the lathe and drill or sander should run at 😕 .I have a slow drill , orbitual sander,da sander i had when i did auto body work,die grinders and very high speed air tools. I really don,t know what to use and don,t want to mess up the chip tray i,ve been making 😱 .the walls are about 3/16 rite now and the wood is seasoned 20yrs and hard as a rock . the diameter of chip tray is 17inches so its apparently moving very fast on outside because it burns my hand quickly when hand sanding. and it seem to show every little scatch when sanding. :mad:
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question about power sanding speed
- Thread starter dreamer
- Start date
Dreamer,
My preference is to slow the lathe way down (25 rpm and slower) then use the power sander at whatever speed gets the job done with the least amount of heat. With the wood turning slowly, the abrasives have more of a chance to do their job on any one particular spot without digging into the wood. I usually see people put way too much pressure on their sanding rather than letting the grit do its work on the wood. I hand-sand as well, but never let the paper get hot. Remember too, as friction heat increases, the lignin in the wood softens and becomes more likely to clog the paper with the wood fibers much faster. If you've got scratches that won't come out with the grit you're using, drop to a fresh piece of courser abrasive. Then, when you have produced a uniform scratch pattern, vacuum the surface well and move to the next highest grit.
Hope this helps
My preference is to slow the lathe way down (25 rpm and slower) then use the power sander at whatever speed gets the job done with the least amount of heat. With the wood turning slowly, the abrasives have more of a chance to do their job on any one particular spot without digging into the wood. I usually see people put way too much pressure on their sanding rather than letting the grit do its work on the wood. I hand-sand as well, but never let the paper get hot. Remember too, as friction heat increases, the lignin in the wood softens and becomes more likely to clog the paper with the wood fibers much faster. If you've got scratches that won't come out with the grit you're using, drop to a fresh piece of courser abrasive. Then, when you have produced a uniform scratch pattern, vacuum the surface well and move to the next highest grit.
Hope this helps
john lucas
AAW Forum Expert
Well said Mark. My thought exactly. Heat is also the worst thing you can do your sanding pads. The glue seperates and it eats up the foam. I do sand spindles at fairly high speed but I'm sanding by hand which is a whole different process than sanding a bowl or platter.
My rule of thumb is to have the wood spinning slower than the sandpaper if I am power sanding. If I have any places that are difficult I turn off the lathe and concentrate on just that area..
My rule of thumb is to have the wood spinning slower than the sandpaper if I am power sanding. If I have any places that are difficult I turn off the lathe and concentrate on just that area..
It seems to me that fresh paper and a logical progression of grits are the most effective and important factors in good sanding. Stopping the lathe and hand sanding as needed between grits also is a great help. I generally sand at 500 rpm on the lathe and use the angle sander at about 1/2 speed.
Ron Wilson
Ron Wilson
sanding
Well I gave this sanding stratage a try.Tryed everything tool I had fast and slow on lathe speed and tool speed. Had such a shine on wood,but still had scratches that won,t come out 😕 .So tryed again still have sanding sratches.So I hand sanded still marks left.It shines so much it looks like its already buffed out and took it all the way to 1200 grit but still see scratches under shine.Heck I could have sanded rusty steel to a high polish by now with no scratches.I don,t know what else to do.help please
tried everthing
help me 😱
Well I gave this sanding stratage a try.Tryed everything tool I had fast and slow on lathe speed and tool speed. Had such a shine on wood,but still had scratches that won,t come out 😕 .So tryed again still have sanding sratches.So I hand sanded still marks left.It shines so much it looks like its already buffed out and took it all the way to 1200 grit but still see scratches under shine.Heck I could have sanded rusty steel to a high polish by now with no scratches.I don,t know what else to do.help please
tried everthing
help me 😱
You sanding the inside or the outside of the piece?
How are your orienting the sanding disk to the piece as they turn?
M
How are your orienting the sanding disk to the piece as they turn?
M
john lucas
AAW Forum Expert
Dreamer Usually when you see sanding scratches one of two things happened. You didnt'back up far enough. In other words you can sand the snot out of the wood with 400 grit and still not get out the scratches that were left by the 120 grit. It's much easier to look really really hard at the very first grit you start with and make sure the scratches are as even as possible. Then progress to the next grit. If you see scratches when you get to 400 or 600 then you may have to go all the way back to 120 to get them out.
I find that wiping the wood off with a rag inbetween each grit really helps as well as blowing the wood off with an air compressor. Wiping the wood down with mineral spirits or naptha also helps show the scratches.
lately I've been sanding with the power sander. Stop the lathe an look for uneven scratches and then hand sand these areas. Wipe with a dust cloth and then go to the nexat grit and do the same. I often hand sand after 320 grit.
I find that wiping the wood off with a rag inbetween each grit really helps as well as blowing the wood off with an air compressor. Wiping the wood down with mineral spirits or naptha also helps show the scratches.
lately I've been sanding with the power sander. Stop the lathe an look for uneven scratches and then hand sand these areas. Wipe with a dust cloth and then go to the nexat grit and do the same. I often hand sand after 320 grit.
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dreamer said:
You're describing the classic burnish. You've heated and hardened the surface, making it shine, which shows off the few background scratches exceptionally well. What you're looking for, of course, is scattered light from a surface covered with uniform scratches. As the grits get finer, the scatter gets less. Old boys used to grab a handful of shavings and heat the surface with them as a final move.
Wet the surface of your piece to break the heat hardening, let it dry enough to avoid clogging your paper, and sand again, concentrating on roughening the surface evenly with minimum friction.
Sanding has a lot of other tips associated, but generally speaking, the finer the grit, the slower you want the relative movement. That will keep you from burnishing until that last "grit" is applied by a piece of Kraft paper.
Slow speeds, easy pressure, you can not have too many grits, hand sand with the grain every other grit. If you build heat slow down. Wipe off lose grit after each grade. If you find yourself sanding a long period of time to remove marks get a coarser grit. No secrets just common sense.
Russ Fairfield
RIP
You might take a look at my article on sanding.
http://www.woodturner-russ.com/FSOriginal2.html
It pretty much agrees with everything that has already been said.
http://www.woodturner-russ.com/FSOriginal2.html
It pretty much agrees with everything that has already been said.
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I think Mark and John hit it all.
The first grit has to get all the tool marks and torn grain out.
the next grit has to get all the scratches from the previous grit.
Most of our native hardwoods don't improve much beyond 320 grit.
woods like ebony show scratches from 1200.
Also you need bright light and good vision to see the scratches. Those of us who have joined the over 40 club realized at some point that our finishing improved with corrective lenses or an optivisor.
Happy Turing,
Al
The first grit has to get all the tool marks and torn grain out.
the next grit has to get all the scratches from the previous grit.
Most of our native hardwoods don't improve much beyond 320 grit.
woods like ebony show scratches from 1200.
Also you need bright light and good vision to see the scratches. Those of us who have joined the over 40 club realized at some point that our finishing improved with corrective lenses or an optivisor.
Happy Turing,
Al
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I find the inertia sanders to be quite effective for me. I have both the 3" and 2". I have been using these for about 3 years now. All my power sanding equipment just sets there now collecting dust. You have a large range of hook & loop discs for these. End result of using the inertia in my opinion is less scratches on all woods. GT