Scratches from sanding ...

[mbellek]

I've been working with more Dymondwood lately, and I also bought a belt sander recently. I use the belt sander off the ends of my work.

I've not had much of a problem with sanding scratches, or marks in my work until I started using Dymondwood, but now I'm finding big scratches from sanding on the lathe, and big grooves on the ends of my work where I finish it off on the belt sander.

I tried to take a picture to post, but I can't seem to get that detailed with the digital camera that I have...

My sanding process usually goes like this:
100 grit
120 grit
280 grit
320 grit
400 grit
then I use this 400 grit that is on a piece of purple foam, but it is much softer than 400 grit paper, I finish up with that usually.

When doing the ends on the belt sander, I just sand it down to what I need, then I use the same papers as above to hand-sand it.

These methods have always worked with other woods.

Any suggestions about what I should do differently? Should I be using a lower speed to sand on the lathe? Should I be not using the 120/100 grit sandpaper? It seems to be because I am going againse the grain of the wood, because I am using straight-cut d-wood...

Ugh![xx(] I love the way Dymondwood looks, but I'm starting to see why so many people hate working with it!!!

 

[Rifleman1776]

You are starting way to coarse. Start about about 220 grit. Stop the lathe and sand lengthwise on the blank between every grit. Use a light that allows you to inspect closely to make sure those dreaded 'rings' have been sanded out. Takes patience and time.

 

[CaptG]

Hi Melanie. 100 and 120 grit is very course and I would bet that you are getting deep scratches right off the bat with this paper. These are hard to remove and take a LOT of sanding to get them out. I start with 280, then 600, then 800. I finish with EEE polish if I am not going to ca finish. Also stop the lathe and sand end to end before going to next grit of sandpaper. Hope this helps.[]

 

[CaptG]

How 'bout that. Frank beat me by 37 seconds, lol

 

[mrcook4570]

You have a fairly large gap in grits from 120 to 280. A general rule that I have always followed is increase grit by no more than 50%. That is, 50% of 120 = 60 and 120 + 60 = 180. So 180 would be the next grit.

Don't forget to keep sanding with a given grit until all marks from the previous grit are removed. It is often helpful to sand lengthwise (with the lathe off) before progressing to the next grit. This will remove scratches that are perpendicular to the long axis of the spindle and makes it easier to see when all of the previous marks have been removed.

Keep practicing with your skew and you will be able to start sanding at 400 or 600 grit (or even finer).

 

[les-smith]

I turn a lot of dymondwood. I bought a bunch off the forum here. And like the others are saying, I start my sanding with 220, 320, 400 then micro mesh. I also use 600 and 800 when I don't wan't to use micro mesh.

I think another aspect of your problem may be that the dymondwood is really really hard.

 

[ctwxlvr]

Depending on your skill with the tools, I recommend starting at 400 grit, with that grit I am able to remove most of my tool marks in a few seconds for diamond wood and with other hard to work with woods, the only time I use coarser grits is if I have a lot of tear out from punky wood to clean up.

 

[IPD_Mrs]

Melanie,
You were told before when you posted you sanding sequence that the 100 grit was too rough. Also you stop too soon at the 400.

When I use a skew my finish before any sandpaper is better than what 100 grit will do. (Not bragging, just pointing out what proper tool usage will do for you when you learn on here and via DVDs)

I will sand through 600 grit before switching to MM. I typically don't use the 1500 MM because I fee it is rougher than 600 paper. This is all for the round surface. As for the end that you are hitting with the belt sander, you need to use the finer grits for the end as well or you will have bad scratches from the course paper on the belt sander.

Do yourself a favor and go to Russ' web site and try what he is teaching. It will make your life easier. Also there are two videos from Alan Lancer called the Skew Chisel and Son of Skew.
These are around $35 each. If you dont get a fine finish from a skew before you start sanding, then this will be the best 70 bucks you have ever spent.

If this comes across sounding harsh I don't mean it that way. You just need to learn from experience sometimes as there is no real easy quick way to a professional finish.

Mike

 

[mbellek]

I have only been turning for a month (exactly as of 3 days ago!!) so I have kind of just been using what was laying around.

I started out turning poplar and then padauk and purpleheart, and that sequence of sanding worked very well.

I think part of the problem is that I have been sharpening my own tools of late, and I'm not terribly good at it. (We don't have one of those guards that holds it in place for you and I've done a lot of "investing" lately--so I have to make do for now)

 

[rherrell]

What ctwxlvr said!

 

[TellicoTurning]

Melanie,
I'm going to differ with these guys some.. I use the dymondwoods a lot myself.. I have been making duck calls and deer grunts from dymondwood the past couple of weeks.. I like how it looks and turns.. I generally finish the turning with the skew.. for most part do all of the turning with skew. Then I start with 120 or 180 grit clothbacked sandpaper, then switch to abranet at whatever last grit I used, run up through the 400, then switch over to the PSI finishing foam pads.. much same as micromesh.. sand lightly in all cases, wipe the turning carefully with soft paper towel or cloth between grits. I sand at the same speed that I turn, usually about 1800 rpms, just don't sand too long on any grit. on the straight cut DW, it never hurts to sand lengthwise with the lathe off, but sand lightly. I then wipe with either acetone or DNA to get all the sanding dust off before I finish.

 

[EeyorIs21]

GO HERE: http://www.woodturner-russ.com/FSOriginal2.html

This website can answer all your questions.

Sand very slowly. Don't skip grits. Sand lengthwise with lathe off. Do not progress without first removing all scratches from previous grit. Be certain to wipe off blank very well before switch to next grit. If you do not wipe between grits you may have some grit on the blank(that came off paper) and gets trapped between your blank and the next finer grit. You end up with the deep scrathes as that 1 piece of grit rolls around.

 

[mbellek]

Acetone will not hurt the color of Dymondwood? I was using tack cloth to clean it up before finishing...

 

[TellicoTurning]

Acetone won't hurt the color and it evaporates very fast. If The tack cloth does the same thing and you are comfortable, that is your method. It doesn't matter how you clean the blanks between grits.. important that you do.