What grit ranges do you use?

[Lucy]

As I'm new to all of this I was hoping to pick your brains. Do you have a grit range that you stick to regardless of what type of wood you are sanding or do you vary it.
I've only been working with Olive at the moment, however I've just taken possession of some Cherry and Dark Walnut and notice the grain to be a lot different to what I've got used to.
Cheers again for your advice :blowx:

 

[Scots Bill]

Hi Lucy, I think a rough plan is to get a smooth a finish as you can, from your tools, ideally a skew chisel. That stops you beginning with a rough grade of abrasive. Then work your way down the grads till you achieve the silky smoothness you want. You don't need to go down every size of grit available, but don't move down until all the preceding scratches have gone, otherwise you have to backtrack if you follow me. Others will give you their preferred sizes.

 

[Woody]

I find one it depends a lot on what you are turning be it pens or large bowls also it depends on the material like wood types , acrylic, metal, reconstituted stone, Ebonite, Talc stone, corian the list is as endless as scratch types and grits I feel a big debate coming on LOL

 

[Scots Bill]

Think we nicely side stepped that one Vic, yes wait for it, and they will all be right Lucy, no kidding.

 

[yorkshireman]

I tend to start at 180 then work through the grits to 400. Occasionally I'll burnish with shavings. Seems to work for me.

 

[Jim]

All i have used over the last few years is 4 grades, starting with 180 and finishing with 400 .. This works for me, it is not a recommendation Lucy ..

 

[wm460]

Pens 320 - 600 then 800 - 2000 wet and dry.
Bowls etc 180 - 600

 

[silver]

Me personally on wood

Make sure you use a sanding sealer first....this lot wil forget to tell you that..

start with 240 ( unless I have a bad day with the skew than its start with a 40) 320, 400, 600 all spun up on each grade then each finished sanding horizontally.

i then use a microcrystalline polish to finish. Sometimes a friction polish

Acrylics and PR's is start off at 320' P400, P600,p1000' P1200, P1500, P2000, then the micromesh from 3200 4000, 6000,8000 then 12000. Then polish up with TCut and finish with a good quality car polish.

Each grade spun up the. Finished horizontally.

Similar with Enonite but has to be taken easy and prevent any heat buildup. Rather than t cut and polish I have used the buffer with EE cream.

All usually finished off with Ren wax.

 

[chas_41_uk]

For me, as a rule, 180 to 400 on wood, sometimes up to 600. On acrylics up to 12000 Micromesh.

 

[Dalboy]

I am going to go against the grain and make many gasp in horror.

I have a range from 40 grit to 12,000 grit it all depends on what I am doing ie fast shaping or a super finish they all have a place in a workshop the trick is knowing when to use them

 

[RodN]

The best sandpapers are the Hermes Silicon carbide
http://www.axminster.co.uk/hermes-perdurable-silicon-carbide-sheets-ax19876?sel=Hermes%20Longlife%20Silicon%20Carbide

There are a lot of crude (and cheaper) alternatives, but these from Axminster work superbly, and cut fast.
I start with 120 grit, and then use 240, 320, 400 and finish wood with 500.

For resins I go on to use wet & dry... 600, 1200, and 2000 grit, and then follow up with micromesh pads (used wet) from 3200 to to 12,000 grit, followed by a cream polish.

Hint 1: Use scissors to cut sandpaper into approx 25mm strips for use on the lathe. (Never tear sandpaper)
Hint 2: If you are changing from a light to a dark wood or vice versa use fresh sandpaper
Hint 3: Dark resins or woods such as ebony show scratches more from earlier grits unless you do the job properly
Hint 5: There is no need to use a lot of pressure and make the surface hot. Let the sandpaper do its work with a light touch.

(I'll test you on this later)

Rod

 

[Penpal]

Tick all the above from the skew it gives me about 400 grit already.

Peter.

 

[Bammer]

Me personally on wood

Make sure you use a sanding sealer first....this lot wil forget to tell you that..

start with 240 ( unless I have a bad day with the skew than its start with a 40) 320, 400, 600 all spun up on each grade then each finished sanding horizontally.

i then use a microcrystalline polish to finish. Sometimes a friction polish

Acrylics and PR's is start off at 320' P400, P600,p1000' P1200, P1500, P2000, then the micromesh from 3200 4000, 6000,8000 then 12000. Then polish up with TCut and finish with a good quality car polish.

Each grade spun up the. Finished horizontally.
.

Why use sanding sealer ? What exactly does it do ?

Curious why spin and sand and then sand horizontally ? why not just sand horizontally in the first place ?

Microcrystalline polish is a wax isn't it ? surely that would wear off pretty quick with use ..

Not trying to upset anyone, just genuine questions

 

[wm460]

Hint 1: Use scissors to cut sandpaper into approx 25mm strips for use on the lathe. (Never tear sandpaper)


Rod

Why is this Rod?

 

[Macaronytony]

As above?? Still learning.

Sent from my Galaxy 6

 

[RodN]

Why is this Rod?

1. because it is bad practice
2. a clean cut edge allows you to sand precisely to an edge or into a corner

Cheers
Rod

 

[wm460]

Thanks Rod, never heard that before.

Sent from my D6683 using Tapatalk

 

[Pierre]

Why use sanding sealer ? What exactly does it do ?

Curious why spin and sand and then sand horizontally ? why not just sand horizontally in the first place ?

Microcrystalline polish is a wax isn't it ? surely that would wear off pretty quick with use ..

Not trying to upset anyone, just genuine questions

Sanding sealer does just that it seals the wood prior to sanding (then you don't lift the grain and generate more sanding nor do you stuff wood dust into the exposed cells!!) depending on the wood depends on its penetration but on the normal European woods it goes in up about 1/2 - 1 mm and it can be either cellulose based or acrylic. On the oily dense woods it is less useful until you clear the surface with acetone (or similar) then use the sanding sealer just before the fine grits. When I make my jewellery boxes I tend to sand down to 320 without sanding sealer then after sealing I go through 400 - 600 using abranet on a random orbital sander; finishing with the 600 with the grain by hand, then I will use the buffing system. Which brings me on to why spun then by the grain? essentially if you sand whilst turning slowly you act as a random orbital sander but not excessively, once you have gone down the large grain work you would (I would I mean) then sand with fine grain with the grain in order to avoid any further cross grain scratching and also to get in between the grain.

Microcrystalline is designed to protect surfaces from acidic finger prints it was initially invented by the British museum, I think, to protect their antiques; yes it wears off but that's when you carry a stock and sell it to the customers having explained its usefulness!!

PG

 

[Pierre]

Me personally on wood

Make sure you use a sanding sealer first....this lot wil forget to tell you that..

I won't; my problem is that I find that I use so much its becoming expensive, I use Freres Nordin cellulose sanding sealer because it is the cabinet makers' choice here in France and sadly I can only find it in Paris. It penetrates better and the final surface after buffing is immaculate. It will also grip Tung oil really well and so give a beautiful final finish.

PG

 

[Pierre]

As I'm new to all of this I was hoping to pick your brains. Do you have a grit range that you stick to regardless of what type of wood you are sanding or do you vary it.
I've only been working with Olive at the moment, however I've just taken possession of some Cherry and Dark Walnut and notice the grain to be a lot different to what I've got used to.
Cheers again for your advice :blowx:

If you can, invest in some abranet Velcro backed and a Velcro pad you won't need to buy much and it lasts for ages. The other thing is don't use a brand new sheet and throw it away, use it as much as you can, used sheets don't scratch half as much as new pieces and eventually (in the smaller grit ranges) they help with the final polishing. But whatever the others said above will work.

PG