>I do most of my bowl sanding by hand, with discs or paper in hand. I'm wondering what methods others use. I'm sure that I'm opening up a can/huge can of worms here. I usually have to start with 60-80 grit, and it really annoys me to no end to waste so much paper. I think I need to order the ellsworth video so I can learn the proper shearing technique used to finish a bowl. Anyone have advice on how to turn the surface smooth enough so I can start with finer paper then I currently am?
with practice(and probably watching a video or live demo) you'll get better and be able to start with a higher grit however don't let that deter you. My friend Brad Sells makes wonderful carved vessels with a chainsaw and usually starts with 24 grit. He finishes with 400 grit with hand rubbed oil. These pieces sell in the thousands.
I hand sand a lot but when I turn bowls I usually power sand. I use a $60 dewalt drill and purchased 2" foam sanding mandrels. I bought a mandrel for each grit because I use the hook and loop discs. I was wearing out the hook and loop on the mandrel very rapidly from changing sanding discs so often. After buying 6 mandrels I haven't replaced a single disc.
I'll start with whatever grit will do the job. On wood that has bad spots usually 120 and good wood usually 220. I often start at too low a grit but I find that's better than starting too high. You waste more time trying to get out a bad spot by starting with too high a grit. If you start to low you waste a little extra sandpaper but your sanding goes much faster.
Shear scraping with either a scraper or the edge of a bowl gouge will reduce the amount of sanding a great deal. Trent Bosch had gouge he sharpens just for the final passes. Works great but since he does so much carving he ends up sanding a lot anyway.
Simple answer, both. If it's a totally round vessel or my hand mirrors that are round I sand under power but reduce the speed way down. Someone told me once to slow the lathe down so the wood is moving slower than the sandpaper. I took it to heart and it's served me well.
If the piece has gotten out of round or is a natural edge or square piece I sand with the lathe off. It's to easy to round over an edge or to get it too thin out on the wings when sanding with the lathe spinning. That's not to say that I've never done it you just have to be really careful not to ruin the piece.
Out of round bowls can be a problem because the sandpaper will completely miss an area and you'll end up sanding part of the bowl thinner than the rest. With the power off you can control this. The same is true with wood that is punky in just one or two areas.