pipemakersforum.com

Hello everyone. It's been a while since I've posted and been in the workshop. I've been working on finishing my first pipe (indeed, this pipe has been loooong in the making), and with the final steps comes a boat load of sanding by hand. I actually stained the pipe after sanding with a worn-out piece of 180 grit and found that I had some scratches. I sanded with 180 grit down to get rid of the small scratches and have applied another coat of Fiebings USMC black. I then sanded that down with 400 grit and now have a coat of light brown. While waiting for that to dry, I started working on wet sanding the stem; I got all the way to 600 and I'll finish at 1000 grit during my next session before buffing.

Now, all of that description was just to point out the fact that my fingers hurt! A lot! Is this the pipe-maker's equivalent of exercise? Will this soreness get better the more sanding I do? Or is there something I'm doing wrong? I heard that Larrysson was unable to do much pipe-making because of an issue he had with his hands, and I sure hope I'm not setting myself up for that. Any ideas/comments or perhaps technique suggestions?

Thanks!
Alex

If you're not already, you'll want to incorporate more grits between. That will help the removal of scratches. 180-220-320-400-600 and so on if you wish to sand that high. It will go quickly between grits this way. If you are able, sand with the grain. This all should help.

Thanks for your advice, Nate! I noticed that after I finished the first round of scratch removal, there was an absence of scratches on the bowl but I still saw some on the shank. It's quite difficult to sand with the grain on such a small surface. I suppose that's where the more grits in between comes handy. I'm looking on amazon right now; is there a difference between "sandblaster" 320 grit and "wetordry" 320 grit? If it helps any, the 400, 600, and 1000 grit that I have are all wetordry.

Thanks again!
Alex

I use mostly wet/dry aluminum oxide that I get at Ace Hardware from 220-600. I have some abranet sheets that I bought at Woodcraft that go from 80-400. The 80 comes in really handy after filing to tweek the shape if needed.

As for your hands being sore. If you have never done this type of work before (I really don't know your story, just guessing) it takes a while to build up your "Man Hands" as my husband calls them . The more you do this your hands will get tougher and most of the time it won't be an issue. I have always worked with my hands and always had calluses. But when I started making pipes my fingertips hurt after I sanded. Don't push so hard that you are creating heat and make sure the paper isn't slipping and rubbing your fingers.

Hope this helps

Sore hands, for goodness sake "woman up" and get on with it!

Sore hands just goes with the territory.

Scottie, thanks for the advice as well as the sand paper suggestion. Once this storm passes, I'll swing by and pick up some grits in between. You are correct, I haven't done such detailed work with my fingers like this before. I've helped around the house with home improvement and larger-scale carpentry, but by no means tiny objects.

Haha, not sure what was going on in my mind, thinking that sore fingers wouldn't be an issue >_>. Sore hands I'm okay with, but fingers, I'll have to build that strength up.

Thanks!
Alex

Alex, I think the wet/dry will work fine. Not sure what the 'sandblaster' version is... Yeah, it is difficult sometimes, but on the straight grain of the bowl (if that's how it works out for example) if you can there, it will help. Not sure what to do on birdseye though... Actually, I sand in a circular fashion there, it may or may not help, but that's what I do. Some places you just have to sand any way you can. Cutting strips of paper can be beneficial as well around certain areas of the pipe.

Nate, that's interesting, I'll keep that technique in mind. I finished my first pipe today, so once I have my camera returned to me, I'll take some photos. One thing's for sure, I'm quite bad at the staining/sanding the stain, haha.

Alex

swilly wrote:Nate, that's interesting, I'll keep that technique in mind. I finished my first pipe today, so once I have my camera returned to me, I'll take some photos. One thing's for sure, I'm quite bad at the staining/sanding the stain, haha.

Alex

Sweet, look forward to seeing it!

It may also help to use some kind of backer for the sandpaper. I have two that I really like. One is a foam emery board that I wrap sandpaper around. The foam will bend around curves a little, and it helps keep a solid grip on the sandpaper without my fingers aching. The second is a small sanding block that's faced with some very thick felt. (In a previous life, it was used for working on doll house furniture.) It, too, goes around contours nicely.

I wouldn't want to be sanding with just my fingers all the time.

Literary, thanks for the suggestion. I read your post of this idea and then proceeded to see it being used in several videos. I posted the final product (or maybe v0.8?) in the gallery. Off to make another!

-Alex