Sanding endgrain issues!

[myxpykalix]

I cut these bowls out but if you can see vertical scratches that i have spent 15-20 minutes trying to get out with no success.
I started with 60 grit moved up to 160 then 220 sanding it as it spun on my lathe with the various grits at least 5 minutes or more per grit.

I have dealt with this before when cutting bowls on the lathe and we would use the (forgot name of chisel) to take a very light cut but i can't/won't do that with these. One little gouge and they're ruined.

I have some Boiled linseed oil, shellac, clear glaze, polyurethane and i'm wondering if any of those might help hide them? Finishes are not my strong suit:eek:

[Brady Watson]

Chuck it in the indexer & either:

1) Use the MI command to spin it & hold some sandpaper against it...Remember the spin feature you just HAD to have? Hmmm? :D

2) Machine a weave pattern on it like you originally planned with a nice sharp bit. You could even v-carve it or put a random texture on it.

This is what happens when you don't stick to your original vision... ;)

-B

[scottp55]

Back to 60G you go, inspecting clean in between. Similar problems in stone with scratches(sometimes get carried away and don't dry stone to see scratches- and have to go all the way back to 120G), at least you don't have to go to 60,000 G like me :)

[myxpykalix]

I put it on my lathe and spun it
I started with 60 grit moved up to 160 then 220 sanding it as it spun on my lathe with the various grits at least 5 minutes or more per grit.

and tried it at various speeds with little results. I wonder if spraying a glaze would fill in or hide those?

You mean the spin feature I waited 2 years for?:D lol
The lathe is in the basement shop where it is warmer anyway!:)

Sometimes the grain dictates the design. I think the wavy gain pattern is way nicer. Mother nature is a far better artist then I am.:eek:

[Burkhardt]

It is surely a cheat to the wood turning purist but I have been quite successful sanding out slip marks of the gouge or scraper chatter with an orbital sander while spinning slowly on the lathe. Even more effective was a sanding disc in the hand drill. Obviously you need to start with 60 or 80 until the marks are gone before progressing.

[scottp55]

Jack, just a thought, if you go with BLO. Make some 220G sawdust, mix with 50/50 BLO/thinner to make a paste and wet sand it in and let dry. Working on C-90 torrefied ash right and the pores on face grain awful. Used 120G slurry, and wet sanded 180G,220G,and 320G and filled pores nicely. Smooth as a baby's......... Just a thought. they are coming out nice. 320G Norton(3M adhesive melts off with citrus thinner) sanding sponge on lathe with oil?

[srwtlc]

Slow spin on the lathe and a random orbit sander, a well sharpened/burnished cabinet scraper, or my tool of choice, a 3x24 Porter-Cable belt sander and a 120 grit belt (random orbit after that). Would have left more 'meat' in the wall to allow being a bit more aggressive with sanding out.

Most finish is going to make it 'pop' and show more.

If it was worth doing, it's worth doing right!

[feinddj]

Wood Turning Purist here: Use an irish or fingernail grind and turn the tool almost upside down to make a high angle to lightly scrape the grain. You should get ultra fine shavings, not dust when you do this. You could also use a scraper. having the tool sharp is the key. Sanding at higher grits before you have all the tool marks out will just wear out more sandpaper. Each grit is to eliminate the scratches made by the previous grit. Any finish will accent the marks not hide them.

David

[Chuck Keysor]

Jack, I have only done basic spindle turning, and the last time was maybe 15 years ago. But if I were looking at a manual turning, I would say you clearly need to practice holding your tool firmly, at the correct height and at the correct angle. Even beginning level manual turning would not have so much chatter as your pictures show.

So, I am assuming you turned this on your indexer.... and I have never seen an indexer run. But it must be the same as with traditional turning, that your cutter is not positioned correctly (relative to the piece's central axis, and tangent to the work piece). So can't you adjust those settings on an indexer? There isn't any finish that will hide those chatter marks. Even if you applied a solid coat of flat paint, you would see those marks.

I'd keep experimenting to figure out the right cutter settings, instead of trying to find out ways to hide the chatter marks. Or find an experienced turner that can look at your set-up to recommend good cutter positioning. With a manual turning, you have the advantage of being able to respond in real-time to adjust your cutter as you are going, and can feel your way into a correct tool position. Clearly with an indexer you can't adjust in real time. But knowing that A basic turning on a manual lathe can easily produce stunningly smooth surfaces, you should be able to obtain better results if you experiment some more. My two cents worth anyway!

Chuck.......... PS: It would be interesting to see the inside of your turning. How thin is the wall of your turning? Don't you have more room to turn down your stock a bit more and eliminate the chatter?

[myxpykalix]

Chuck,
This was not turned on a lathe or cut on the indexer. I made a jig to hold the 3" thick piece in my indexer bay and cut it out just as if it were on my table surface.
The issue i was dealing with, which is what i've seen before when i used to turn, was endgrain issues. Those were vertical scratches that i don't think were caused by the endmill when cutting but occur because of the makeup of the grain.

And the suggestion of the orbital sander while spinning on the lathe was one i had used in the past but completely forgot about.

However i did get the problem resolved by finding some stiff 40 grit (used in a floor sander) and that got rid of the vertical scratches and traded for horizontal ones that i progressively eliminated by using 60-120- 180-240 grit paper.

Now i only have 3 more to go!:eek:

[Chuck Keysor]

Yikes! I had no idea that is how you cut out this part. Of course I did see that you later put it into a lathe for sanding and wondered why not turn it while it was in the lathe, with a much greater degree of artistic freedom. But whatever works!

I hope the next three go more smoothly! And you still have quite a long time before Christmas!!!! :) Good luck, Chuck!

[Brady Watson]

Dude...you need to show that machine some love...Were you doing lines off the indexer or what? :eek:

You could have probably avoided a lot of that sanding if the material was held down better on a flat table. I can't make out what you even have there...Is that tongue & groove flooring you salvaged, then beat with a hammer for a spoilboard?

Do some maintenance on that poor machine...It is not without merit. Your cuts will be cleaner and sharper.

-B

[myxpykalix]

Brady,
What that is, when you see it from this angle is simply a jig i built to raise the height so i could lay the 3" piece of walnut on. The bed of the indexer was too low and would bottom out and the table was too high, so a couple of 2x6's and a piece of plywood put it in the "goldilocks zone" (just right:rolleyes:)

All the jig does is rest over the indexer and all that, is the same as it has always been.
I don't think those scratches had anything to do with the holddown because it was helddown and secured well and level.

I'm sure you've turned bowls before and what has happened to me is that in one section of the round turning (not always) there is a endgrain rough patch. So i have encountered these before i got a bot.

And as suggested we would have to take a gouge or chisel and do a fine cut to eliminate them. My hands are no longer steady enough to do that plus i'm dealing with a broken middle finger right now.

The spoilboard on the table is down to about 1/4" so that is going to be shaved off and replaced and if you noticed when i'm working in the indexer bay the surface of the table tends to become where i lay all my tools and when i'm working on my table the indexer bay become the reciever of my clamps and other tools.
You DO NOT want me to show you a picture of my benchtops!:eek: