Rounding Over Edges of Patterns

[Chems]

Due to my last thread been slightly de-railed, I was just getting some interesting responses to how I should go about rounding over the edge of a fairly intricate pattern, Gill said she uses her Dremel but Im worried I will break off the more delicate pieces as its only lime and it doesnt seem to be a very hard waring bit of wood on the whole. Thoughts?

 

[StevieB]

Most of the American sites seem to recommend inflatable drum sanders (not an oxymoron, honest!) but I havent particularly seen them this side of the pond. Not that I have looked that hard though, so they may well exist. Essentially an inflatable sleeve goes inside the sanding spindle and gives the belt 'flexibility' when a workpiece is pressed on it. More typically used in intarsia pieces than delicate scrollwork I think however.

Steve.

 

[Gill]

Don't forget the flap sanders too, Steve; the 'Murricans love their flap sanders .

I've tried a flap sander but it's not suitable for small pieces of wood. I got really cheesed off having my workpiece ripped out of my hands and hurtled into the dark recesses of the workshop.

I don't think inflatable drum sanders are available in this country although I've no doubt they could be imported through a company like Rockler. I've got a set of small Carroll sanding drums which are fine as far as they go, being lined with some cushioning which helps to produce a soft curve. You've still got to round over little nooks and crevices manually, though, and for this you really do need a craft knife and a bit of abrasive paper.

Lime shouldn't be too brittle for a Dremel mounted in a router table. I've used mine on small pieces of MDF quite successfully and we all know how easily MDF layers separate :roll: . The secret is to make several passes, removing only a little material with each pass.

Gill

 

[big soft moose]

given that you only have one piece to do, it might be worth just doing it by hand using an abrasive paper.

also the foam backed discs in 80-120-240-300 etc grits that are meant for wood turners to use on a power drill can be used in the hand - being foam backed there is a bit of give in the pad.

 

[Terry Q]

I am not sure what you are asking so I will probably respond to a question that you already know the answer. If you are talking about sanding the fuzzies off the back of your finished project this is the way I do it. I take one of those non sliding sanding mats, place my worked piece face down and very gently sand with a vibrating palm sander. I make sure I move the sander in the direction of the rolled up ends where the paper attaches to the sander. With a light hand you can sand some very delicate fret work. In place of a comercial sanding mat I have also used 1/2" foam carpet padding.

Terry

 

[jimp11]

Hi there its bean a while I like my flap sander for a lot of things cleans the fuzzies good to . and Gill I got a vacume catchers mit for the small pieces.