Power sanding for bowls...

It's a relative thing, Andy. If the sanding disk is moving faster than the surface you're sanding one way, when slower, the other. Of course you can get reverse relative direction on the other side of the disk, too.

Methinks what Mac's seeing is "those places" - we all know which ones - where the ends of the grain have been picked up by a too-broad gouge presentation. Like nap on a carpet, it shows rough pulled one way, looks smooth pulled the other. Trouble is, smooth's often an illusion. Or maybe no one else has ever gotten all the way to the finish and had to backtrack to the sander to clean out those suddenly darker areas of torn grain?

Anyway, the best way to get them taken care of is to sand against the lift - the same way they were created. Reverse only lays them down.

George's mention that "smooth" can be an illusion is right on and I think it also can apply to final tooling. Often for me a final gentle shear-scrape or burnish looks and feels velvety smooth, but doesn't sand out and finish as well as after a final gentle shear-cut. Moistening the surface after scraping or before sanding might make the fibers at parade rest stand at attention. :)

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

well, I just bought a new lathe yesterday (jet 1442vs) and it doesn't have reverse either... I guess I'll just have to develop better tool and sanding skill.. *g*

BTW: thanks to you, George, I've been working on my tool angle, etc. and have filled several trash bags with shavings and curls in the last month or so.. THANKS!

mac

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I'll try that Leo..

(on the wood, not my head... my wife says that my haircut is a "no hawk")

mac

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YES!! Thanks, George!

Now I know what I'm doing wrong... my only bowl gouge was really more of a re-ground spindle gouge and was probably a lot of the reason for the tear out...

I just got the bowl gouge set from Penn State, so that might help...

mac

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WAY over my budget, Leo... (thought I caught my wife looking through my Oneway catalog) I got a Jet 1442 VSK yesterday for $850 including a few extras.. and free assembly, since it was a floor model... very nice lathe... In fear of starting a pissing match, I have to say that I'm really glad that I didn't decide to save $200 and get the Delta 14"...this is a much nicer lathe..

mac

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the rear shaft is very handy and fits anything that the main shaft fits... very handy for a rubber bonded wheel while doing lathe work, the 12" disk sander when sawing, or a buffing wheel on each..

mac

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Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that the motor on the Jet lathe is on backwards? I was doing a demo for our club at the local Woodcraft store, and they let me use the Jet 1440 with the variable speed (I think it is called a 'reeves drive"). I had to use a faceplate that stuck out farther that mine, because the bowl blank was hitting the motor, but not even close to the bed orheadstock. Also, the intake on the motor is right where all of the sanding dust goes. I consider that to be a big disadvantage.

As far as the sanding goes, I have noticed that if you hand sand, the fibers do tend to lay down in the direction of rotation. It is necessary to reverse directionfor a rotation or three, by hand if necessary, to stand the fibers back up, and sand them off. This doesn't seem to be a problem with power sanding. robo hippy

What would help more would be a forged gouge or one of those P&N detail gouges I have my eye on. Problem with bowl gouges for final peel is that they tend toward narrow noses that can block cutting if they are nosed in favoring horizontal as the non-cutting upper part of the bevel pushes the wood away. If you try to stand them on end to take advantage of the wood slicing itself as it slides down a relatively straight edge, you sometimes develop clearance problems with the rest and bed of the lathe. Especially with the long handles they put on 'em.

Fingernail that spindle gouge if it's ground out of cylindrical stock, then use it the way you would use (or see others use) a bowl gouge with swept-back wings. No clearance problems, and broad enough to give you a fairly wide sweet spot.

Time to reiterate rule two of turning - keep the rest close. Never give leverage you can take.

I really couldn't get the feel for the 3 bowl gouge set... seems like they either catch, chatter or don't cut.... just don't feel right..

Last night, I took the 1/2" one and ground it somewhere between a swept and fingernail, and it seems to cut well..

they come looking like a pipe cut in half.. flat across the entire "nose" area...

mac

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It must be how they do the VS on the jet... my Jet mini wasn't vs and the motor was below the head stock shaft... I noticed last night that when I went from a chuck to a faceplate on the Jet

If you're roughing a bowl, you have to make sure that the face plate is the closest part of the wood to the head stock.. any overhang due to crooked chain saw cut, etc. is gonna scrape on the motor housing...

mac

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mac davis wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

I've been really happy with my 1442, for all of the last two months. It replaced a Shopsmith, which is now holding up boxes in the shed. My wife was concerned that I was going to order the big Oneway as well. Maybe next year. ;-)

My major dissatisfaction is that I don't have enough time to get to all of the green wood (free) that is piling up in the bowl blank preparation area in the yard.

Isn't it nice that's the worst of my worries? ;-)

Patriarch

mac davis wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

And they can be had used for a short song, if you look around a bit, and don't want all of the auxillary tools that folks sometimes buy for the 'system'.

Patriarch

for sure! I'm going out tomorrow and get another truck load of logs, most of which will go on the shelf under this beast.. might keep it from walking away.. *lol*

mac

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yep... a friend bought one for $250 with a few accessories... it was less that he was planning to pay for a drill press..

mac

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