what sanding/finishing do you user

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Homerjh

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I need to get some high grit to make my lathe creations super smooth, so wondering if there are any sources that people like that work well and are cheaper than high st stores.

I had some from B&Q, JCB branded sanding mesh, worked really well but costs a small fortune, so anything similar?

looking for finer grits, so what do you use and where from?

ta
 
The Turners Workshop, The Turners Retreat, Axminster..............etc. etc.
As Phil says, you can get good and you can get cheap but I haven’t found both together.
If you’ve spent time, effort and money to get to your finished piece then it’s a false economy to scrounge on abrasive.
 
Afraid like most things you get what you pay for in abrasives, just need to find the retail source that gives you best deal.

Brand and Type are very much a personal preference, and I have found that there is no one Best Answer on type or brand for that matter.
Some tasks, woods etc. just seem to ask for a differing solution so I tend to pick up a Type of Abrasive that seems most appropriate.

For me personally I would list them as:-

The best Brand of abrasives I have are the Red Rhino Brand marketed by Hope Tools, Sharp and long lasting.
The White Rhino marketed by Richard Findley is also very good, subtle difference in increased flexibility, cut life?
Both not cheap options.
The Brands marketed by Chestnuts cut well but I personally find the Velcro backed does not hold its grit quite so well (less robust) but this is not necessarily a bad thing as it encourages using fresh sharp abrasive and is competitive cost wise so no difference in the end.
Mesh abrasives tend to be very effective, I find that there is a subtle difference in brands regarding flexibility and sharpness of cut, Personal choice is Chestnuts Net abrasive and not just because Chestnut Brands are my stable go to's.

Now for your need for finer abrasives, what specifically are you wanting to sand to a high gloss, if it is man made pen blanks or average wood blank bowls, platters, spindles etc.

For most wood types there is little to be gained by 'polishing' the wood surface before applying the finish, in fact it can have an adverse effect on the absorption and bonding of any protective finish you apply.
As long as you use rotary sanding where possible to avoid long peripheral scratches and finish sanding with the grain of the wood where possible it is rarely necessary to go below 240, 320 grit at the most, before applying a sealer/filler or oil.
Keep the final Gloss Burnishing to the surface of the protective finish.
See this short video example
 
I've just started experimenting with Yorkshire Grit, having picked up a tub at our club night. This claims to eliminate the need to sand beyond 240/320 grit and to deliver a finish equivalent to 1000 grit using friable abrasives and applied with paper towel. You need to seal the piece before use so best used with a wax or other non penetrative finish. So far I've had good results but only really tried it on smaller items such as light pulls and bottle stoppers using cellulose sealer and friction polish as demonstrated by Chris Fisher. This has the benefit of being dust free. Don't know if others have any experience of this, will try using it on some larger yew items soon to see how it works on larger areas.
 
As CHJ stated depend on what you are making as well as using something to rotary sand. I tend to sand to 400grit to 600grit on bowls and larger items I make for acrylics I go a lot further.
And quite often I will sand stationary by hand if possible with the grain after each grit. It is surprising how a finish can reveal scratches from a badly sanded piece as well as other faults.
 
I bought a range of Abranet (not all at once) ranging from 80 to 600 grit, i then use 0000 steel wool. Also use sanding sealer before sanding on some projects.
 
For sanding - Klingspor 2" wide J-flex (much cheaper than the mesh abrasives)
For finishing - Chestnut sanding sealer with microcrystalline wax. Both of these last so long it's hardly worth worrying about cost.
 
I use Rhino abrasives with a hope rotary tool, a quick with the gran rub to clean off dust before the next grit, usually to 360 then Yorkshire grit. Finishing with Hampshire Sheen wood finish. If it's going to be handled polish with Renaissance wax.
John. B
 
my club have a stall that sells sandpaper, they buy it by the roll 100mm wide, you can buy a meter at a time or 10m , whatever you like, saves me a fortune, as i think i pay about £1.85 for a meter of good quality sand paper (cloth back) if you belong to a club perhaps that's something they could look into, also we just last month had chestnut products do a demo and afterwards purchased a pack of Nyweb pads and use these after sanding to 600 grit , works for me also use 0000 steel wool after applying sanding sealer

good luck
 

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