- Joined
- Jan 27, 2005
- Messages
- 100
- Likes
- 0
Has anyone made a disc sanding attachment for the tail stock? I need to sand down a ring that I did a poor job of thicknessing.
Joe 😕
Joe 😕
-
Congratulations to Alex Bradley winner of the December 2024 Turning Challenge (click here for details) -
Conversations are now Direct Messages (click here for details) -
Congratulations to Gabriel Hoff for "Spalted Beech Round Bottom Box" being selected as Turning of the Week for January 6, 2024 (click here for details) -
Welcome new registering member. Your username must be your real First and Last name (for example: John Doe). "Screen names" and "handles" are not allowed and your registration will be deleted if you don't use your real name. Also, do not use all caps nor all lower case.
Sanding Disc for Lathe
- Thread starter blackhorse
- Start date
Flattening Stick
Joe
When I laminate on the lathe (segmented, Solid or layered) I first turn the surface as flat as possible. Then I wrap a 1" thick by 1.25 wide stick of high quality particle board in 80 grit paper a while holding both ends of the stick and the lathe RPM at about 500 sand the surface smooth. My method you only need one good side of each layer before laminating.
Hope that helps.
Frank
Joe
When I laminate on the lathe (segmented, Solid or layered) I first turn the surface as flat as possible. Then I wrap a 1" thick by 1.25 wide stick of high quality particle board in 80 grit paper a while holding both ends of the stick and the lathe RPM at about 500 sand the surface smooth. My method you only need one good side of each layer before laminating.
Hope that helps.
Frank
- Joined
- May 16, 2005
- Messages
- 3,540
- Likes
- 19
Left-hand thread territory. Sure you don't want to do it up front? Seen that done with a MDF disk to grab with the chuck, and a 5/8 hole to use a machine bolt with the kind of disk they use on the tablesaw. Don't imagine it'd be too much of a hill to climb to make one of MDF of suitable size for your disk (12"?). Shellac the daylights out of the trued face and stick the paper to it. Nice dovetailed tenon on the back, screwed and glued.
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2005
- Messages
- 100
- Likes
- 0
Thanks, guys.
MichaelMouse you are so cryptic sometimes I have to read your post three times 😀. I think I'll try that and hot melt the ring to another MDF piece as a handle/holder.🙄
Joe
MichaelMouse you are so cryptic sometimes I have to read your post three times 😀. I think I'll try that and hot melt the ring to another MDF piece as a handle/holder.🙄
Joe
Steve Worcester
Admin Emeritus
Page 6 of this http://www.turningwood.com/articles/Bigseg2.pdf shows a method that may work for you.
understanding cryptic replies
Joe-I thought I was just dumb!!! Michael Mouse sure has alot to offer, but even reading 3x, I mostly doen't understand what he is saying ( my language is not in the woodturning/motor/electronics mode) Maybe some day I'll catch on-I keep trying!!! 😀 Gretch
Joe-I thought I was just dumb!!! Michael Mouse sure has alot to offer, but even reading 3x, I mostly doen't understand what he is saying ( my language is not in the woodturning/motor/electronics mode) Maybe some day I'll catch on-I keep trying!!! 😀 Gretch
Richard Baker
RIP
Gretch- It does kinda make you wonder if he's really trying to help. Perhaps a less obtuse explanation would be more beneficial to many of us.
Last edited:
- Joined
- May 16, 2005
- Messages
- 3,540
- Likes
- 19
Gotta do more pictures, I guess. Lots of words in those pixels.
Any device built for a single-purpose operation on the lathe should be designed around the most secure and easy mount available. That's why even using a premade sanding disk made for a tablesaw shouldn't rely on grabbing some bolt in a chuck or sleeving a tapered buff mount, rather create a mount to which the disk is bolted which can be held in the chuck, or use a dedicated (forever) faceplate.
Same for a disk made to order in size. Especially important to true the face on such a disk, which might cut through the hardened and compacted surface of MDF, exposing the more open inner structure. This will be more difficult to get glue to adhere to than the slick outer. Shellac provides a good way of getting a quick, slick surface suitable for glue. For me this means sticky back paper or spray mount like 3M 77. Hot glue would not be my choice, because it can leave lumps.
Finally, the dovetailed block on any device should be sized so that the largest jaws you use are a close match in size. This will ensure that the circularity from turning it originally the lathe is what you will get when you mount it over and over. The load from the metal jaws will be divided over a broad area of the softer fiberboard, leaving no marks. Minor defects caused by rough handling can be taken below the local surface by sanding without affecting the hold, because they will be bridged easily by smooth jaws which reference themselves to the average surface. Of course, they will also reference themselves to the rear of the disk as they are tightened, wedging up by their design. A tenon is smaller and easier than using a large stabilizing block with a mortise. Another plus on something that will be set aside often is that it won't get dust and shavings inside which can hide and cause problems with the inside hold. Remember I said that a dovetail was a no-compromise hold? If it doesn't mount perfectly, it's because something's in the way, so look for it.
Oh yes, there's a second measure of safety in a dovetail, because loosening chucks won't throw the piece without warning. It'll just start to wobble.
