Bushing making blanks grey! Dust form sanding??

[philb]

After sanding upto the beginning of the MM grades, the sanding balnks have some dust form the bushing where i must of caught them with sandpaper!

Its there way to get it out or avoid it! Other than not sanding the bushings! lol

 

[Federman]

You could try sanding from the center of the blank towards the bushings.

after sanding with lathe running, sand lengthwise (with grain) from BB to remove circumferential scratches and any build up.

Make sure your sandpaper in clean.

Sanding Sealer

Hope some of these help!

 

[OKLAHOMAN]

You can try useing DNA to clean the blanks and you answered your own question, to avoid it in the future do not sand the bushings.

 

[wudnhed]

If your using MM sanding cloths you might applying too much pressure and getting discoloration from the MM also. I had the same problem with the bushing too, tried being more observant on how I sanded each blank. Good Luck!

 

[Randy_]

After you have been turning for a while you will get the hang of it and the problem will pretty much disappear. I made some little washers cut out of the top of a butter tub. They are about a 1/2" larger than the pen blanks and fit between the blank and the bushing to keep the sandpaper from running over onto the bushings.

 

[leehljp]

Once I get my blanks turned down to approximate size, I take the bushings off and place the blank between a "dead center" and the tail stock live center, NO sanding dust from bushings. You do need to rely on calipers for sizing, but then bushings should not be relied on for final sizing anyway.

 

[pilot1022]

Sand paper, never use it, I use abranet and abralon from Mirka, staining no problem. Mirka cuts thru the wood better then any sand paper and lasts much longer. []

 

[drayman]

i do/and use the same as pilot1022, abrenet is fantastic and lasts 100 x longer in my veiw.

 

[philb]

Im using abranet and MM. I thinking its more the case of i was touching the busings with the rougher papers!

Maybe ill try using a smaller piece of abrasive too!

 

[Texatdurango]

Don't kid yourselves with the abranet, if you get over onto the bushings you too will pick up small metal particles which will get into the wood fibers.

It may be a better choice than many types of sandpaper but isn't a solution in itself to the problem being discussed.

philbaldwin, As mentioned above, When I have my blanks turned down to bushing size I remove the bushings and continue sanding then applying the finish with two 60 degree centers holding the blank itself. No more metal contamination and nicer, rounder blanks!

 

[TowMater]

So do you need a live center and a dead center, and where do you guys pick these up?

Thanks,

Todd

 

[Texatdurango]

Todd, I just put a photo in my album to show you how turning, sanding and even applying a CA finish can be accomplished using centers. There is no way you are going to get bushing particles in the blanks this way.

There is a member selling specialized 60 degree bushings in the classifieds area, he also sell both live and dead centers at reasonable prices. You don't have to have his bushings but they sure are nice to use.