As I explore the joys of turning, I'm learning a lot. Thanks, folks, for
all of the experience, and opinion, that you share so freely.

Power sanding:

I'm confused as to where to proceed. The catalogs have their usual
bewildering array, and while they certainly wish me no active ill will,
their express purpose in life is to melt down my Amex card. ;-)

Inertial sanders. Air powers dual action sanders. Electric angle sanders.
Wave discs. Foam backed pads. So many competing choices!

I've got a new Jet 1442, having retired the Shopsmith to 'other, less
stressful duties'. (OK, there are a bunch of boxes piled on top of it in
the shed right now.) I've been turning salad-style bowls in the 10"-14"
range, in dry cabinet-style woods, because I have access to some free - to
- cheap offcuts up to 12/4. I've started on some green wood turning, but
that goes slowly, primarily due to stock prep and storage right now. (I
know that once I get rolling, that may change.)

So what should I try next?

Patriarch

"Patriarch" wrote in message
. 97.136...
As I explore the joys of turning, I'm learning a lot. Thanks, folks, for
all of the experience, and opinion, that you share so freely.

Power sanding:

I'm confused as to where to proceed. The catalogs have their usual
bewildering array, and while they certainly wish me no active ill will,
their express purpose in life is to melt down my Amex card. ;-)

Inertial sanders. Air powers dual action sanders. Electric angle
sanders.
Wave discs. Foam backed pads. So many competing choices!

I've got a new Jet 1442, having retired the Shopsmith to 'other, less
stressful duties'. (OK, there are a bunch of boxes piled on top of it in
the shed right now.) I've been turning salad-style bowls in the 10"-14"
range, in dry cabinet-style woods, because I have access to some free - to
- cheap offcuts up to 12/4. I've started on some green wood turning, but
that goes slowly, primarily due to stock prep and storage right now. (I
know that once I get rolling, that may change.)

So what should I try next?

Patriarch

There's an excellent article on sanding bowls in the latest edition of the
AAW magazine. Hope you have joined! Lots of good tips for everyone and
dazzling displays of what our fellow turners are producing. When I get my
copy, I skip over those as otherwise I just retreat to a closet and cry! *G*

Leif

"Patriarch" wrote in message
. 97.136...
Power sanding:

I'm confused as to where to proceed. The catalogs have their usual
bewildering array, and while they certainly wish me no active ill will,
their express purpose in life is to melt down my Amex card. ;-)

Inertial sanders. Air powers dual action sanders. Electric angle
sanders.
Wave discs. Foam backed pads. So many competing choices!

Power sanding's the way to go. What I've settled on is an old washing
machine motor powering a flexible shaft. I sand with the lathe on, support
the handpiece of the shaft as if it were a rotary scraper, so it barely
touches the surface. I let the lathe bring the surface to the sander, not
vice-versa. Much better surface that way over sanding with the bowl still,
where you can dig in with the edges - what wave papers are supposed to
solve - or follow into soft spots with spalted woods.

I like the Power Lock system for most sanding, using 2" disks to maintain
better control over angles, and the flex edge types for tight spots.
Generally the first grit or two go with them, then to 2 or 3" soft-backed
velcro at 220/320. I keep more in contact with the piece now, using the
larger footprint to bridge small soft spots. 320 is about as low as I go
under power, because even a light touch can heat and harden with paper that
fine or finer. Lathe goes off, and sanding by wrist power, or the piece
comes off to be finished by hand.

Advantages to the method I use over drill motors are the better access
afforded by the shaft, full control with less fatigue by supporting the
handpiece, and better dust collection, because I can position the collecting
point where gravity aids me, since the sanding is done at nearly the same
place. Not to mention the longer abrasive life gained by never heating the
paper.

The only draw back to the power sanding that I can see is that the
vents on the sander blow the dust every where. I have beet thinking
about putting vents over the aft vents in the sander. They would point
to the head, which would help direct the air stream towards the
collector. I took half of a white plastic 55 gallon drum and made a
hood out of it. It bolts to a bracket where the safety shield would go.
The bottom of the barrel is cut out to fit around the shaft of the head
stock, with the tailstock end and front being open. I use a heavy clear
piece of window plastic to cover the open end. This has the bowl about
75% covered by the hood. With me standing in front of the hood, there
is a lot of air pulling almost all of the dust into the collector. One
Way has something similar that they make. I used to use about half
power and half hand sanding. As I progress in my skills, I am doing
almost all power. If I start with a courser grit, say 100 grit, I will
usually power sand to 150 then hand sand at 150 grit. The hand sanding
leaves a different scratch pattern that the power sanding, so it makes
it easier to see scratcher that haven't been sanded out. I then power
sand to 320 or so, and finish at 320 or finer by hand. I like the
linear scratch pattern of hand sanding rather than the circular pattern
of the power sander. Beyond 600 or so grit, you can't see the
scratches.

