Woodworking (rec.woodworking) Discussion forum covering all aspects of working with wood. All levels of expertise are encouraged to particiapte.

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1   Report Post  
Posted to rec.woodworking
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 109
Default Working curved surfaces?

I'm building a Halltree and the plans call for curved arms, approx
2" x 4" x 15" in walnut. I cut them on a band saw to the pattern, and
now have to make them smooth and pretty. On the front supports, I
used a drum sander in the drill press to rough them to size, then a
half round file, eventually sand paper. Seems like a lot of work!

What is a good way to smooth these puppies, or similar projects, in
the future? I have the usual assortment of hand tools, but all seem
to work with flat/straight surfaces. What did people use before power
tools??? And making two pieces the same shape???

Any ideas will be appreciated!

Regards,
Rich.....

  #2   Report Post  
Posted to rec.woodworking
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,489
Default Working curved surfaces?

On Thu, 02 Aug 2007 16:09:55 -0700, rich
wrote:

I'm building a Halltree and the plans call for curved arms, approx
2" x 4" x 15" in walnut. I cut them on a band saw to the pattern, and
now have to make them smooth and pretty. On the front supports, I
used a drum sander in the drill press to rough them to size, then a
half round file, eventually sand paper. Seems like a lot of work!

What is a good way to smooth these puppies, or similar projects, in
the future? I have the usual assortment of hand tools, but all seem
to work with flat/straight surfaces. What did people use before power
tools??? And making two pieces the same shape???

Any ideas will be appreciated!

Regards,
Rich.....


I chuck a drum into my drill press. Other times I make custom sanding
blocks and staple sandpaper to them. Draw the curved line, bandsaw
leaving the line, sand to remove half the line. And yes, it's lots
of work. Someday I'm gonna splurge for that $600 Grizzly spindle
sander. Be extra careful with your lungs and walnut dust!!!
  #3   Report Post  
Posted to rec.woodworking
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 80
Default Working curved surfaces?

Cabinet Scraper

"rich" wrote in message
ps.com...
I'm building a Halltree and the plans call for curved arms, approx
2" x 4" x 15" in walnut. I cut them on a band saw to the pattern, and
now have to make them smooth and pretty. On the front supports, I
used a drum sander in the drill press to rough them to size, then a
half round file, eventually sand paper. Seems like a lot of work!

What is a good way to smooth these puppies, or similar projects, in
the future? I have the usual assortment of hand tools, but all seem
to work with flat/straight surfaces. What did people use before power
tools??? And making two pieces the same shape???

Any ideas will be appreciated!

Regards,
Rich.....



  #4   Report Post  
Posted to rec.woodworking
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 442
Default Working curved surfaces?


"rich" wrote in message
ps.com...
I'm building a Halltree and the plans call for curved arms, approx
2" x 4" x 15" in walnut. I cut them on a band saw to the pattern, and
now have to make them smooth and pretty. On the front supports, I
used a drum sander in the drill press to rough them to size, then a
half round file, eventually sand paper. Seems like a lot of work!

What is a good way to smooth these puppies, or similar projects, in
the future? I have the usual assortment of hand tools, but all seem
to work with flat/straight surfaces. What did people use before power
tools??? And making two pieces the same shape???

Any ideas will be appreciated!

Regards,
Rich.....

I use a good rasp. It is a Nicholson pattern makers rasp. It is fast and
leaves a smoother surface than cheaper tools. I have spoke shaves and card
scrapers I would use as well.


  #5   Report Post  
Posted to rec.woodworking
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 568
Default Working curved surfaces?

On Aug 2, 7:09 pm, rich wrote:
I'm building a Halltree and the plans call for curved arms, approx
2" x 4" x 15" in walnut. I cut them on a band saw to the pattern, and
now have to make them smooth and pretty. On the front supports, I
used a drum sander in the drill press to rough them to size, then a
half round file, eventually sand paper. Seems like a lot of work!

What is a good way to smooth these puppies, or similar projects, in
the future? I have the usual assortment of hand tools, but all seem
to work with flat/straight surfaces. What did people use before power
tools??? And making two pieces the same shape???

Any ideas will be appreciated!



For smoothing curves I use a flexible sanding block. Mine's just a
piece of bending 1/8" bending plywood that's 2.5x16" with a wooden
knob on each end. I put a 16" long piece of 3M psa Stikit sandpaper
on it (the 2.5" wide rolls) and then sand the curve smooth after
cutting it close on the bandsaw. If I'm making more than one (and
many times even if only one) I'll make a plywood template first, and
then use it to template rout the final piece(s). You can also buy
flexible sanding blocks from automotive supply stores - they're
sometimes called longboards.

JP



  #6   Report Post  
Posted to rec.woodworking
dpb dpb is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 12,595
Default Working curved surfaces?

rich wrote:
I'm building a Halltree and the plans call for curved arms, approx
2" x 4" x 15" in walnut. I cut them on a band saw to the pattern, and
now have to make them smooth and pretty. On the front supports, I
used a drum sander in the drill press to rough them to size, then a
half round file, eventually sand paper. Seems like a lot of work!

What is a good way to smooth these puppies, or similar projects, in
the future? I have the usual assortment of hand tools, but all seem
to work with flat/straight surfaces. What did people use before power
tools??? And making two pieces the same shape???


Spokeshaves, draw knives, rounding planes, ...

A veritable plethora of alternatives abound in the traditional toolkit.

--


  #7   Report Post  
Posted to rec.woodworking
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 109
Default Working curved surfaces?

On Aug 3, 2:00 pm, B A R R Y wrote:
On Thu, 02 Aug 2007 16:09:55 -0700, rich
wrote:



What is a good way to smooth these puppies, or similar projects, in
the future? I have the usual assortment of hand tools, but all seem
to work with flat/straight surfaces. What did people use before power
tools??? And making two pieces the same shape???


Spokeshaves, coping saws, scrapers, compass planes, scorps, rasps,
carving knives are examples of hand tools used to work curves.
Identical pieces were marked out from the same pattern, and measure
with guages, dividers, jigs, etc...

Many hand made antiques have parts that are FAR from identical, but
very close looking in actual installation. If you stacked some of
those parts, you'd be blown away how different some can be and still
look good. I've seen this when disassembling pieces for restoration.
The parts are often not interchangeable on hand made items.

Lots of antiques were in fact made in factories that had machines
capable of duplicating or following patterns.

Nowadays, I'd make a pattern, double-sided tape it to the stock, rough
it on the band saw. and finish with a pattern bit in a router. Final
prep would be with a card scraper or sanding sponges.

---------------------------------------------
**http://www.bburke.com/woodworking.html **
---------------------------------------------


Thanks for all the suggestions. It sounds like I'm doing it about
right, but a pattern and the router is one I didn't think of.

Rich.....

Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules

Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Hardwood Surfaces and Upstand Sean Inglis UK diy 5 March 27th 07 01:59 AM
Surfaces for tiling... stevelup UK diy 22 January 5th 07 08:53 PM
Matching drywall surfaces. Jack Home Repair 4 June 18th 06 02:05 AM
Help with sticky surfaces Dan-the-K Woodworking 15 June 2nd 06 04:15 PM
gluing painted surfaces Mike W. Woodworking 2 November 21st 05 02:54 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 09:35 PM.

Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 DIYbanter.
The comments are property of their posters.
 

About Us

"It's about DIY & home improvement"