Sanding voids

[Terry B]

Dear All
I have tried my hand at turning a small bowl with voids in the side. It was made from a crotch of stringybark and turned sideways ie with the branches sticking out whilst turning. This gave 3 branch hearts on the wall of the bowl- an effect I quite like. (see Pic)
Whilst sanding I had great trouble when sanding over the voids. I just sand by hand with the bowl spinning. Should I use power sanding etc or is this no better?
The sandpaper would catch and the sides of the void become a bit blurred.
Any advice?

[rsser]

Terry, it is do-able with a power sander but you need a light touch, otherwise you end up trimming the 'leading edge' of the void.

Cliff has posted on using a thong with sandpaper for this problem. I believe the banana-benders take the thong off first but I can't be sure.

btw, one trick of the trade is that if you find that most of the bowl is good but there's one or two patches of tear-out, then use the power sander with the lathe stationary to take them out. Blend the patch into the surrounds. A small amount of this ends up invisible usually.

Nice work in any case.

[Terry B]

Terry, it is do-able with a power sander but you need a light touch, otherwise you end up trimming the 'leading edge' of the void.

Cliff has posted on using a thong with sandpaper for this problem. I believe the banana-benders take the thong off first but I can't be sure.

btw, one trick of the trade is that if you find that most of the bowl is good but there's one or two patches of tear-out, then use the power sander with the lathe stationary to take them out. Blend the patch into the surrounds. A small amount of this ends up invisible usually.

Nice work in any case.

Thanks for the advice.

[Auzzie turner]

very nice

[TTIT]

Nice work Terry:D - that's a style that appeals greatly to me (as you'll see in a post I've got coming).:) No great tips on sanding it - trick is just not to push too hard - I try and hold the sandpaper so it just touches as it passes but it takes a long time to move a little wood. Ern's tip is best to cover the real bad spots.