Powersanding question - out of round - Turning - Woodworking

Powersanding question - out of round

1/13/04, 6:44 PM #1

Greg
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83 posts

Registered: 1/2/04

Powersanding question - out of round

Greg

>I've recently begun doing some bowls, and have been powersanding. However, I've noticed that it is easy to sand the bowl out of round. I'm presuming this is because of the end grain / side grain pattern. However, I'm not sure how to overcome it.

I'm presently running the lathe at abut 90 rpm. My drill runs around 2300 rpm (but I'm looking for a slower speed drill). I have tried running it slower, but it still seems to be doing the same thing. Most of my bowls are between 6" and 8", and most have been out of ambrosia maple, which seems to be worse than a couple of the others (i.e. walnut.)

I'm using two different pads - a harder rubber one, 2", for the outside, and a softer foam rubber one, 2" for the inside.

Does it matter what part of the disc is used? I usually sand where the disc is hitting the wood at about 45 degrees (either 1:30 or 10:30, if you think of the pad as a clock face.) Also, does it matter which direction the sander is running?

My guess is that I should rotate the piece faster, but how fast? Again, I'm doing mostly 6" to 8" pieces.

Sorry for all the questions, but up until now I've mostly done spindle work, not bowl turning. Thanks for any and all help!

- - -

I am always on the hunt for ephemera. It can be pictures, legal document, diplomas, manuals, personal letters and anything else that shows up. I try not to keep any of my finds. I read them, enjoy them, and then look for a permanent home. I have donated to museums, schools, fraternal organizations and even to the Weyerheauser Company. My finds are distributed here in the Pacific Northwest, but also California, Iowa, New Mexico, New York, Wisconsin and Connecticut. Helpful hint: Just about every county in the country has a museum of some sort. They are usually thrilled to receive items that reflect their history and culture. I recently had in my possession a personal letter from February,1946, that had been addressed from one APO (army post office) to another. Stamped on the face was "Return to Sender, Undeliverable Address". I had found it at an estate sale, presumably at the home of the person who originally sent the letter. I have no idea why the letter was kept all these years, but it had never been opened. I opened it and read it at home. It was written by an American woman who worked as a civilian for the U.S. government in post-war Offenhut, Germany. She had sent it to another American woman who was doing a similar job in Shanhghai, China. The letter was newsy and informative about the hardships of living in a bombed out country. No doubt the conditions in Shanghai were no better. I had no great expectations of success, but I googled the name of the intended recipient. The woman's first name is uncommon, and I came upon a woman of that name who had gotten married in California in 1947, the year after the letter was sent. Further, the letter had stated that the two women had worked together for the O.N.I. (Office of Naval Intelligence?) in San Francisco during the war, so California made sense. So I had the woman's current name, or at least it was current 64 years ago. More digging revealed that there is a couple living in the same California town as where the marriage took place. He is 97 and she is 91. (It's amazing what the internet can divulge.) I got the phone number and called. The husband answered. I introduced myself and told him I was looking for a woman and mentioned her maiden name. He said yes, that was his wife's maiden name. Then I said the woman I was looking for had worked in Shanghai after the war. He said, yes, his wife had worked in China. WOW, I had hit paydirt. We didn't talk for long, but he was enthused about receiving the letter, and I mailed it the next day. He promised to write back after the letter arrived. It has been just over a week, so I am eagerly waiting for his return letter. Hopefully it will take less than 65 years to get here. Greg

Re: Powersanding question - out of round

1/13/04, 7:14 PM #2

Kirk DeHeer
Guest

Re: Powersanding question - out of round

Kirk DeHeer

>It sounds to me as if you are doing all of your sanding with the lathe running. With the lathe off sand with your corses grit and sand out your torn grain and tool marks then with the lathe on you can blend in and work threw the grits.

