Thread: sanding after using arbortech

Ash: I can only offer advice from hindsight = anytime you sand anything, you can forget about any more blade-edged carving. Does not take a large sand grain, invisibly stuck in the wood, to trash your blade. However, it took me 3 or 4 smashes to wise up.

hi Asheddie - from reading your post it sounds that you have already done the hard work on that project !. For future use, i would get hold of a multipack of the Arbortec sanding discs - that way you can go through the large grits to get the hard grind done then can continue hand sanding the finer stuff up to what you want. I have read of people buying their own sandpaper, cutting out the 50mm round and when the sandpaper on the arbortec disc wears out they somehow prise it off and stick on some new paper of their own using ???contact cement/glue. i've never tried that to be honest so i dont know how it would work out, but i think if you just have a range of discs to start with to help you (think they are around $16 or so from places like Carbatec.
There certainly are 50mm velcro type disks that you can put on a bowl sander attachment which has a flexible spongy foam base to it- these are either handheld or placed in a drill that you can use. The handheld sander attachment is meant mainly for woodturning applications (please correct me if i am wrong here) that you hold up to the bowl on the lathe as it is turning so you can sand it. The flexible base on it allows it to compensate more for bowl curvature so you dont end up getting dig in's. The drill attachment when placed in a drill - could still be used on a lathe for bowl sanding (in this case the drill itself is like the handle for the sanding attachment). You could use it with the drill on or off depending on the application/type of finish you want. I personally havent tried this so cant really provide you with any experience of that. Of course you could always just use this drill attachment to sand out bowls freehand - all you need to do is get yourself some velcro sanding discs (or sanding paper and cut your own out) of varying discs and you could use these. Perhaps have a look through the Carbatec website - i dont have any interest in them other than being a customer - just that it could give you some more options. Here are some links to help you

Sanding Pads & Accessories for Bowl Sanding : CARBA-TEC
Arbortech® Assorted Grits to suit Mini Sander : CARBA-TEC