Thread: Took a few sanding abrasives for a test run

Thanks for clearing that up Ern. As you know, I like to do a bit of research, particularly if it can solve a problem (not necessarily mine), and so I went looking for a 230v version of the Metabo on their German site. No go. It would seem very odd if they only made a 110v version. Anyway I sent them an email so will see what happens.

Christian Jost tells me that he does a couple of hours sanding every day (?) and I suppose that they probably have most sanders on the planet there for testing the suitability of their abrasives. He may be able to shed a bit of light, or perhaps put me in kontakt with German retailer. The point being that the retailer wouldn't be getting a special run if they didn't sell, so the consumers must have some sort of solution to this, and that must surely revolve around dust extraction.

With the light that you've thrown on the sanding techniques here, it only makes me think even more how necessary dust extraction must be for this kind of sanding. Sanding out tool marks surely means that the whole surface has to be taken down to the bottom of the tool mark (unless you want an undulating surface) and that would means LOADS of dust. It must go everywhere! I think I read someone saying that they use a Big Gulp with a fan to blow into it, but it would be better to get the dust at the source.

If you have any more info that you think might be useful.....

Cheers, FF

Yes, I run an air/con behind me pushing the dust from the piece into a Big Gulp attached to a 2hp dusty. Then there's an air scrubber as well and for woods that ping the sinuses a filtered visor!

And time spent refining the surface of the wood with clean cuts or scraping pays dividends in reducing sanding time and hazard. Sanding is prob. the part of turning that most turners like the least; it's time consuming; if you're not careful you can lose detail or get a rippled surface on timbers with wide grain spacing.

Some progress on the Metabo sander - they're available in the UK as a 240v version for 70 quid ex VAT which is about $110.

Couple of things here including a Sorby Articulated jobbie.

Then there's Kirjes offering from Stiles & Bates which also has a dust extraction handle.

Apologies for the delay in getting to this one, Nick.

Since my last post on this thread I tried the Jost abrasives out on my small B&D Mouse sander, the nearest thing I had to the a small footprint orbital sander.

The verdict, it worked a treat in terms of keeping the abrasive dust free and cutting but it was just so s-l-o-w compared to rotary sanding.

Perhaps the Metabo would be quicker. I read that it goes up to 10,000 rpm no load and 6,000 rpm with load. Not sure what rpm the little B&D does, so there may be a difference there.

The rotary sanders like the Kirjes with the dust extraction hoods will remove some of the dust that is slung off but do nothing for removing the dust directly from the abrasives itself.

If dust minimisation is more important than time then something like the Metabo with the Jost abrasives would be a good combination.

That price per 50mm disks is very competitive.

Can't imagine that you could profitably use a ROS with the piece spinning, esp. when a '#60 gouge' is needed.

For fine finishing with the piece stopped, perhaps.

I've never warmed to inertia sanders but recall Raffan saying at a demo that effectively they punched above their weight by about 2 grits. Power sanding is my pref. as I'm impatient at this stage of the process but appreciate it can cause probs.

Thanks Brett for finding that UK source of the Metabo. The price is too rich for me to justify having a play.

As for the hazard, there are folks who wet sand to keep the dust down. Tried this once on Blackwood and my assessment was that it dulled the chatoyance on that piece. Other woods don't have that so it remains an option.

I sand all my large platters with a 6 inch ROS with the lathe turning.

I use a Metabo with both a 2mm and a 6mm orbit.

The advantage is a perfect finish that will take a gloss finish with no ripples.
Also no dust if hooked up to a shop vac.

The disadvantage is it's hard on the arms holding the ROS on the work and keeping the cord and hose out of harms way.

Cheers

Tim

Interesting; thanks.

Can see the advantage with platters. Have struggled with scrapers and a short straight edge there.

Shallow bowls and a 3" pad on a ROS?

Originally Posted by rsser

Shallow bowls and a 3" pad on a ROS?

Maybe.

On most ROS the handle gets in the way.

Small pad sanders don't have much grunt.

The big advantage would be dust free sanding with a shop vac.