Power sanding saves time. If you want to save money on your sanding
discs, cut your own. I buy 12 inch wide rolls of h & l from Klingspoor.
I had three cutters made, using 1, 2, and 3 inch i.d. pipe sections
about 1 1/2 inches long. I had a friend ream out the inside so the
discs would be 1/8 inch over the diameter (3 1/8 inch). They need to be
hardened. There is about a 45 degree bevel on the outside, and a small
bevel on the inside of the cutting edge. For a punch board a piece of
1/2 inch plastic works. Punching can be done 3 ways; A small sledge
hammer, and a wood block over the cutter. A larger arbor press. Or if
you are lucky like me, a small table top punch press which can punch
out 5 layers at a time. These are sometimes available to rent at some
leather mfg. places. When punching, I put the sand side down. This
might make a good club or group project. It reduces the cost of the
discs to less than half.

robo hippy

make an inertia sander, it's nearly free - plans on my web, if I remember
right (www.wbnoble.com) and in the tips section of www.woodturners.org. for
power sanding, I use a right angle pneumatic drill - much lighter, more
power and less heat
bill
"Patriarch" wrote in message
. 97.136...
As I explore the joys of turning, I'm learning a lot. Thanks, folks, for
all of the experience, and opinion, that you share so freely.

Power sanding:

I'm confused as to where to proceed. The catalogs have their usual
bewildering array, and while they certainly wish me no active ill will,
their express purpose in life is to melt down my Amex card. ;-)

Inertial sanders. Air powers dual action sanders. Electric angle
sanders.
Wave discs. Foam backed pads. So many competing choices!

I've got a new Jet 1442, having retired the Shopsmith to 'other, less
stressful duties'. (OK, there are a bunch of boxes piled on top of it in
the shed right now.) I've been turning salad-style bowls in the 10"-14"
range, in dry cabinet-style woods, because I have access to some free - to
- cheap offcuts up to 12/4. I've started on some green wood turning, but
that goes slowly, primarily due to stock prep and storage right now. (I
know that once I get rolling, that may change.)

So what should I try next?

Patriarch

On Fri, 27 May 2005 22:53:34 -0500, Patriarch
wrote:

As I explore the joys of turning, I'm learning a lot. Thanks, folks, for
all of the experience, and opinion, that you share so freely.

Power sanding:

I'm confused as to where to proceed. The catalogs have their usual
bewildering array, and while they certainly wish me no active ill will,
their express purpose in life is to melt down my Amex card. ;-)

Inertial sanders. Air powers dual action sanders. Electric angle sanders.
Wave discs. Foam backed pads. So many competing choices!

I've got a new Jet 1442, having retired the Shopsmith to 'other, less
stressful duties'. (OK, there are a bunch of boxes piled on top of it in
the shed right now.) I've been turning salad-style bowls in the 10"-14"
range, in dry cabinet-style woods, because I have access to some free - to
- cheap offcuts up to 12/4. I've started on some green wood turning, but
that goes slowly, primarily due to stock prep and storage right now. (I
know that once I get rolling, that may change.)

So what should I try next?

Patriarch

I've been power sanding for a few months now and loving it...
I started out on a budget with the stuff below and an old craftsman 3/8 corded
drill.. it works great and maybe someday when I'm rich, I'll buy a little right
angle drill.. *g*

http://www.woodworkingshop.com
and type this number in the search box:
FP30000

Get the hook & loop disks in the 10 pack, and when you find out which grits you
use, the 50 pack is a pretty good deal..

Compared to what I was paying for sand paper, these are a money and time
saver... I've used one set of discs (3 grits.. i love h&L) on 3 or 4 bowls
before they wore out..



mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Since you have an old Shopsmith why not put it to use. I use two faceplates
for each bowl...one for my Jet Mini...one for my old Shopsmith. For sanding
I run the Shopsmith in reverse thereby sanding against the cut for better
results. I start out with foam pads on an electric drill. If your Shopsmith
isn't old enough to have reverse perhaps it can be rewired.
"mac davis" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 27 May 2005 22:53:34 -0500, Patriarch

wrote:

As I explore the joys of turning, I'm learning a lot. Thanks, folks, for
all of the experience, and opinion, that you share so freely.

Power sanding:

I'm confused as to where to proceed. The catalogs have their usual
bewildering array, and while they certainly wish me no active ill will,
their express purpose in life is to melt down my Amex card. ;-)

Inertial sanders. Air powers dual action sanders. Electric angle
sanders.
Wave discs. Foam backed pads. So many competing choices!