That's principles, final design based on them should be a success.
Any device built for a single-purpose operation on the lathe should be designed around the most secure and easy mount available. That's why even using a premade sanding disk made for a tablesaw shouldn't rely on grabbing some bolt in a chuck or sleeving a tapered buff mount, rather create a mount to which the disk is bolted which can be held in the chuck, or use a dedicated (forever) faceplate.
Same for a disk made to order in size. Especially important to true the face on such a disk, which might cut through the hardened and compacted surface of MDF, exposing the more open inner structure. This will be more difficult to get glue to adhere to than the slick outer. Shellac provides a good way of getting a quick, slick surface suitable for glue. For me this means sticky back paper or spray mount like 3M 77. Hot glue would not be my choice, because it can leave lumps.
Finally, the dovetailed block on any device should be sized so that the largest jaws you use are a close match in size. This will ensure that the circularity from turning it originally the lathe is what you will get when you mount it over and over. The load from the metal jaws will be divided over a broad area of the softer fiberboard, leaving no marks. Minor defects caused by rough handling can be taken below the local surface by sanding without affecting the hold, because they will be bridged easily by smooth jaws which reference themselves to the average surface. Of course, they will also reference themselves to the rear of the disk as they are tightened, wedging up by their design. A tenon is smaller and easier than using a large stabilizing block with a mortise. Another plus on something that will be set aside often is that it won't get dust and shavings inside which can hide and cause problems with the inside hold. Remember I said that a dovetail was a no-compromise hold? If it doesn't mount perfectly, it's because something's in the way, so look for it.
Oh yes, there's a second measure of safety in a dovetail, because loosening chucks won't throw the piece without warning. It'll just start to wobble.
That's principles, final design based on them should be a success.
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2005
- Messages
- 100
- Likes
- 0
MM,
I always thought that MDF had a very flat surface, so why would I have to true it? Also, as a beginner, I'm not doing too well with getting surfaces really flat. Any tips on that?
Joe
I always thought that MDF had a very flat surface, so why would I have to true it? Also, as a beginner, I'm not doing too well with getting surfaces really flat. Any tips on that?
Joe
Hi Joe,
You did not say what size ring you had. Do you have button jaws? Do you have a disc sander? Is your ring a one time problem? You could just take a sheet of 80 sand paper and tape it to a flat piece of plywood, mdf, laminate material, aluminum or glass. Will you have more rings? Are you doing segmented turning projects? Lot of questions here. The more input we have the better the answers. GT
You did not say what size ring you had. Do you have button jaws? Do you have a disc sander? Is your ring a one time problem? You could just take a sheet of 80 sand paper and tape it to a flat piece of plywood, mdf, laminate material, aluminum or glass. Will you have more rings? Are you doing segmented turning projects? Lot of questions here. The more input we have the better the answers. GT
- Joined
- May 16, 2005
- Messages
- 3,540
- Likes
- 19
MDF does have pretty parallel surfaces, but you true it because you mounted to a faceplate that may have been a bit off, or your build-up may have other inaccuracies. Make sure they don't originate at the chuck!
Flat is sort of a pain at the lathe, because the only way to do it easily is to scrape, which leads to tears in the fibers. I reverse my toolrest and clamp a stop to a scraper to limit the overhang and move it back and forth across the piece. Parallel is set by a straightedge or board which spans irregularities on the piece to be trued, and is used to reference the rest.
To make things sit flat, of course, you undercut slightly. A bulge at the center will make it rock forever, a small gap between base and surface won't be noticed. Fine-tuning or adjustment of "feet" on warp and go pieces is usually done by holding the piece and running sandpaper on a board over it. Or - put some stickyback sandpaper on a flat surface that you can hold firmly with your workmate or vice and drag the piece around on it. Some people have been known to use the top of their table saw for this 🙄 .
Not that you'd want to do it, I guess, but I find that my flex shaft sanding arrangement trues small areas pretty well, because I can support it firmly on the rest and let the wood come to it. Little pressure, hold, wait until the edge of the paper no longer flexes, and the piece is a true as you'll get.
Flat is sort of a pain at the lathe, because the only way to do it easily is to scrape, which leads to tears in the fibers. I reverse my toolrest and clamp a stop to a scraper to limit the overhang and move it back and forth across the piece. Parallel is set by a straightedge or board which spans irregularities on the piece to be trued, and is used to reference the rest.
To make things sit flat, of course, you undercut slightly. A bulge at the center will make it rock forever, a small gap between base and surface won't be noticed. Fine-tuning or adjustment of "feet" on warp and go pieces is usually done by holding the piece and running sandpaper on a board over it. Or - put some stickyback sandpaper on a flat surface that you can hold firmly with your workmate or vice and drag the piece around on it. Some people have been known to use the top of their table saw for this 🙄 .
Not that you'd want to do it, I guess, but I find that my flex shaft sanding arrangement trues small areas pretty well, because I can support it firmly on the rest and let the wood come to it. Little pressure, hold, wait until the edge of the paper no longer flexes, and the piece is a true as you'll get.
