Sanding across different materials.

[bvartist]

I've worked with woods a lot, never gave much thought about how to sand pieces with two different materials joined together. And never had much of a problem.

Working on this tamper was a major PITA!


I normally sand my tampers using strips of sandpaper while they are spinning on my lathe. But this one didn't work so well. When I was done, the maple was higher than the bubinga! So I had to hand sand to get the different materials smooth and even.

I guess that old rule of sanding from the harder material to the softer material really is necessary!

[Nick]

Yep, harder to softer. I find that with grits of 400 and higher, its OK to go back and forth. But lower its best to go only one way.

[StephenDownie]

Using a hard sanding stick can help out a lot too.

[bscofield]

I've worked with woods a lot, never gave much thought about how to sand pieces with two different materials joined together. And never had much of a problem.

Working on this tamper was a major PITA!


I normally sand my tampers using strips of sandpaper while they are spinning on my lathe. But this one didn't work so well. When I was done, the maple was higher than the bubinga! So I had to hand sand to get the different materials smooth and even.

I guess that old rule of sanding from the harder material to the softer material really is necessary!

how exactly do you do those joints?

[bvartist]

how exactly do you do those joints?

The easiest way I know is to cut strips of the woods, in this case maple and bubinga. Glue them together using wood glue, clamp and let dry. Then cut the blank diagonally out of the glued block(shown below by the bold lines).

[Frank]

You'll get less material wastage with a taper jig like this: http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.as ... t&ID=80605

I do it regularly for hidden tang knife handles. It should work on a bandsaw too.

Alternatively, you can use your adjustable mitre gauge.

[bvartist]

You'll get less material wastage with a taper jig.....

Unless I'm missing how you are using the jig, isn't it difficult to glue and clamp the diagonal joints??? I've tried something like that but it was a b*tch to clamp without the joints sliding.

[Frank]

Unless I'm missing how you are using the jig, isn't it difficult to glue and clamp the diagonal joints??? I've tried something like that but it was a b*tch to clamp without the joints sliding.

Yep, it's a bit fiddly, what with lateral bracing & all.
Mind you, since a pipe tamper is so small, I guess there isn't all that much wastage. [Stuffs sock in mouth ]

[bvartist]

There is a bit of waste even for a small tamper. But it is the easiest method I've come up with so far. Now if I had a drill press, I could cut the diagonal pieces, drill them for a dowel and glue them up that way. Or if I wanted to do a lot of these I could make a clamping jig, but for a few I'll stick to a little waste.