I've got a new Jet 1442, having retired the Shopsmith to 'other, less
stressful duties'. (OK, there are a bunch of boxes piled on top of it in
the shed right now.) I've been turning salad-style bowls in the 10"-14"
range, in dry cabinet-style woods, because I have access to some free -
to
- cheap offcuts up to 12/4. I've started on some green wood turning, but
that goes slowly, primarily due to stock prep and storage right now. (I
know that once I get rolling, that may change.)

So what should I try next?

Patriarch

I've been power sanding for a few months now and loving it...
I started out on a budget with the stuff below and an old craftsman 3/8
corded
drill.. it works great and maybe someday when I'm rich, I'll buy a little
right
angle drill.. *g*

http://www.woodworkingshop.com
and type this number in the search box:
FP30000

Get the hook & loop disks in the 10 pack, and when you find out which
grits you
use, the 50 pack is a pretty good deal..

Compared to what I was paying for sand paper, these are a money and time
saver... I've used one set of discs (3 grits.. i love h&L) on 3 or 4 bowls
before they wore out..



mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

On Wed, 01 Jun 2005 13:13:47 GMT, "James R. Shields"
wrote:

Since you have an old Shopsmith why not put it to use. I use two faceplates
for each bowl...one for my Jet Mini...one for my old Shopsmith. For sanding
I run the Shopsmith in reverse thereby sanding against the cut for better
results. I start out with foam pads on an electric drill. If your Shopsmith
isn't old enough to have reverse perhaps it can be rewired.

My shopsmith doesn't have reverse, but I was thinking that if I mounted the
faceplate on the rear shaft....
hmm... sounds too easy, I'll have to take a look today..






mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

mac davis wrote:

On Wed, 01 Jun 2005 13:13:47 GMT, "James R. Shields"
wrote:


Since you have an old Shopsmith why not put it to use. I use two faceplates
for each bowl...one for my Jet Mini...one for my old Shopsmith. For sanding
I run the Shopsmith in reverse thereby sanding against the cut for better
results. I start out with foam pads on an electric drill. If your Shopsmith
isn't old enough to have reverse perhaps it can be rewired.


My shopsmith doesn't have reverse, but I was thinking that if I mounted the
faceplate on the rear shaft....
hmm... sounds too easy, I'll have to take a look today..






mac

Please remove splinters before emailing
It will work on the rear shaft. This reverse sanding was identified by
some Shopsmith literature I had at one time(may still have it somewhere).

On Wed, 01 Jun 2005 18:09:06 GMT, Ralph wrote:

mac davis wrote:

On Wed, 01 Jun 2005 13:13:47 GMT, "James R. Shields"
wrote:


Since you have an old Shopsmith why not put it to use. I use two faceplates
for each bowl...one for my Jet Mini...one for my old Shopsmith. For sanding
I run the Shopsmith in reverse thereby sanding against the cut for better
results. I start out with foam pads on an electric drill. If your Shopsmith
isn't old enough to have reverse perhaps it can be rewired.


My shopsmith doesn't have reverse, but I was thinking that if I mounted the
faceplate on the rear shaft....
hmm... sounds too easy, I'll have to take a look today..


Please remove splinters before emailing
It will work on the rear shaft. This reverse sanding was identified by
some Shopsmith literature I had at one time(may still have it somewhere).

cool...
thanks, ralph... I was going to check it out last night, but my Mini died and
ruined my night pretty effectively.. *sigh*

Going shopping today for a Jet 1442 vsk...



mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

"mac davis" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 01 Jun 2005 13:13:47 GMT, "James R. Shields"

For sanding
I run the Shopsmith in reverse thereby sanding against the cut for better
results. I start out with foam pads on an electric drill.

My shopsmith doesn't have reverse, but I was thinking that if I mounted
the
faceplate on the rear shaft....
hmm... sounds too easy, I'll have to take a look today..

This makes sense to you, Mac? "Sanding against the cut?"

Not sure how you cut, but I cut from rim to bottom inside, bottom to rim
outside. Leaves concentric gouge marks which are best removed by sanding
across them. On a disk, means touching 345 to 015 degrees, or 165 to 195.
Of course, if the piece itself is rotating, the actual pattern of scratches
will be some sort of angled one, though it would be an "X" (with curved
legs) if one went bottom then top. If the piece were rotating in reverse?
Still an "X" overall. Broaden the legs by sanding closer to 090 or 270.

The advantage of power sanding over hand sanding is that when hand sanding,
you're trying to remove marks by sanding in the same pattern of concentric
marks, with power, you can cut across them. Makes much shorter work of
removal.

