Cleaning up Vector Art on Maple

[nick]

Million dollar question...So what is the tool of choice for sanding those intricate areas on these vector art 3D models to get a uniform smooth finish.

[gerald_martin]

I will follow this thread closely as I have struggled to find the "silver bullet" for this one. I use a fein detail sander with a small triangle shaped pad, this works somewhat but it's very labor intense. Has anyone experimented with sandblasting - using glass beads, etc to clean up these models after cutting?

[Brady Watson]

Sandblasting will raise the grain & make a mess. You want to either hand sand with a brown scotch pad or use a sanding mop from www.stockroomsupply.com (http://www.stockroomsupply.com) or similar.

-B

[bleeth]

Our friends at Enkbol shoot everything with a clear sander sealer before cleaning up. It helps but depending on the final finish can have other effects (like sealing where you want stain to penetrate) There is no magic bullet-It's time consuming

[keith_outten]

Brady,

Have you ever tried blasting with walnut shell blast media?

I have a commercial blast cabinet and recently purchased walnut shell blast media to give it a try but I haven't had the time yet.

BTW the installation of the brass medallion was completed Saturday when the marble floor was sealed in the rotunda of the Library at CNU. I will have pictures of the project tomorrow or Wednesday for you.

[mzettl]

The best and fastest way that I have found to do this is to use a scraper, not sandpaper. Actually, what I do is take a sharp chisel, and I mean really sharp, burnish a burr on the edge, just like you would with a regular hand scraper, and go to town.

This removes wood much faster than you can with sandpaper, and the finish is glass smooth if you have prepared the edge correctly. You can use a wide chisel, a narrow one, or several, depending upon the need. A scraper can get into corners much more easily. If you try to use a flap sander, and you have to remove a lot of material, you will lose detail on adjacent edges, etc. I have found that a flap sander is great for removing fuzz, raised grain, etc., but if you're trying to remove tool marks, this is not the best approach. The scraper does a better job, and is much, much faster. It does take a little practice, but the time spent is well worth it.

In lieu of using a chisel, you could prepare some small scrapers by cutting up a large scraper into the sizes and shapes you need. Any thin, hardened steel would work, eg. an old handsaw blade, etc.

For really tight areas, you can use carver's rifflers, basically very fine files and rasps that come in differing shapes and curves. They are available in sets from any of the woodworking catalogs.

If you are not familiar with scrapers and how to prepare them, do a search on any of the woodworking sites like Sawmill Creek or Fine Woodworking. Many woodworkers actually find a scraped surface more desirable than a sanded one. If you've ever seen David Marks on DIY's Woodworks show, he uses a scraper all the time. One of his teachers and and icon of woodworking, James Krenov, used a scraper as his preferred method of smoothing wood.

I hope that is helpful.

-Matt

[knight_toolworks]

KLINGSPOR Sanding Stars they work pretty well so far in my cutting. but they are more for smoothing and fuzz and not for tool marks.

[Brady Watson]

Keith,
I have use walnut shells on metal parts with great results, but this was before I got the Bot...so I haven't tried it on wood (and gave the blast cabinet to a friend). I'm curious to see how walnut shells work, but from sandblasting experience I am not hopeful...Someone with a cabinet should try it. (Please let us all know if you do) For 3D reliefs I've found either a scotch pad by hand or sanding stars/mops work best.

That's great news on the medallion. I'm looking forward to seeing the pics of the installation.

Thanks!
-B

[keith_outten]

I did some additional research last night. I found one comprehensive test paper on the subject of using blast media on wood. The author compared several types of blast media such as plastic, corn cob and walnut shell. The tests included multi-angle blasting and varied pressure settings with each blast media type.

Based on what I read it seems the process is viable, the author had taken pictures but failed to include them in his web page so I wasn't able to see the results. I believe the best technique is to use a pressure pot in conjunction with a blast cabinet, this allows less pressure to be used and hopefully improve the smoothing process with almost no loss in the substrate surface material.

It appears it is certainly worth the time to try the technique.

Keith

[nick]

Thanks for all your insight...the chisel for me is working well.

For all you pro's with vector art...please revide and comment on my flower.

The model is 3 x 4.5 x .5"

7920

[bleeth]

I bought a couple different sizes of these scrapers years ago and the control is excellent as well as the economy of replacement blades:

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=11121

The smaller version has a 3 sided blade that gets right down into tough corners