Thread: How do you keep blanks clean when sanding

Don't know about others, but I never use MM dry, especially not on on unfinished wood.

I start my dry sanding with 240 and go through each subsequent grit, not skipping any grit, to 800. Then I apply 10 coats of thin CA, go thought the same grit sequence, again dry, then another 10 coats thin CA, dry then again wet.

Finally I go through the whole MM sequence 1500-12000 wet. Buff and polish if necessary, which it normally isn't on CA.

Hi Plantagenon

Welcome to pen turning.

Your problem sounds like your sanding the bushings with the sandpaper and MM. The black bushings will cause that type of problem. When sanding, don't go backwards and forwards from the bushings to the blank. This will contaminate the blank. Try going in an outwards direction from the middle of the blank to the bushings with a fresh part of the sandpaper each time.

You probably don't need to sand through the MM pads for raw timber.

When I put on a Shellawax finish, I just sand to 600 grit then apply the Shellawax. A good idea is to stop the lathe and sand along the grain before you change sandpaper grade.

Hope it helps.

Timberbits

I ran into this same problem today, cypress pine on a slim/streamline kit, Dave's (timberbits) advice above is spot on, as you turn from the blanks ends inwards (to avoid chipping out the ends) the opposite applies when sanding (wet or dry) sand from the centre outwards of each blank.

I have heard of the pro's making their own corian or nylon bushes, to partially avoid this issue. Thats kind of a down the track thing (for me at least). An idea none the less, depends on what you have to hand and are capable of. Good luck with it.

Also as bigshed said, and Dave uses, and myself, MM wet pretty much only on a CA finish or an acrylic blank. For raw timbers just run through sequential dry papers till you get to where you need to.

My process for acrylics is, Chisels > 120/180/240/320/400/600/800 > wet MM > brasso > speedglaze.

My process for wet look wood is, chisels > as above grits > 20 coats thin ca > wet MM > brasso > speedglaze.

My process for natural look wood is, chisels > as above grits > EEE > glow.

So as you see i dont use the wet MM on raw timber, thats just me though,and thus far, i have the same issue you do mostly on my natural look with light timber. Hope this was a help.

Neal.

The black is actually from the shellawax. Make sure you clean your bushings before turning and after the shellawax and all should be good. I personally avoid shellawax and go straight for CA post sanding.

Hope this helps.

-Scott.

Thanks very much for the advice. I have never used a lathe before 2 weeks ago. I am still learning slowly. I will remember to keep the micromesh out of the way if I am using Shellawax and just save it for CA finishes. The few earlier pens I did came out well without micromesh. Unfortunately a lack of knowledge has ruined the last couple of pens.

All I have to do now is to work out how to clean off the black stains from the micromesh.

Thanks again.

Originally Posted by plantagenon

Thanks very much for the advice. I have never used a lathe before 2 weeks ago. I am still learning slowly. I will remember to keep the micromesh out of the way if I am using Shellawax and just save it for CA finishes. The few earlier pens I did came out well without micromesh. Unfortunately a lack of knowledge has ruined the last couple of pens.

All I have to do now is to work out how to clean off the black stains from the micromesh.

Thanks again.

You should be able to give the micro mesh a gentle wash in warm soapy water to rejuvenate them , may not remove the stains totally but the pads will be clean and free of small grits No matter how long you have been doing something ,the learning never stops cheers ~ John

I got sets of nylon bushes to do sanding and finishing with. Will put pic up tomorrow and where to get them from. Cheap and easy to use.

I make my own teflon and/or Delron bushes for sanding. Cones work well as they suit all tube sizes. See here to make some out of cutting boards.

Cheers

When it come to finishing, I sand and apply my CA finish without bushes that eliminates any problems

Good Advice given above, I found that Plain Shellawax does not give the timber a darker colour as does the Shellawax glow, so depending on what you are finishing, keep the desired colour in mind; Amos

Thank you all very much for the advice. I followed it today and ended up with my first pen that did not have a black stain on it near the bushings. I also threw the micromesh in the washing machine and let it run through 2 cycles. The black stain marks didn't come out but what the hell.

I do have another question - Sharpening wodoworking tools. I have been using a bench sander with 120 grit to try and sharpen my tools. It has been reasonably successful with the exception of a gouge that I see to have pitted. I can't afford the expensive white stone water wheels so is there some other way to sharpen the tools.

Thanks

Greg

I use to use successive grits of wet and dry stuck to a piece of glass then hone on a piece of leather. However, seriously, try using an aluminium oxide wheel on your grinder. Pretty cheap, have a look at these:

CWS Store - GW150mm x 80g Aluminium Oxide | Carroll's Woodcraft Supplies (80g) or CWS Store - GW150mm x 120g Aluminium Oxide | Carroll's Woodcraft Supplies (120g).

Much cheaper option IMHO.

-Scott

Greg,

For cleaning the micromesh, if i remember correctly i was told to use a warm light soapy water and an old toothbrush lightly, see how that goes, then air dry in the sun and re store them. its how i clean mine down if they dry with a buildup. and i think you can use compressed air but not over 120psi(i think, not sure on this as i dont do it).

Neal.