Sanding on lathe

[Grahamshed]

I have seen vids of doing it dry with clouds of dust. I have also seen vids of dipping sandpaper in oil and doing it wet.
The benefits of doing it wet seem enormous so what do you lose compared to doing it dry ?

 

[wcndave]

Using lots of oil.
getting oil on your product before you're ready for finish.
Faffing?
Clogging of paper.
Longevity of paper.

 

[Grahamshed]

One video in particular comes to mind where he claims...
Paper doesn't clog as much
Lasts longer
Oil / sanding sealer/( and others ? ) are going to be used anyway so saves a step.

Not so ?

 

[wcndave]

I suppose it depends on the paper.

If they wood particles are not going in the air, where are they going? On to the paper, however perhaps they slide off easily.
Also paper would disintegrate, however quality sandpaper is made from other materials so could be fine.

Just try it and see ;-)

 

[Dalboy]

Sanding with oil may seem great but it also depends on what you want to do with the turning, for example if you want to decorate and add colour. So remember this before you go throwing oil at a piece.

 

[Spindle]

Hi

Never tried it - probably never will. The following spring to mind:

My abrasives last me for several projects as opposed to one if I were to dip in oil.

Messy - oily sanding dust all over my hands / lathe / immediate area

Ties up the chuck or whatever's holding the work until the oil dries.

Regards Mick

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

I'd be tempted to try both Graham. The truth is you never know what your personal preference is till you test it. I've not tried it myself, I went down the traditional extraction and 3M 7500 route but I can see the appeal. Those clouds of dust do get everywhere, do coat everything and are a bit of a pain, not to say hazardous for health so minimising it has something going for it. Would I want oil spinning round on the piece? I'm not sure till I try it is the truth.

 

[chipmunk]

There's also the possibility to use a bees wax based paste-wax (e.g. woodwax 22) as a sanding lubricant.

This is much less messy than oil (smells nice too) and works very well for yew and other hardwoods known for heat-checking but it's handy to use a brass brush to occasionally clean the wax/sandings off the paper.

You can use non-acrylic sanding sealer afterwards (cellulose works for sure but shellac may too) as it'll cut through the wax if you want it to, but wax sanded close grained yew has a beautiful soft sheen when simply buffed up.

Give it a try.

I wet-sand many of my bowls with oil and you get very nice grain filling possibilities of the slurry from oil sanding. Danish oil is very messy I agree (latex gloves recommended) but if you just use it for the last few grits you can get many of the benefits with no more disadvantages than if you were going to oil finish an item with DO anyway IMHO. It doesn't keep the dust down for the most part though.

HTH
Jon

 

[CHJ]

Better to improve your extraction, if it's good you should see little dust round the lathe.
Keep sanding dust/oil slurry for those pieces you need to fill the grain with when looking for a gloss oil finish.

Remember oil is also a contaminant that precludes the use of abrasive and application items with any other finish.

 

[Vic Perrin]

Oil give it a try !

 

[NickWelford]

When sanding really hard woods such as African blackwood, or ebony, I sometimes use wet and dry with water. You can get a really smooth finish if you work up the grades. I imagine that if you are going to finish with oil anyway, even middling hard woods would sand well with oil on the wet and dry. It does make it less aggressive. Just remember to use a slow speed and cover the lathe bed if using water.

 

[Grahamshed]

Oil give it a try !

Dear me. Get in the corner.
Thanks for the input guys.

 

[Tazmaniandevil]

Carl Jacobson uses an oil/paste wax mix when sanding, but the paste wax is his finish. I don't have any million dollar extraction, I use a 1400w vacuum connected to a bit of waste pipe with an old yoghurt pot on the end as a hood. It serves me well enough, as I wear a mask all the time anyway. I generally sand through the grits and apply my chosen finish. I want the work area to be as dust free as possible when applying the finish so give it a quick hoover.
I use a lot of shellac, wiped over with the lathe stopped until all the grain appears to have the same coverage. I then turn the lathe on and gradually increase the pressure until it reaches the shine I want.

 

[duncanh]

I wouldn't wet sand when there are distinct areas colour in the wood (whether from heart/sap wood or figuring). Whatever medium you use for the sanding (usually oil for me when I do it, but I've also used water) can mix up different coloured sanding dust into a uniform colour which can then get trapped in wood pores. I've seen this particularly on woods with really distinct sap like laburnum, cherry, blackthorn

 

[NickWelford]

I wouldn't wet sand when there are distinct areas colour in the wood (whether from heart/sap wood or figuring). Whatever medium you use for the sanding (usually oil for me when I do it, but I've also used water) can mix up different coloured sanding dust into a uniform colour which can then get trapped in wood pores. I've seen this particularly on woods with really distinct sap like laburnum, cherry, blackthorn

Good point.

 

[chipmunk]

I wouldn't wet sand when there are distinct areas colour in the wood (whether from heart/sap wood or figuring). Whatever medium you use for the sanding (usually oil for me when I do it, but I've also used water) can mix up different coloured sanding dust into a uniform colour which can then get trapped in wood pores. I've seen this particularly on woods with really distinct sap like laburnum, cherry, blackthorn

Good point.

It is a good point - you have to be aware of the bleeding, but for very close grained timbers like yew, which also often has distinct heart/sap wood, there is usually nothing to hold the slurry unless there are checks or bark-inclusions.

Jon