Starting grits

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Dvoigt

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Dec 5, 2008
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Fraser, MI
In general what is the first grit you use when are start your sanding?

I have a 4 pack roll of from Harbor fright of 150, 240, 320 and 400 grit paper. Some times I feel that 150 is too rough to start with, depending on the how the turning goes.

What do you start with if you finish turning with a bowl gouge? How about a skew?

Thanks!
D
 
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320 for either...ocassionally 220
Do a good turn daily!
Don

Dvoigt said:
In general what is the first grit you use when are start your sanding?

I have a 4 pack roll of from Harbor fright of 150, 240, 320 and 400 grit paper. Some times I feel that 150 is too rough to start with, depending on the how the turning goes.

What do you start with if you finish turning with a bowl gouge? How about a skew?

Thanks!
D
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If I do what I should do with the lathe tools, I start at 320.
Sometimes have to fix a problem and go back to 240.
I made the mistake in the beginning of using 120. Lots of scratches!!
 
I bought HF sanding kits and found the 400 grit to be very poor. Im going to stay with Penn State sanding kits that I get from Woodturningz. I usually sand with 150 first but I try to leave the blanks oversized and sand them to shape, because I use thin CA for a sealer between grits to seal the open grain for a smoother finish.
 
Starting grits? I say just don't start, but then again, I'm not from the south and I know how people here can be about grits.

Say yes to oatmeal.
 
280, 320, 400, 500, MM. I know the 280 to 320 is a small jump but I have a lot of both grits and when I start with 320 I always seem to need to spend extra time with it so I start with the 280. Sometimes, if I've done well with the skew I can start at 320.
 
I am with Skye on this, I like oat meal much better than grits....:biggrin:

My experience with Harbour Freight sanding paper is very bad. I bought once discs for my disc sander and the top layer with the sanding part came off during use - crappy stuff. Then I had a hard time to remove the sticky part, had to remove the disc and soak it in solvent to get everything off. I also bought some sheet sanding paper and was not pleased with it either.
For the few bucks you save, I would not go for the cheap stuff, get some good quality paper from HD or Lowes - the yellow stuff is pretty good. Klingspor has a fine selection of sanding supplies and IAP members used to get a discount. If you can afford it, I would go with Abranet sanding mesh. There is or was just a group buy, so check the group buy section. Since I started Abranet, I never used sand paper again on my pens, just Abranet and MM. The Abranet mesh outlasts sanding paper at least 10 times.
 
You guys are good. I have to start at 150-grit most of the time.

What grit we start with depends on the surface that is left behind with the tool. If the tooled surface allows us to start at 320 or 400 grit, then we should. For me, it is faster to leave a less than perfect cut with the tool, and start sanding with 150-grit, than it is to spend a lot of time trying to get a perfect surface with the turning tool.

Does that mean that my skills are worse than someone who can start sanding at 320 or 400 grit?? No, it's just that I use the 150 and 240 grits as turning tools to refine the shape and curves, and to get down through any grain tear-out. Someone else will use the turning tool, most likely a skew, to do that. For me, it is faster to leave the skew in the rack, and use the coarser sandpaper to make those final cuts.

I also turn mostly unstabilized burl and other "holey" wood, and use the 150-grit for wet sanding with a Medium-CA glue to fill in the voids and grain. The 150 cuts through the CA and makes a slurry that fills the holes. Anything finer than 150 will just skate over the top of the CA glue film and not create a slurry. The 320-grit then becomes the first sanding for finishing the wood.
 
RussFairfield said:
I also turn mostly unstabilized burl and other "holey" wood, and use the 150-grit for wet sanding with a Medium-CA glue to fill in the voids and grain. The 150 cuts through the CA and makes a slurry that fills the holes. Anything finer than 150 will just skate over the top of the CA glue film and not create a slurry. The 320-grit then becomes the first sanding for finishing the wood.
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Someday I have to learn to sand with CA... so far I usually wind up with more on me than on my pen blanks... how do you keep the CA from setting up before it forms a slurry? That seems to be my biggest problem.
 
ozmandus said:
Someday I have to learn to sand with CA... so far I usually wind up with more on me than on my pen blanks... how do you keep the CA from setting up before it forms a slurry? That seems to be my biggest problem.
Click to expand...

slower lathe speed, medium CA, and work quickly
 
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