Thread: What Type of Sander do you use

I use a flap sander in an old drill to round over the edges of my intarsia. I have the sander mounted in a home made stand. It is a base with a runer on each side so the sander body rests between and it is held down with a big hose clip. Then it is held on my bench with a clamp. If you sand the piece with a sander used for flat surfaces before rounding it over all the piece needs is a bit of hand sanding. With intarsia you just can't get away without a bit of hand sanding

Red gum

I use a 1/3 sheet orbital sander for the big flat sanding jobs, sanding sticks as shown below for getting into the scroll work to take out any little burrs, and sanding drums on a Dremel for any shaping that I need for segmentation or intarsia projects. Although for bigger intarsia/segmentations you may want a bigger sanding drum than what you can use in a dremel. I do also occasionally use flap sanders as well. And sometimes I just gotta do some good ol' fashioned hand sanding.

I'm still new to scrolling as well Sheila so your comments are appreciated.
Can you give us some info on the sanding sticks you are using?

Cheers, Ian

We got the sanding sticks from Lee Valley Tools... here they are: Stick Sanders - Lee Valley Tools

We use the 1/4" wide one. You can get the belts in 120, 240 and 320 grit. In a pinch you can also cut your own belts off a sheet of paper and staple them into a loop. The ones from Lee Valley are well worth buying though because they are quite durable and last a while.

BTW You might not have seen it in my signature but my name is actually Keith... Sheila is my girlfriend and business partner

Thanks Red Gum and Scroll3r for your Advice much appreciated.
Nanigai I have just purchased some Sanding Sticks off EBAY
which look very Similar if not the Same to try them out.
just type in Sanding Stick in search Column

Yes, Keith, I, too, thank you for the information on sanding sticks.

Hi Europaboy

David has most of the sanding equipment needed for a variety of tasks. But the best lil' thing you can have is called a needle file. I bought a set at the woodshow in Melbourne ($15), and they are invaluable for getting into areas of work on the scrollsaw to tidy up edges, refine shapes and generally to end up with a clean, accurate job. Invaluable for fretwork. You can also get diamond ones, but they might be harder to track down. A pack gives you 8 or 10 different shaped files, to suit various shapes you will be sanding.


Another thing that is very handy is an oscillating bobbin sander. We bought a Scheppach for $223 delivered to the bush, and it's a beauty. Look up Hare and Forbes. The beauty of the Scheppach, unlike a rather nasty Chinese linisher that we bought, is that it's motor is very strong, and you get nice, even, effortless sanding.

It is invaluable for refining curved surfaces, especially concaves as it comes with a variety of little drums of sizes from 1/4" to 3" (6 to the set). The machine is better than a drum that goes on the drill because it runs at constant speed and moves up and down as well as spinning. This means you have good control over your sanding, and you also tend to use your drum more efficiently.

You can also reverse the drum to use both ends of the sandpaper.

Buy the needle files first, and then work out what you really need to do with machine sanders. Needle files are readily available at specialized tool shops, and they're CHEAP.

Cheers
LiliB

Thanks very much for that Information LiliB .
I have been looking at that Scheppach Oscillating Bobbin Sander
the OS 58 Model at H&F.
Was wondering whether they would suit Scrollsawing as noboby
seemed to say anything about them.
I See on the H&F Site the Sandpaper Grit size is 80
do you find that ample or have you use other Grit Sizes on them.
If so were do you purchased your paper from.
Also thanks for the Tip on the Needle Files will look them up.

My apologies Keith, I saw the link on the bottom of your post and checked it out before posting my reply and didn't review the message first. Thanks for the info on the sticks I will check that out.
Thanks also EuropaBoy I will have a look on eBay as well.
Ian