Remove 1 to e-mail

Kirk DeHeer

Re: Powersanding question - out of round

1/13/04, 9:38 PM #3

Peter Teubel
Guest

Re: Powersanding question - out of round

Peter Teubel

>Could the out-of-roundness be due to green wood drying under the heat of power sanding? Personally, with 6-8" bowls, I turn the lathe at 1000rpm and spin the drill at 2500rpm....using a 3" soft foam disc. I get my sanding done so fast that the bowl never gets a chance to go out-of-round ;)

Re: Powersanding question - out of round

1/13/04, 11:15 PM #4

George Troy
Guest

Re: Powersanding question - out of round

George Troy

>I don't do much power sanding anymore, only when I have too. I use the Vic Wood inertia Sander. It helps eliminte heat build-up. I have no scratches use the Vic Wood sander. GT

Re: Powersanding question - out of round

1/14/04, 12:10 AM #5

Paul Norton
Guest

Re: Powersanding question - out of round

Paul Norton

>Greg, I had the same problem sanding small bowls of the same size. I switched to an electric screwdriver

with 5 power/torqe settings and variable speed contol on the throttle. It works great especially for natural edge bowls that are difficult (and dangerous) to sand while spinning.

Re: Powersanding question - out of round

1/14/04, 2:05 AM #6

Greg
Member
Offline
83 posts

Registered: 1/2/04

Re: Powersanding question - out of round

Greg

>Thanks folks, I'll give these suggestions a try!

- - -

I am always on the hunt for ephemera. It can be pictures, legal document, diplomas, manuals, personal letters and anything else that shows up. I try not to keep any of my finds. I read them, enjoy them, and then look for a permanent home. I have donated to museums, schools, fraternal organizations and even to the Weyerheauser Company. My finds are distributed here in the Pacific Northwest, but also California, Iowa, New Mexico, New York, Wisconsin and Connecticut. Helpful hint: Just about every county in the country has a museum of some sort. They are usually thrilled to receive items that reflect their history and culture. I recently had in my possession a personal letter from February,1946, that had been addressed from one APO (army post office) to another. Stamped on the face was "Return to Sender, Undeliverable Address". I had found it at an estate sale, presumably at the home of the person who originally sent the letter. I have no idea why the letter was kept all these years, but it had never been opened. I opened it and read it at home. It was written by an American woman who worked as a civilian for the U.S. government in post-war Offenhut, Germany. She had sent it to another American woman who was doing a similar job in Shanhghai, China. The letter was newsy and informative about the hardships of living in a bombed out country. No doubt the conditions in Shanghai were no better. I had no great expectations of success, but I googled the name of the intended recipient. The woman's first name is uncommon, and I came upon a woman of that name who had gotten married in California in 1947, the year after the letter was sent. Further, the letter had stated that the two women had worked together for the O.N.I. (Office of Naval Intelligence?) in San Francisco during the war, so California made sense. So I had the woman's current name, or at least it was current 64 years ago. More digging revealed that there is a couple living in the same California town as where the marriage took place. He is 97 and she is 91. (It's amazing what the internet can divulge.) I got the phone number and called. The husband answered. I introduced myself and told him I was looking for a woman and mentioned her maiden name. He said yes, that was his wife's maiden name. Then I said the woman I was looking for had worked in Shanghai after the war. He said, yes, his wife had worked in China. WOW, I had hit paydirt. We didn't talk for long, but he was enthused about receiving the letter, and I mailed it the next day. He promised to write back after the letter arrived. It has been just over a week, so I am eagerly waiting for his return letter. Hopefully it will take less than 65 years to get here. Greg

Re: Powersanding question - out of round

1/14/04, 3:39 AM #7

Dave Peebles Lyons,Ohio
Guest

Re: Powersanding question - out of round

Dave Peebles Lyons,Ohio

>Hello Greg,

Like Peter, I tend to sand between 500 rpm and 1000 rpm. I run the drill motor at 2500 rpm. I use the 2" Tim Skilton pads. They are my favorites.

It is possible that running the lathe a such a low speed, you are allowing it to dip into the soft parts of the bowl too much.

I do reverse direction on the lathe between grits, and blow it off with the air compressor between grits. I also sometimes reverse the drill when I am having problems with certain grains. I do tend to sand in the 10 O'clock area on most of mine.

