Sanding Tight Areas

[Bleedaggie]

Brand new turner moving from pens to other projects. I see a bunch of bottle stoppers with far more intricate designs and tighter spaces than this practice blank. But for the life of me I can't figure out how to sand with the grain to get rid of the lines. I've searched the forum and youtube. Confident I'm just not searching the right words because I can't find anything on it and it seems to be something most projects would require. Any help? Thanks in advance.

 

[monophoto]

Sanding with the grain is a great practice, but it may not always be possible. In this case, the only way I could see that you could sand with the grain inside that cove is to use a Dremel tool with a small diameter sanding mandrel that fits inside the cove. And if the cove were any smaller, even that approach wouldn't work.

But even if you can't sand with the grain, you can still sand inside that cove. And if you progress through the grits, and make sure to remove any sanding dust between grits, you can probably eliminate any visible radial scratches. One approach would be to wrap abrasive around a dowel or nail that is smaller in diameter than the cove. Another would be to cut a strip of abrasive, and then twist it to make a 'sanding rope' that fits inside the cove.

 

[farmer]

Sand only with the grain ..... I would super glue sand paper to a small wood or metal rod/dowel and as suggested by monophoto twist so you sand with the grain.

 

[1080Wayne]

Louie pretty much covered everything . There are , or at least used to be , radiused sanding sanding pads designed for coves , but in my view sanding with the grain is impractical in tight coves . The best solution is to remember that elegance in design often equates to simplicity , not complexity . I stay resolutely away from beads and coves on anything under 2 inch diameter .

 

[SteveG]

Another approach to this issue is to NOT sand that area in tight spaces. So, instead of seeking better suited sanding techniques, think about alternative turning techniques that will yield an improved surface right off the tool.