I need to sand the turning in the photo to get it ready for finish. It’s already pretty smooth, so I’ll probably start at 180 grit and work my way up. I’m looking for tips to get in all those turned places, both for prepping for finish and sanding between coats. I don’t have a lathe, so that’s out; anybody have a trick they like?
Replies
Put it in your vise and use cloth backed sandpaper, turners sandpaper or similar, in a shoe shine fashion. Turn the strips on edge to get to the beads and coves and rotate the turning to get to different sides of the turning. You can probably get to about 1/3 of the diameter before you need to rotate it in the vise.
A lathe would make it much easier, or rig it between the chuck and base of a floor model drill press on centers to spin it for sanding.
Good luck.
I would make a one time use, lathe- like jig out of ply scrap with a crank handle at one end ( or turn it with an electric drill ). You could sand and finish without ever removing it.
Paul
I like the hand drill and jig idea.
But I would use my drill press if I didnt own a lathe.
You can mount a center point (life or dead dose not matter.) to the base of your drill press, and turn,much like you would do on a lathe,Only vertically.
There isn't any short cut to doing it right. You have to hand sand it, taking the time necessary to work in all the areas. Start with as fine as possible, 220 Norton 3X would be my choice. You may have to work to finer grits if there are strong crossgrain marks in the coves and on the beads. I wouldn't try to spin it without the proper size lathe. The last thing you want is to fling it across the shop. Some aspects of woodworking require some tedious work. The willingness to go the extra usually pays dividends in quality.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
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