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2005
- Messages
- 100
- Likes
- 0
MM,
That was very helpful. Thanks
George,
Right now I have an 8" ring for a simple "base plus one ring" shallow bowl and plan to make many more in the future. I have a 9; disc sander, but the entire platform is junk and hard to stabilize. By "button jaws" do you mean like a cole chuck/ I don't have one of those yet.
I learned a few hard lessons on this first one: stock prep must be excellent and dimensionally consistent and if you have a really accurate segment cutting jig, don't freehand sand the segments.
Joe
That was very helpful. Thanks
George,
Right now I have an 8" ring for a simple "base plus one ring" shallow bowl and plan to make many more in the future. I have a 9; disc sander, but the entire platform is junk and hard to stabilize. By "button jaws" do you mean like a cole chuck/ I don't have one of those yet.
I learned a few hard lessons on this first one: stock prep must be excellent and dimensionally consistent and if you have a really accurate segment cutting jig, don't freehand sand the segments.
Joe
make a sanding board
Take 80 or 100 grit paper and using spray adhesive, glue it to a peice of melanime or an old sink cutout Then just run the ring over the sanding board until one side is level. Glue onto your base on the lathe and turn to top side true. It takes some elbow grease but it works for a small volume of rings.
John Taylor
Take 80 or 100 grit paper and using spray adhesive, glue it to a peice of melanime or an old sink cutout Then just run the ring over the sanding board until one side is level. Glue onto your base on the lathe and turn to top side true. It takes some elbow grease but it works for a small volume of rings.
John Taylor
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2005
- Messages
- 100
- Likes
- 0
I checked the runout on my 4" steel faceplate chuck per MM's reply and sure enough it had about .005 runout. I checked a smaller aluminum chuck from a different supplier and it was dead on (±.001). Lesson; don't buy cheap equipment. Times I've been taught that lesson: I'm in double figues, for sure.😛
The mounted 12" mdf disc had a range of about .015, so I tried MM's truing method, but I had trouble maintaing the scraper angle, and it kept digging in.
Joe
The mounted 12" mdf disc had a range of about .015, so I tried MM's truing method, but I had trouble maintaing the scraper angle, and it kept digging in.
Joe
- Joined
- May 16, 2005
- Messages
- 3,540
- Likes
- 19
Top of my rest is 3/8 wide at 90 degrees. Forgot about that. Most aren't. Get yourself some better support, even if you have to make a bit of a frame- on-table arrangement and keep those scrapes thin.
OTOH, .005 doesn't sound too shabby. What is that in edge wobble at a six-inch radius?
OTOH, .005 doesn't sound too shabby. What is that in edge wobble at a six-inch radius?
Richard Baker
RIP
Another Sanding Board
Here’s another “sanding boardâ€Â. It’s 5/8†mdo (mdf with high pressure laminate on both sides), about 4†wide x 19†long. The mdo is screwed to a “handle†(1-1/2†x 2â€Â) to help keep it straight and flat over the 19†length. It takes two nearly full sheets of sandpaper, secured by four clamp pieces on the back side, along side of the “handleâ€Â. The edges of the front face are rounded over with a 3/8 round over bit in the router. Just one more way to do it.
Large rings (maybe too big to sand?) can be trued by using a home made Longworth chuck on the spindle. Side one of each ring can be turned and sanded flat. It’s handy to do several rings at a time to avoid switching the Longworth and the workpiece on and off the spindle so often. As mentioned, once one side of a ring is true, it can be glued to the work on the spindle, and then turned and sanded flat, ready for the next ring.
Hope this might be helpful.
Here’s another “sanding boardâ€Â. It’s 5/8†mdo (mdf with high pressure laminate on both sides), about 4†wide x 19†long. The mdo is screwed to a “handle†(1-1/2†x 2â€Â) to help keep it straight and flat over the 19†length. It takes two nearly full sheets of sandpaper, secured by four clamp pieces on the back side, along side of the “handleâ€Â. The edges of the front face are rounded over with a 3/8 round over bit in the router. Just one more way to do it.
Large rings (maybe too big to sand?) can be trued by using a home made Longworth chuck on the spindle. Side one of each ring can be turned and sanded flat. It’s handy to do several rings at a time to avoid switching the Longworth and the workpiece on and off the spindle so often. As mentioned, once one side of a ring is true, it can be glued to the work on the spindle, and then turned and sanded flat, ready for the next ring.
Hope this might be helpful.
Attachments
Richard Baker
RIP
Oops! Sorry about the long picture. How to fix this? Will do better next time.
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2005
- Messages
- 100
- Likes
- 0
Thanks, Richard. Is a longworth chuck similar to Cole jaws??
Joe
Joe
For pictures - to avoid having them go beyond the screen, save them as 640x480 or even less.
Richard Baker
RIP
Jeff,
Thanks for the info. Will keep it handy.
Joe,
The first site listed by n7 is the best. Have built two Longworth's and find them very handy. Would post some pictures, but must massage them a bit per Jeff's guidelines.
Thanks for the info. Will keep it handy.
Joe,
The first site listed by n7 is the best. Have built two Longworth's and find them very handy. Would post some pictures, but must massage them a bit per Jeff's guidelines.