Drill for lathe power sanding

[dcmguy]

Now I'm making larger items on the late I'm fed up with hand sanding interior and exterior..plus my finger joints are starting to hurt (probably pressing too much).

I've looked at arbors on a stick but think I'd prefer a drill + arbor

Can anyone who uses drill + arbor for sanding on lathes give some advice please..

eg

- Drill style ... angle head vs regular
- Cable or cordless (battery drain too much??)
- Power rating
- Min/max arbor capacity
- Brand
- anything else relevant that I've not thought of!

thanks..

 

[flh801978]

I tend to use a keyed chuck makita angled drill 240v
I did have the keyless one but found it very hard to get a good grip on the chuck as its small on this drill
Its variable speed and reversible....great for where you swap over sides whilst sanding
I use 2" dia foam pads with Velcro sanding discs generally
Works great for me
Ian

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Have a look - http://hopewoodturning.co.uk/sanding_tools_6.html

Any battery drill will probably be easier and lighter than a mains one, though you could always use a flexible shaft if needed. If your fingers are hurting, I would look into your tool sharpening and working techniques - you shouldn't have to work that hard.

 

[CHJ]

I use an old cordless sans batteries, powered by power supply pack, small 10mm chuck,

Observations.

Low weight and smaller size is more convenient and comfortable to use as far as I'm concerned, when demonstrating I have used a slightly bigger Hitachi cordless and my wrist feels the difference with the increased weight.

Variable speed and reverse is beneficial but high speed not necessary, sanding at slower speeds reduces heat and gives abrasive time to cut rather than skipping across the surface.

Too much heat on the pads besides damaging some woods such as Yew and only serves to wreck the adhesive on the Velcro hook material.

 

[dcmguy]

thanks .. that sounds like good news .. I've been using a £32 lightweight cordless 'Guild' 1.3ah 18v for attaching pieces to faceplates..

http://www.argos.co.uk/product/4618618

so maybe I can add sanding as an extra purpose for it? (hammer function only doesnt necessarily sound ideal tho)

The points about not pressing too hard, not generating too much heat, slow lathe and drill speed (and avoiding spinning metal parts!) all sound good ...thanks

I'll have a detailed look at Simon Hope's arbor choices and abrasives... 2inch (50mm) pads sound ideal

As for the sore finger joints ...I think it's sanding related...but could easily be working techniques .. I definitely have a bad habit of hogging out large vessels/bowls pretty quickly and ignoring tool chatter ... making finer cuts only towards the end.

 

[CHJ]

I've not found better than the Hope arbores and I've been through a few variations, previously I was a fan of Grip-a-disc system but as these are no longer available the Hope with interface pads are a boon.
Like most things associated with ease of use and good finishing they are not a cheap consumable but the satisfaction quotient at the end of the day soon pales the odd replacement expenditure and unlike the Grip-a-disk you are not tied to a supplier of abrasive.

The Hope abrasives take some beating for cutting performance but must admit to using a cheaper alternative for the bulk of my sanding and changing the substrate more often, maybe not a bad thing anyway, if you can't see a stream of dust being expelled with a light touch then the abrasive is past its best.

On the subject of abrasive for use on arbores, I find just cutting sheet material into squares not only the easy and cheaper option, but a distinct advantage when sanding inside small bowls and boxes as the overlapping corners act like a flap wheel and ease sanding considerable.

 

[dcmguy]

Just wanted to say thanks again on this. The Simon Hope arbors turned up and are great.

It's so good and so easy that it's almost like cheating ...all minor grain tears and toolmarks gone on a 'pinus horribilis' 10" diam x6" deep basic hollow form (1cm wall thickness!!)

I'd got my spindle gouge so sharp that it was splitting atoms on the way from the honing stone to the lathe ..but even with almost no contact there was some minor grain tear in the soft wood. Power sanding just gets rid of it all!

Hardly even need a gouge at all!

 

[marcros]

I've not found better than the Hope arbores and I've been through a few variations, previously I was a fan of Grip-a-disc system but as these are no longer available the Hope with interface pads are a boon.
Like most things associated with ease of use and good finishing they are not a cheap consumable but the satisfaction quotient at the end of the day soon pales the odd replacement expenditure and unlike the Grip-a-disk you are not tied to a supplier of abrasive.

The Hope abrasives take some beating for cutting performance but must admit to using a cheaper alternative for the bulk of my sanding and changing the substrate more often, maybe not a bad thing anyway, if you can't see a stream of dust being expelled with a light touch then the abrasive is past its best.

On the subject of abrasive for use on arbores, I find just cutting sheet material into squares not only the easy and cheaper option, but a distinct advantage when sanding inside small bowls and boxes as the overlapping corners act like a flap wheel and ease sanding considerable.

do you use the standard Hope backing pads, or the softer version? I want something for spindles at approx 2" diameter.

 

[CHJ]

Just wanted to say thanks again on this. The Simon Hope arbors turned up and are great.

It's so good and so easy that it's almost like cheating ...all minor grain tears and toolmarks gone on a 'pinus horribilis' 10" diam x6" deep basic hollow form (1cm wall thickness!!)

I'd got my spindle gouge so sharp that it was splitting atoms on the way from the honing stone to the lathe ..but even with almost no contact there was some minor grain tear in the soft wood. Power sanding just gets rid of it all!

Hardly even need a gouge at all!

Sounds like you are getting torn or pulled grain, it rears its ugly head for all of us at times.
Try giving the area a coat of sanding sealer before final cuts, even water or oil (dependant on intended finish) to swell the fibres so they are better supported and provide cutting lubrication.

Don't be too enthusiastic sanding wood with alternate soft-hard regions else you will end up with undesirable hollows or flats.

 

[CHJ]

do you use the standard Hope backing pads, or the softer version? I want something for spindles at approx 2" diameter.

90% of my work is sanded with the intermediate stiffness additional interface pads*, easier on the hand holding because of the cushioning effect and less likely to produce flats on details as is so easily done with the stiffer bare pad, but I guess if you are mainly into spindle work with less detail the harder base pad would be fine.

Because I was running out of spare replacement intermediate pads this last few days I have used some of the very soft interface pads I had and on a couple of internal jobs they worked well especially with the deliberate blending of some curves. You do rely on the abrasive being sharp with them as no way can you apply excessive pressure to force a cut.

* Makes them more or less the equivalent of the Grip-a disc system for use and performance that I had got accustomed to using.