Probably no help, but that's how I do it.

Good luck,

Dave

Re: Powersanding question - out of round

1/14/04, 4:43 AM #8

Greg
Member
Offline
83 posts

Registered: 1/2/04

Re: Powersanding question - out of round

Greg

>Dave,

That is very helpful, thanks! I'm curious, do you run your drill in a clockwise direction? If so, wouldn't that make the disc run basically in the same direction (at least somewhat) as the bowl? I have been sanding some tonight, at a higher RPM (lathe speed), and it does seem to help. I also have been using a softer pad as well. Where do you get the pads you mentioned, and why do you like them? Thanks again!

- - -

I am always on the hunt for ephemera. It can be pictures, legal document, diplomas, manuals, personal letters and anything else that shows up. I try not to keep any of my finds. I read them, enjoy them, and then look for a permanent home. I have donated to museums, schools, fraternal organizations and even to the Weyerheauser Company. My finds are distributed here in the Pacific Northwest, but also California, Iowa, New Mexico, New York, Wisconsin and Connecticut. Helpful hint: Just about every county in the country has a museum of some sort. They are usually thrilled to receive items that reflect their history and culture. I recently had in my possession a personal letter from February,1946, that had been addressed from one APO (army post office) to another. Stamped on the face was "Return to Sender, Undeliverable Address". I had found it at an estate sale, presumably at the home of the person who originally sent the letter. I have no idea why the letter was kept all these years, but it had never been opened. I opened it and read it at home. It was written by an American woman who worked as a civilian for the U.S. government in post-war Offenhut, Germany. She had sent it to another American woman who was doing a similar job in Shanhghai, China. The letter was newsy and informative about the hardships of living in a bombed out country. No doubt the conditions in Shanghai were no better. I had no great expectations of success, but I googled the name of the intended recipient. The woman's first name is uncommon, and I came upon a woman of that name who had gotten married in California in 1947, the year after the letter was sent. Further, the letter had stated that the two women had worked together for the O.N.I. (Office of Naval Intelligence?) in San Francisco during the war, so California made sense. So I had the woman's current name, or at least it was current 64 years ago. More digging revealed that there is a couple living in the same California town as where the marriage took place. He is 97 and she is 91. (It's amazing what the internet can divulge.) I got the phone number and called. The husband answered. I introduced myself and told him I was looking for a woman and mentioned her maiden name. He said yes, that was his wife's maiden name. Then I said the woman I was looking for had worked in Shanghai after the war. He said, yes, his wife had worked in China. WOW, I had hit paydirt. We didn't talk for long, but he was enthused about receiving the letter, and I mailed it the next day. He promised to write back after the letter arrived. It has been just over a week, so I am eagerly waiting for his return letter. Hopefully it will take less than 65 years to get here. Greg

Re: Powersanding question - out of round

1/14/04, 12:23 PM #9

JoeQ
Guest

Re: Powersanding question - out of round

JoeQ

>Greg

you can get the Tim Skilton pads and some great quality sandpaper at Turningwood.com Also here is a link to a page with some suggestions for modifying sanding pads for different situations.Sanding pad variations Everyone seems to have their own preference as far as drill/lathe speed is concerned. Personally, after much experimentation, I seem to get the best results with my lathe turning at 25 RPM or less and the drill around 1500/1800 RPM(I'm guessing at that as it is a variable speed drill). I do a lot of switching between hard, medium and soft density pads depending on the characteristics of the wood. Joe

Re: Powersanding question - out of round

1/15/04, 4:02 AM #10

Dave Peebles Lyons,Ohio
Guest

Re: Powersanding question - out of round

Dave Peebles Lyons,Ohio

>Hi Greg,

Like Joe said, I get my Skilton pads from Steve too.

As for the drill direction, I tend to switch it depending on the results I get. I will do anything to make things easier. :) Most of the time it is in a clockwise direction with the lathe direction reversed at each grit. But I do experiment depending on the results I get.

I am a fan of the no rules club, I try everything, and discard the things that do not work.

Best wishes,

Dave

Powersanding question - out of round

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