HELP!! Sanding the inside of a rounded archy bit of pine

Ok so Im a self taught mumma who makes little castles out of untreated kiln dried pine.(290 x 19) No paint or finishes are used and panels are assembled after they are given a light sand with 60 then 120 grit.
Can someone please enlighten me if there is a better way to sand the inside of these arches? When I say better way, I really mean a quicker way. I have googled the crap out of it but clearly my poor understanding of woodwork terminology keeps giving me dead ends. Demand is growing but these arches are the bane of my existence and I'd rather clean the toilet with no gloves on!

My current method is route edges with trim router then attack it with a mix of flap wheels on a drill press, flap wheel in a hand held drill, a orbital sander(this kills my wrists), wrapping sandpaper around a cardboard tube and the good old fasoned way of using my fingers and sandpaper.

Please tell me someone has made a tool that will ease my pain.Help wise ones!!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e18c49ac98.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...c4818cee13.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a7f2699266.jpg

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this sanding would work great on a bobbin sander easy to do and finish is ok.

or, you can keep going with what your'e doing and eventually you will develop stronger wrists and hands.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyuhK2FESzE

These go in your drill press.

https://www.timbecon.com.au/sanding-...um-sanding-set

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rob streeper

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyuhK2FESzE

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Unfortunately I don't think we can get those out here without paying a fortune in shipping fees from the US and I don't think we have a local equivalent except in giant machines.
I think I remember seeing some contour sanders a while back but I just can't recall what brand they were and where to get them, but from what I remember they could be used to clean up the roundover you did with the trim router. Hopefully someone recalls them and can advise.
If you are using flap wheels like these you can run them up against some round steel that matches the radius of your roundover and fairly quickly you will wear that shape into the wheel and that can be used to sand the roundover.
To do the main radius you could get one of these or these as mature one suggested. They both have up to a 75mm dia sleeves so would make sanding of the large radius easy.
What are you using to cut the large radius initially?

From your comments I can tell this is a serious matter for you and that it is taking a significant toll on your sanity. :D Because of the roundover on the arches I can't see a fixed table bobbin type sander being of much help, Lappa's suggestion seems more worthy, and it's a lot cheaper! To reduce the amount of sanding you have to do to the minimum your first aim should be to get the finish off your power tools as fine as possible. Tearout and roughness off your tooling is what's making the job so hard. So, as Dallas has suggested you should be looking at the initial machining to reduce the onerous sanding to a bare minimum. The tools and techniques you use can make a tremendous difference.

I would suggest you could think about a Wasp sander that will fit onto a vertical drill press. These are very handy and cheap, with the added bonus that you can change to almost any available sandpaper made for belt sanders. I would think what you are wishing to sand, could be done with one of these.

If you would like to try one, I have one currently sitting idle. It is used by me, but not that often. The version I have, is the original version, I see that they are now up to version 3. I live about 30 minutes from your suburb.

Check out the third video clip, I think that is how it could best be used by you.

Wasp Sander Mk 3 [WASP-Mk3], The Australian made , designed Wasp Sander is Australia’s most versatile Belt Sander. The sander can be attached to any drill press.By using your drill press you can alter the speed of your belt sander to suit different

Don't have a drill press, I may be able to get a small one you could borrow.

Mick.

Maybe a different approach?

I presume that you have to sand after routing because of tear out on certain aspects of edge grain, and that you are using a handheld trim router that only accepts ¼" shank bits.

Are you trying to take off the edge in one pass? If so, then that can well lead to excessive tearout.

What quality is the router bit? This can make a very significant difference to the surface. Is the bit getting on a bit and potentially blunt?

So, if you are combining all factors above (handheld trim router, cheap bit probably ¼" shank and blunt to boot, one pass) then you can improve on that mightily, which will result in much less sanding. That sanding should be minimal - just a few strokes, and by hand will probably be quick and easy then.

If it were me doing these, the first thing I would do would be to build or buy a router table, put a medium size router in it that will take ½" shanks. That gives you access to whole new bunch of router bits of excellent quality. Using a table also means you can use dust extraction, which I'll wager is not happening now with the trim router. :; (coz they almost never have a dust port).

Freud make a range of Quattro bits that have four cutters, and to quote them:
"Exclusive 4 cutter design absorbs stress & reduces burning, tear out and fuzz. Which means longer life and less work for you!"

See them here. I suppose they are available in Oz but I don't know where from. Google is your friend. Peachtree are in Atlanta, Georgia, and AFAIK they will post internationally, but you may have to email them (although if you phone you get to listen to the delicious southern drawl :U)

Carbitool in Melbourne can also custom make bits, but I don't know if they can do 4 cutter or not.

https://www.carbatec.com.au/sanding-...435x425x530-mm

For projects like yours that require contour sanding I made myself several sanding bows for different grits using the colour coded sanding cloth. One arm is fixed and the other arm has a sliding mortise when tapped to the end holds the sanding cloth in tension. I can sand quite aggressively and rapidly using this device. I use it for turnings, carvings and furniture parts.

I forgot to mention that while the sanding strip is in tension it can be easily cleaned with one of those rubber cleaning strips prolonging usage.

Evan Dunstone has McFarlane sanders which might suit your purpose but they are $88.

Dunstone Design Home Page:Dunstone Design chair makers and fine furniture craftsmen

Id be doing that on the end of something like this below. If the sizes suit .

Something else is needed for the internal though . Making a form stick in timber and folding sand paper around that is a good way . Or double sided sticky tape holding paper to a form . Depends on How many you are doing though .

Rob

https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/Belt-Sanders

Actually, I think you are already onto the best tool for the job, the flap wheel. Perhaps the problem is using them in a drill or drill press is a bit wimpy so progress is slow, and it’s not very ergonomic so lots of hand-stress is involved

Check out using one of these in an angle grinder

Flap Wheel for Angle Grinder 125mm x 20 x AO80 Grit | Sheffield Blades NZ | Cutting Tools and Power Tool Accessories

Angle grinders run much quicker and when running a flap wheel they hog the timber off much quicker. They’re more controllable too.

You could probably also find a use for the more conventional style of angle grinder flap wheel when blending in the outside edges, which is like this

https://www.abtec4abrasives.com/230-...407-3331-p.asp

Cheap solution too, which means if you don’t like them then nothing lost.

I do like Auscabs recommendation of an oscillating edge sander too. They run very quickly and nothing removes timber faster. The problem is their radius would suit the bigger curves but probably not the castellations.

Cheers
Arron