Micromesh sanding problem

[Charles]

Ok, guys how can I stop this,
Please tell me how you sand your light wood blanks. I have no problem with the acrylic ones. However the wood and acrylic, I turn then try to sand, and the blank,white areas turn dirty looking. So I tried using a skew and it got white again. Then I tried just putting a CA/BLO finish on. 4 coats and then taking to the beal buffer with white diamond. CA finish...gone and edges of the buff turned black. I was trying to buff while still on the mandrel. I always buff acrylic on the mandrel and buff never changes or turns black. Why? Buff is still hitting the metal bushings. Also, tried the small colored pads up to 12000 grit and same thing. Blank turned dark. Please help. This happens whenever I try to finish a light colored wood, Maple, Holly, etc. After turning the blank how can I get it smooth ie 12000 grit w/o getting blank dirty looking. Also, now that the edges of my Beal Buff is black, can these be cleaned?

 

[JBCustomPens]

My best guess is that the dust from your metal bushings is hitting the blank and contaminating it. There are several ways to avoid this.

One way is to TBC. Here is a good article about it. http://content.penturners.org/articles/2010/turningbetweencenters.pdf
I'd talk to JohnnyCNC for this.

Another way is to use delrin bushings when sanding only. The dust won't contaminate.
Again, I'd talk to JohnnyCNC about supplies.

Hope this helps!

 

[NewLondon88]

I think Gregg covered most of it already. But a question comes to mind.
Are you sanding the wood to 12,000? If so, is there a particular reason
for it?

The black does sound like metal dust from the bushings. But I wouldn't
think it would contaminate the wood once you have the CA on it. That
should protect it from the dust.

Hitting the bushings with MicroMesh will generate black dust, no question.
It's an abrasive, so it will sand off the bushings. White diamond will do the
same thing. Your buff is now picking up this dust and turning black.

Why didn't it do that before? I'm not sure. Perhaps your bushings had
a coating of CA on them before? You'd be sanding the CA instead of the
metal, so the dust would be white.. not so noticeable. Just a guess..

Wet sanding can help you clear away the dust, and washing the pads
often will keep them cleaner. Sanding from the center out toward the
bushings will help, too.

Any sanding of the bushings is going to generate black dust, and that
will contaminate your woods. It is just more noticeable on light woods.
(polishing compounds or liquids will do the same thing)
So .. either stop short of the bushings (hard to do) or sand into the
bushings, not from the bushings onto the wood. That will help keep the
dust off of the blank.

 

[Mark]

And wash your MM pads.

I wash mine every time I use them. Overkill? Maybe.
I'm a neat freak. I still clean up after every pen I create. :biggrin:

 

[RussFairfield]

It sounds like you are sanding the bushings, or melting th Micro-Mesh.

If you are sanding the bushings, your pen barrels will be getting smaller than the metal fittings on the pen.

Give the bushings a thin coat of CA glue, and start turning and sanding your pens barrels to slightly larger than the bushings. Your pens will look the better for it, and you won't have a problem with metal dust on light wood.

You might also start sanding at a slower speed because the heat may be melting the adhesive on the Micro-Mesh. It is not at all tolerant of heat and melts at a pretty low temperature.

Then there are some light woods that just get dirty whenever they are sanded. Canarywood is one of those I avoid because it is impossible to keep it clean. Others may not have this problem, but I do, and I am neither sanding on the bushings nor melting the Micro-Mesh.