finishing (mahogany?)

[nev]

hi ladies and gents
just had a go at my first piece of mahogany, to make a small bowl,

and found that when sanding :shock: it absolutely ate through the little sanding discs i normally use (2" hermes velcro type). So ... is there a more economical and effective sanding disc/ pad/ paper for finishing hard woods like mahogany?

 

[chrisbaker42]

I'm happy to be proven wrong but that looks a bit light in colour for mahogany and I also have found mahogany to be one of the softer "hard woods".

 

[nev]

I'm happy to be proven wrong but that looks a bit light in colour for mahogany and I also have found mahogany to be one of the softer "hard woods".

i was thinking that myself i was expecting it to be a bit redder, :? but it had a label on it saying 'mahogany, Brazil '.and i am not that knowledgeable about wood id, so who was i to argue
maybe someone with a warped sense of humour switched labels?
I,ve added a few more pics if anyone can help id the wood, and yes i had two blanks the same.
but same question, any suggestions as to alternatives for sanding discs???
thanks

 

[Woodchips2]

The bowl looks more like Iroko but the other blank looks like Mahogany. Be interested to see the turned result because the first bowl looks nice.
Keith

 

[CHJ]

Sanding disk problems, I suspect one of or multiples of the following.

1. Too fast rotation of the wood.
2. Too fast rotation of the sanding disk.
3. Too much pressure between sanding disk and wood.

Any and all of which will generate excessive heat and strip the abrasive.
A sharp abrasive should cut with the lightest of pressure, don't expect to get more than one reasonably sized finished item from each set of disks if you are aiming at clean cool cutting.

 

[yellowbelly]

Afromosia

 

[Silverbirch]

The blank in the middle pic looks awfully like padauk.

Ian

 

[nev]

The blank in the middle pic looks awfully like padauk.

Ian

i think thats just the quality of my photography , just this afternoon turned a piece of padauk and and i can eliminate that, cos it is RED, looks like paprika when sanding. (unless that one was mislabelled as well).

re. afromosia, looked it up on tinterweb and found this page..
http://www.2easy4woodfinishing.com/which%20wood.htm
and i must admit of all the woods on the page, the brazilian mahogany is one of the closest in colour and grain :?:

and Chas, thanks. i am probably guilty of all three :roll: , i'll slow it down next time, my lathe has 3 speeds- 2000, 950 and 450 (from memory) and most of the time i am on 950, working on the advice from keith rowleys book, from 2000 rpm for smaller spindlework > 450 for larger unbalanced blanks etc. mostly i am practising with bowls averaging 4-8 in.
thanks guys