Thread: sanding

A lot of the time I start at 40 and go up 80, 120, 180.

Originally Posted by fisherman

Just wondering how many of you sand your carvings and for those who do what grade of sand paper do you sand down to. I start sanding at 80 grit and go through all the grits to 400, sometimes nearly takes me as long to sand as it does to carve. Just curious to know what others do.

Fisherman

Originally Posted by fisherman

Just wondering how many of you sand your carvings and for those who do what grade of sand paper do you sand down to. I start sanding at 80 grit and go through all the grits to 400, sometimes nearly takes me as long to sand as it does to carve. Just curious to know what others do.

Fisherman

That sounds about right! Sometimes the thing being sanded will allow for the use of power sanding which speeds things up a bit but even then its a long, slow, messy job most of the time.

and I thought I was all alone with my pain

I've been doing some detail carving with a rotary tool and small carbide burrs. I was getting annoying fluff along the many edges from small tears. The solution has been a small wire wheel followed by a round polishing stone - the result is a little rough but has a pleasing texture from the stone and now only needs a quick hand smooth with 320.

Most supermarkets sell packs of 2 or 3 felt like scouring pads, quite cheaply.
Cut (scissors) to postage stamps size and attach to rotary tool arbor; use one at a time.
Don't trim the corners as the corners will work to your advantage.
You can cut a dozen squares from each scouring pad.
Used in a rotary tool these will quickly remove wood fluff and add a smooth polished surface to your carved surface.
They wear quite quickly, but remember it is the edge that does the work and they will last longer.
They are much cheaper than stones and wire brushes, and get into tricky corners quite easily.
Worth a try. Good luck.

Deja vu. We had this discussion on the forum some time ago. If you are a sculptor who uses timber as a medium, do what you like. But to call yourself a woodcarver, what comes out of your tool must look better that it would look if sanded.

I am just an amateur, so what I do is irrelevant anyway.

All good tips, will give the pads a go. I think for now i will just call myself a enthusiast.

A little tip to those who sand : first- finish it with carving tools the best you can- an hour of carving saves 3 hours of sanding. And the most important: get a curved (goose-neck) cabinet scraper , learn to use it and sharpen it - nothing will reduce the sanding time in such a dramatic way .Next step is making your own scrapers - I usualy start sanding with 80 or 100 grit , all the rough job is taken care of with scrapers

Originally Posted by Artesano

A little tip to those who sand : first- finish it with carving tools the best you can- an hour of carving saves 3 hours of sanding.

you're giving away the trade secrets Artesano
I often go from arbortech straight to chisel, the time saving is huge

Originally Posted by Frank&Earnest

If you are a sculptor who uses timber as a medium, do what you like. But to call yourself a woodcarver, .

Aww c'mon Frank, we've been here before
anyways I'm calling myself an umm....scarverulptartisandersanderer

Thanks for the tip on the scouring pad - never cropssed my mind to put one on an arbor. I did use one in the process but found the wire brush and stone gave me the texture I was after.

Originally Posted by underfoot

anyways I'm calling myself an umm....scarverulptartisandersanderer

Yep, happy with that, aren't we all? Some more professionally than others, of course.

An interesting perspective, from the world of turning, where sanding of some kind is de rigueur. I saw a demo from Tim Skilton, one of, if not the best turner in SA, and he is quite happy to start sanding at 80 grit as soon as he has the line right. I expressed my surprise, having been browbeaten by the majority of turners that deem poor turning anything requiring >150 grit sanding, and his diplomatic response, that I paraphrase here in more direct terms, is that amateurs can get their kicks from these "I am better than you" capers if they want, but professionals want to get the job done in the most efficient way.

Which is fine with me, I am always happy to value creativity more than the manual skill. @#$%^ snob, isn't it? CNC carving is the way to go!

Originally Posted by jeffflan

Most supermarkets sell packs of 2 or 3 felt like scouring pads, quite cheaply.
Cut (scissors) to postage stamps size and attach to rotary tool arbor; use one at a time.
....

How do you recommend attaching them to the arbor. I've got visions of them flying off all the time ?

tahnks
Arron

Arron, Arbor may be misleading. I use what the Dremel Catalogue refers to as a mandrel (402), which has a fine screw to hold felt polishing and cut off wheels.
I use a plier punch to make a hole (roughly) in the centre of the pad, place a 1/8" washer, the pad, another washer, and lastly the screw.
I have also seen them used with a screw style mandril (401) however they were not as stable without the washers to keep them in place.
After soaking old gouges overnight in cleaning vinegar I have used the same set up to scour light rust/ tarnish from the inside surfaces.
Unlike sand paper scourers don't indicate their grade/courseness (is that a word) so it is best to test before using on something of value.

OK, thanks.
I guess that makes them like miniature scotchbrite pads, but without the grit.

cheers
Arron