cutting and preparing segments

[babyblues]

I'm considering getting a benchtop disc sander to help sand segments smooth for gluing, and also to get them square so they all fit together tightly. Do any of you use a benchtop disc sander or some other sanding machine? Without the benefit of having different machines in front of me to see how accurate they are or how tight their tolerances are, which machine would you recommend or what is your opinion of the machine you have?

How do those of you who do segmenting prepare the segments for gluing? Power sanding or hand sanding? It's going to be labor intensive either way, but if there's no advantage to using a machine over sanding by hand, I'd just as soon not spend the money. I'm using a bandsaw to cut my segments. Maybe a different bandsaw blade? I'm open to suggestions.

 

[rjwolfe3]

I have been wondering the same thing myself. I have been cutting on the bandsaw because my tablesaw is less accurate and then sanding by hand. I am thinking of getting a belt/disc sanding combo.

 

[akbar24601]

Hi Jason,

I had a Ryobi benchtop sander and I really liked it. It had both the belt and disc sanders on it. I will offer a word of caution though, they take off alot of material really fast. I typically used the disc portion more than the belt. It had a table in front of it and came with a small miter gauge and worked out pretty well. However, I would also do a fair amount of hand sanding as well. All depends on how much material needs to be removed. Alot of times I would lay a piece of sandpaper on the lathe bed and rub the pieces on there since I know that the lathe bed is flat and true.

You had mentioned using the bandsaw. What type blade are you using right now, how many TPI?

 

[bradh]

I use a bench top belt/disc sander for squaring pen blanks and blocks of wood. I check the alignment of the table to the disk with a square to be sure I do keep the machine aligned properly.
I also keep a course grit (60) on the belt for rough sanding and a finer grit (120) on the disc for the precision work.

 

[mikemac]

I actually use my table saw to cut my strips. There are quite a few jigs out there that are designed to make cutting thin strips safe, and with a decent blade, and a bit of tuning, its pretty easy to get accurate and consistent strips. I've easily cut strips 1/16, and sometimes slightly under.

I'll take and post some pics if you're interested later this evening.

 

[hilltopper46]

You may find this thread (below) an interesting one to read through - I ended up getting a 12-inch Disc Sander of no recognizable brand name from a local Farm and Fleet store. it's doing what I want in fine form.

http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=54984

 

[penhead]

Similiar discussion recently on another forum. The popular vote seems to be the Jet 12" disc sander as being the most accurate (barring expense of course).

The most suggested way of accuracy, after tweaking in the table, etc on your disc sander, is making a jig. Tweaking in the jig for exacting accuracy is a lot less expensive, and also creates a repeatable accurate angle..

One tool that I personally have found extremely useful is the Wixey Digital Protractor.
Woodcraft has them still on sale...i think..
http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2020516/22861/Wixey-Digital-Protractor-Electronic-Angle-Gauge.aspx

 

[babyblues]

Hi Jason,

You had mentioned using the bandsaw. What type blade are you using right now, how many TPI?

I'm just using an Olson blade I picked up at Rockler. It think it's 6 TPI. It doesn't do too bad. It just doesn't leave a totally smooth finish, but I only need to do some minimal sanding...but sanding nonetheless.

 

[gvanweerd]

If you get a disk sander i would say, get one with a heavy duty cast iron table. because every movment will show as gaps. I have a cheap Skill 6" disk sander and the table moves so i just use it for the rough sanding then i use a 1 1\2 think slab of granite to handsand on.

 

[akbar24601]

I'm just using an Olson blade I picked up at Rockler. It think it's 6 TPI. It doesn't do too bad. It just doesn't leave a totally smooth finish, but I only need to do some minimal sanding...but sanding nonetheless.

I was using a blade with 18 TPI and it gives a much smoother cut. Granted, there is still sanding involved, but usually a whole lot less.