Wood turning and sanding???

[Dark Cloud]

I recently got a lathe and have been turning some cork creations of my own. Curently making a butt grip on a split handle out of african mahogany. What sanding and finishing proceses do you guys use? Thanks...

[upnorth]

I turn it close the shape and size I want and then start with the sandpaper to finalize it. I start with 60 grit and go to 100 then to 150. I finish sand it by hand going with the grain with 200 grit to get rid of sanding marks.

To finish I use spray on Spar Varnish in high gloss. It is pretty tough stuff. Depending on the wood 3 coats usually does the trick. I have heard of people using thread epoxy, but since it is formulated to just sit on top of threads I don't feel that it bonds to the wood as well as a woodworking type varnish.

[b1gf1sh1]

never really worked with that wood so i don't know the grain, but, i've had success with other hardwoods starting at 60 grit and going down to 800. 60 won't normally be needed with a sharp skew and a steady hand but hey, it's quick.as you get better and your inventory goes up you can use sanding screens,pads and even different scrubby pads.really the different tecniques could fill volumes for finishing and products (kind of looks like fishing.. hmmm) but for that i'd do this. after i was happy with the prep, while still on the lathe i'd apply some EEE cream at 500-700 rpm's to seal the wood and fill any scratches left, or imperfections. then i'd increase my speed to 1300-2000 rpms and with a diaper(cloth, lint free) i'd apply enough pressure to create some heat that i could feel in my fingers for about 20 secs. then i'd let it cool down. good time for coffee! then i'd apply some wood turners finish starting at slow and working up to around 1500 rpm's then keep it up till i was happy with the lustre. happy turning.

[CustomRodFan]

Morning Dark,

I'll speak to cork.

I start with 80 grit to remove the excess chunks of glue and get the handle into symetry since all of the cork rings will go together depending on where I bored the center hole out. I use alot of foam slices too and this step helps me shape that to round.

Single cut flat file next. Here I get it pretty much to shape.

from there I will fine tune it with sandpaper. Most often don't go past 600 grit wet/dry. but, in some cases have acutally gone out as far as 12,000. there it was after using some bowling ball type material.

As for finish. I have been using true oil with solid results. In some cases cork sealer from flex coat is good enough.

My word of advice here is high RPM's. I am with Big fish, 2000 or even faster if you got it. What kind of lathe did you buy?

[Dark Cloud]

Thanks guys, I have been doing the same basic process but the wood hasn't quite looked as nice as I anticipated. I have some really nice looking cedar on the way though...

Custom - A few months ago for my B-day my girlfriend bought me a PSI Turncrafter Pro. Im very happy with it. It will do all I ever need. Now I just need to add on all the accesories I need/want

[DinkADunk]

Well, I'm not a fan of wood handles for fishing rods but I love to turn wood (salt & pepper mills, pens, bowls, etc). I like to finish turn spindle projects (like a handle) with a skew and then sand to 320 grit. On some projects I will soak the wood with CA glue and then sand out again before applying another finish. For some woods you can continue to sand to 1200 grit and then go for the mirca papers up to 12000grit. On other woods (and dynawood) a couple of coats of CA works great and will buff out to a high gloss. On others I like to use Shellac or Lacquer, both of which can be buffed out to a high gloss. For something to last outdoors I would go with a good Marine Spar Varnish although your finish schedule will be long to allow for the 12 hours between coats and 3 weeks to cure before buffing.

For cork, I will use a roughing gouge or Surform tool to true up the handle blank. You need to use a fixed tool if you need to make things round. Once round I like to use the Surform tool for initial shaping of the cork until I'm around 3/32" oversized. At that point I'll fill in voids with a mixture of cork dust and epoxy, let that harden, file off the excess, and then continue shaping with sandpaper. I like to finish off the cork with U40 Cork Seal.

I also run a good dust collector while sanding and wear a respirator while finishing.

[Dark Cloud]

Well the cedar came in and im very happy. I just turned a reel seat insert and it looks sweet. Nice and light and the grain/marking are nice. She's going on a split grip that i'll frame the reel seat with a half inch of the rubber/cork composit stuff then the butt after the split im gonna make out of the cedar also. Will post picts when done...