On Wed, 1 Jun 2005 15:34:17 -0400, "George" george@least wrote:


"mac davis" wrote in message
.. .
On Wed, 01 Jun 2005 13:13:47 GMT, "James R. Shields"

For sanding
I run the Shopsmith in reverse thereby sanding against the cut for better
results. I start out with foam pads on an electric drill.

My shopsmith doesn't have reverse, but I was thinking that if I mounted
the
faceplate on the rear shaft....
hmm... sounds too easy, I'll have to take a look today..

This makes sense to you, Mac? "Sanding against the cut?"

Not sure how you cut, but I cut from rim to bottom inside, bottom to rim
outside. Leaves concentric gouge marks which are best removed by sanding
across them. On a disk, means touching 345 to 015 degrees, or 165 to 195.
Of course, if the piece itself is rotating, the actual pattern of scratches
will be some sort of angled one, though it would be an "X" (with curved
legs) if one went bottom then top. If the piece were rotating in reverse?
Still an "X" overall. Broaden the legs by sanding closer to 090 or 270.

The advantage of power sanding over hand sanding is that when hand sanding,
you're trying to remove marks by sanding in the same pattern of concentric
marks, with power, you can cut across them. Makes much shorter work of
removal.

dunno, George.. I just hit a few pieces where the hand and power sanding is
causing "mini-tear out" and if I hand sand in the other direction (with the
grain?) the bowl is sanded smoother without burnishing it..
it seems to "stand up" the fibers like one of those old Norelco commercials, but
then leaving them instead of cutting them off.. lol


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

George george@least wrote:

: For sanding
: I run the Shopsmith in reverse thereby sanding against the cut for better
: results. I start out with foam pads on an electric drill.

: This makes sense to you, Mac? "Sanding against the cut?"

Well, if you turn the piece with the spindle rotating counterclockwise,
the fibers (on faceplate turning) will tend to be pushed clockwise.
(You can tell this by turning it, lathe off, in each direction, and
feeling more roughness in the clockwise direction).

So, sanding against the grain would be to sand with the sandpaper turning
c-clockwise with respect to the piece.

-- Andy Barss

On Wed, 01 Jun 2005 08:55:02 -0700, mac davis
wrote:

On Wed, 01 Jun 2005 13:13:47 GMT, "James R. Shields"
wrote:

Since you have an old Shopsmith why not put it to use. I use two faceplates
for each bowl...one for my Jet Mini...one for my old Shopsmith. For sanding
I run the Shopsmith in reverse thereby sanding against the cut for better
results. I start out with foam pads on an electric drill. If your Shopsmith
isn't old enough to have reverse perhaps it can be rewired.

My shopsmith doesn't have reverse, but I was thinking that if I mounted the
faceplate on the rear shaft....
hmm... sounds too easy, I'll have to take a look today..

Yeah, it's probably too good to be true. I had the same thought about
the rear shaft of my Delta Midi, and upon removing the handwheel
discovered that the threads were not only a different tpi count, but
had a big dead spot in the center where the set screws go. Too bad,
really- it would have been handy to turn slightly larger things on the
outside.

Prometheus wrote:
On Wed, 01 Jun 2005 08:55:02 -0700, mac davis
wrote:


On Wed, 01 Jun 2005 13:13:47 GMT, "James R. Shields"
wrote:


Since you have an old Shopsmith why not put it to use. I use two faceplates
for each bowl...one for my Jet Mini...one for my old Shopsmith. For sanding
I run the Shopsmith in reverse thereby sanding against the cut for better
results. I start out with foam pads on an electric drill. If your Shopsmith
isn't old enough to have reverse perhaps it can be rewired.

My shopsmith doesn't have reverse, but I was thinking that if I mounted the
faceplate on the rear shaft....
hmm... sounds too easy, I'll have to take a look today..


Yeah, it's probably too good to be true. I had the same thought about
the rear shaft of my Delta Midi, and upon removing the handwheel
discovered that the threads were not only a different tpi count, but
had a big dead spot in the center where the set screws go. Too bad,
really- it would have been handy to turn slightly larger things on the
outside.


The Shaft on a Shopsmith is not threaded. Attachments are held on with a
set screw. If you look at the rear shaft you will observe a flat
section on the shaft for set screws. , the same as the front shaft.

James R. Shields wrote:
Since you have an old Shopsmith why not put it to use. I use two faceplates
for each bowl...one for my Jet Mini...one for my old Shopsmith. For sanding
I run the Shopsmith in reverse thereby sanding against the cut for better
results. I start out with foam pads on an electric drill. If your Shopsmith
isn't old enough to have reverse perhaps it can be rewired.
"mac davis" wrote in message
...

On Fri, 27 May 2005 22:53:34 -0500, Patriarch



How old does a Shopsmith have to be to have reverse?