What speed do you micro mesh and apply finish at?

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I use it as the slowest speed of our Jet 1014. Something like 450rpms. You do not want to go too fast because of heat build up and those MM pads will burn if you are not careful. DAMHIKT :redface:
 
I have a ShopSmith as well. I micromesh at K and apply CA for finishing at A. I round blanks at C and shape at F - I.

Tomas
 
I too use a Shopmith and I apply all CA on my Shopsmith at the slowest speed setting (A), which is 700RPM. I'd go slower if I could, but it's not worth mounting the speed reducer for it, so the A speed works fine.

I cover lots of stuff, including the way tubes, so I don't sling CA all over also.
 
I run it at 2800 on my 1014. MM does great wet so look at it as wetsanding...light and fast, low pressure. Haven't broken one yet.
 
I wet micro mesh.
I turn, sand, CA finish and micro mesh 1 from the top on my Jet 1014. I would do it all at top speed if I ddin't have a vibration when at top speed.
Around 3000-3200 top is 3900ish
 
Maybe that's why my MM wetsanding takes so long... I've been wetsanding with MM at around 960 RPM. I need to jack the speed up a bit eh?:tongue:


Apply CA at low speed (3-400 RPM), wetsand at high RPM.

That's the ticket.
 
For CA application, I apply it without the lathe running, and turn the lathe using the headstock wheel.

For buffing with MM pads, I use mid-high speed (1200 to 1800 -- I have a belt changer lathe, so if I turned at 1200, I leave it there, and the same for 1800). I do take it easy on the pressure, and do not use each grit for more than maybe 15-20 seconds.
 
2000 to 2500 RPM for wet MM. I keep it wet using water in a spray bottle. Does not take very long for each grade. Then I rinse each MM pad with the spray bottle before I move to the next one.
 
Just goes to show that there's more than one way that works. I usually do it at 400. I find I don't burn through the finish at low speeds. Saves a lot of time.
 
micromesh wet and fast. I keep the sheets in a bucket of soapy water.
A few drops if dish detergent in the water helps lubricate the MM for
either resins or CA. I don't use MM on bare wood anymore.
 
The responses that have been given totally surprised me. I always thought that slower was better when sanding because it allows the grit to do its job, but now most of you are saying mid to high speed when wet sanding. Have I been wrong in my sanding protocol this whole time (very possible) or is there a reason why wet sanding should be done at a higher speed?
 
might just be that we're too lazy to change the belt.
Or it might be that with the micromesh it's more polishing
than sanding. Sandpaper I use slow, micromesh fast and wet.
 
Man, I feel like a speed demon! I use MM at the fastest my Jet will go - 3,700 I think. Never had a burning problem and have been using the same MM for months. I use it dry with a foam block as a pad. I have the MM 3x4 sheets - not the smaller pad set.

I don't do much CA finish but I do use the slowest speed available for it.

Earl
 
The best answer for you is to try it all kinds of different was and go with what works best for you.
3 of the "use it wet and as fast as possible" are people from the New England Chapter. Alton (greenmtnguy) showed us all how he was doing the CA finish. I was taking 30-40 minutes to get a good finish on a pen. I now use a variation of his finish and it now takes 5-10 min depending if I make a mistake or not. I have had to take the blank off the lath and let it sit of a bit sand of the finish and start all over a couple times. I like the turning part, I am not a fan of finishing the pens.
I only make the pens kits under $15 right now and use blanks that are all under $10 if I mess up I dont worry about it. I just part off the damage or turn it all off and put on something else. If people seen how I turn Inlace blanks they would be shocked. Its a chippy blank but I just crush thru it till the blank is round and close to size then use a skew.
 
I also keep my MM in a container of water while I'm wetsanding. I also rinse (most of the time) between grits. I tried speeding up the lathe last night while polishing an acrylic blank, but I wasn't comfortable at that 3600 RPM speed, so backed it down to 2200 or so....

It did go a lot faster than normal.

As a side note...
I find that if you burn through a CA finish, you're either using too coarse of sandpaper, or you didn't get enough CA on. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. I put 10 coats minimum for CA (5 thin, and 5 medium). If I have too many ripples I'll use a skew to get it all round, then I start with 500 grit wetsanding, and run through the MM. I know several guys who only sand to 1,000 or 1,200, then just use Tripolee to buff it out the rest of the way.
 
I put on about 6 or 7 thin ca but I do use a lot. It all depends on if I have enough room on the paper towel for the 7th. I like the gloss but dont want to have the ca to thick. Had a few people voice worries about ca cracking so I keep it on the thinner side.
 
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