How many of you sand...

[sandking]

i was wondering how many of you turn the lathe of between grits and sand with the grain? For lighter woods I don't find this necessary but on darker ones I can't seem to get the previous grits sanding marks out without doing this up to 400 grit. After that I use MM and you can't see them, then off to the tripoli then white diamond before putting on a CA finish.

 

[alparent]

I do more then that! I sand with the grain all the time. The only time I sand with the lathe on is the initial sanding. I find that it dosn't take me any longer to sand and there is never a sanding mark. Just my way of doing it []

 

[JimGo]

I always do it, even on my MM, and regardless of the woods.

 

[alamocdc]

I never sand with the lathe off unless I have a stubborn area that just won't cooperate. And I keep the speed the same as when I turned the blank.

 

[les-smith]

As a newbie, I have to say I initially underestimated the importance of sanding with the grain. I make sure I do it really well now. It has really made a difference.

 

[Paul in OKC]

Originally posted by alamocdc
<br />I never sand with the lathe off unless I have a stubborn area that just won't cooperate. And I keep the speed the same as when I turned the blank.

Same here.

 

[ctEaglesc]

Originally posted by sandking
<br />i was wondering how many of you turn the lathe of between grits and sand with the grain? For lighter woods I don't find this necessary but on darker ones I can't seem to get the previous grits sanding marks out without doing this up to 400 grit. After that I use MM and you can't see them, then off to the tripoli then white diamond before putting on a CA finish.

Try it twiththe lathe off and with the grain one time.
You will see a difference in the appearance of the wood you never knew.
It is like looing through a dirty window.You don't know how dirty it was until you wash it.
It is not something that explains well in print, but I have seen work done by others at craft shows and consignment store.
I can tell the diffrence and I am just about blind.

 

[bradh]

Alway sand with the grain up to 400.
I sometimes start my first grit (150) with the grain only, don't turn the lathe on until the second grit (240).
How I do this depends on how soft the wood is.
Brad Harding

 

[Skye]

I go against the grain as well as use my first MM sheet in a 'shine your shoes' manner at 45 degrees, both directions.

 

[TBone]

I am still a beginner, but I started sanding just with the lathe running. Skye saw sanding lines and made me paranoid. [] So I turned off the lathe between each grit and sanded with the grain and saw a big difference. I don't run the lathe at all now until I get to about 2400 MM. Now if only CA was that easy to solve []

 

[sandking]

Funny, I am a beginner and haven't had any issues with CA since Fangar gave me some great advice but sanding I find more challenging.

I find it difficult to sand with the grain by the end of the blanks because my fingers don't fit. I still don't know how you folks that never turn the lathe off get rid of your sanding marks.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Yes, with every other grade of sandpaper and/or MM.

 

[airrat]

I turn off the lathe and sand with the grain on all my blanks. I even sand the length of blanks when I do corian and acrylic. It only adds a few seconds to the work time and really helps out with sanding lines.

 

[Skye]

Originally posted by TBone
[Skye saw sanding lines and made me paranoid. [] So I turned off the lathe between each grit and sanded with the grain and saw a big difference.

Moohhahahaaaaaaaaah! *twists mustache*

 

[DocStram]

The one good habit I've developed is to sand with the lathe on a slow speed ... turn it off ... use the compressor to blow off the blank ... then sand with the grain .... compressor again ... then repeat with the next grit. Takes a little longer but it's worth it. I don't rush things.
I just enjoy the experience of taking my time ... the Zen of Penturning.

 

[alamocdc]

Or is that the Pen of Zenturning?[?][][}]

 

[chigdon]

With certain woods and materials I do that -- darker woods and acrylics/celluloids/resins. However, I start sanding with 400 for that very reason. I have trouble getting out anything more course.

 

[Rojo22]

I sand many of the woods with the grain after getting a good even shallow scratch pattern with the lathe on (400 grit lightly applied). After I get to a good light even scratch pattern, I sand with the grain, with the lathe off with MM.

The acrylics, and resins I do not. I have the same initial approach to them where an even light scratch pattern is needed, but I have not seen a "grain" pattern on any of the plastics, and do not see a need to sand with the grain on the plastics. The secret to the plastics for me has been wet sanding, and patience, and making sure the grit between each sanding is removed. My plastics are sanded and polished with the lathe on from start to finish.

 

[Rudy Vey]

Originally posted by alamocdc
<br />I never sand with the lathe off unless I have a stubborn area that just won't cooperate. And I keep the speed the same as when I turned the blank.

I am with Billy on this, never saw the reason for sanding with the grain. After finish turning with the skew, I start in 80% of the time with 400 grit, for the rest of the time I use 320 and very rarely (mostly on very coarse woods like bog oak) I need to get the 280 grit out.
I also don't see the need to slow the lathe down for sanding.

 

[bob393]

Originally posted by ctEaglesc
<br />

Originally posted by sandking
<br />i was wondering how many of you turn the lathe of between grits and sand with the grain? For lighter woods I don't find this necessary but on darker ones I can't seem to get the previous grits sanding marks out without doing this up to 400 grit. After that I use MM and you can't see them, then off to the tripoli then white diamond before putting on a CA finish.

Try it twiththe lathe off and with the grain one time.
You will see a difference in the appearance of the wood you never knew.
It is like looing through a dirty window.You don't know how dirty it was until you wash it.
It is not something that explains well in print, but I have seen work done by others at craft shows and consignment store.
I can tell the diffrence and I am just about blind.

I always sand with the lathe on but I guess I will try it off with the grain.[]

 

[JimGo]

Originally posted by Rudy Vey
<br />

Originally posted by alamocdc
<br />I never sand with the lathe off unless I have a stubborn area that just won't cooperate. And I keep the speed the same as when I turned the blank.

I am with Billy on this, never saw the reason for sanding with the grain. After finish turning with the skew, I start in 80% of the time with 400 grit, for the rest of the time I use 320 and very rarely (mostly on very coarse woods like bog oak) I need to get the 280 grit out.
I also don't see the need to slow the lathe down for sanding.

Try it twice (just so you know your eyes aren't deceiving you), but do it on only one half of a pen (i.e. upper barrel or lower barrel only), and do the other half using your standard approach. I'd be willing to bet that there will be a significant difference in appearance.

 

[keithz]

I'm a relatively new pen turner and have found that, since I use a skew exclusively on my pens, I am able to start sanding at 320 or higher, but usually start at 220 (150 on the real difficult woods).

I always sand with the lathe on for each grit, then turn it off and sand with the grain manually on each grit up to 400. I usually don't sand with the grain with MM. I then use a CA/BLO finish and and very happy with the finish.

My process, others will vary.

keith

 

[DCBluesman]

You can sand either exclusively with the lathe running or stop it between grits and sand lengthwise...or any combinations thereof. Stop or eliminate any steps based on how imperfect you want your pens to be. BTW, this applies to plastics as well as wood.

 

[MesquiteMan]

I guess I am a little weird here! I sand with the grain (or longitudinally for plastics) with the lathe off first and then turn it on for that grit. I then turn it back off, blow everything off with compressed air, and sand longitudinaly again with the next grit up. I used to do it with the spinning step first and then the stopped sanding but seemed to notice a difference when I went to stopped first and spinning next.

I guess that sound pretty confusing. Heck, now even I am confused!