woodworking skils and pipe making

abbeypipes · Post by **abbeypipes** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 12:51 pm

hallo
when I got into pipemaking because of the fine tolerances in the tenon I somehow thought as is widely used that I needed a metal turning lathe,this I did buybut those damn tenons remained a source of chisel throwing and cursing!Time went on an my accuracy became better,I still was not happy with the fine lines left by the tooling which had to be touched up.I damaged the carriage and was left with effectively a woodturning lathe I thought that that my pipes would have to go on hold for a while.I was chatting to a pipe repairer friend about my woes and asked did he know anyone who could repair my carriage,he looked at me slightly amused and said that he only uses a woodturning lathe for his tenons.how is done, firstly ensure a sharp chisel,turn the tenon down to near the size of the mortise press the tenon into the mortise and a black ring will appear on the tenon now slowly follow this line and you have a perfect fit .My tenons are far better now and I would not go back to the carriage.I had many years woodturning experience whether that helped maybe ,if you try it ,go slowly at first and good luck.Another useful item I use in sanding is the sponge backed sanding discs which are usually velcro backed these I find are really useful both sanding on the lathe and by hand,I hope people find these ieas useful regards

JMB · Post by **JMB** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 9:20 pm

abbeypipes wrote
"Another useful item I use in sanding is the sponge backed sanding discs which are usually velcro backed "

I have seen this mention a few times. I'm not sure what y'all are taking about. I have been use some "sponge" sanding blocks about 1" thick from 3M, but they do not have "velcro backed " They come in 60 to 320 grit.
Is that what you are taking about or something else. If so can you give a source.
Thanks JB

MitchG · Post by **MitchG** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 12:27 am

I'm using a sponge-backed 6" disk for stick-on paper which I found at the local Loewe's. It's designed to be used in a random-orbital sander, but can be chucked into my lathe using a regular drill chuck. It's got a tapered backplate so it allows a lot of freedom in working into tight radiuses. Paper is available from Porter-Cable in a variety of grits, up to 320. Hope that helps.

Mitch

JMB · Post by **JMB** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 12:46 am

Thanks Mitch, I will check them out at Lowes. Not one close but there are some down in Austin.

MitchG · Post by **MitchG** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 2:21 am

I'll be more specific: what you're looking for is an "Ali-Gator-Grit" 6" DA Back-Up Pad, #3247. It's got a short, threaded shank, as that's the set-up for a pneumatic DA sander, but there's enough shank to grip in a regular chuck. They're only about 10 bucks, so pick up a couple. Alternatively, Loewe's stocks a Black and Decker 5" Backing Pad, #U1302, which is a very thin and flexible (unpadded) back-pad and is set up for a 1/4" drill shank. There's a hollow in the middle because it's designed for sandpaper with a hole in the center, but it will take the stick-on papers just fine. It would probably do equally well and 5" adhesive sanding discs are a bit easier to find than 6". Both items can be found in the abrasives section at Loewe's. Think that'll do ya.

Mitch

jeff · Post by **jeff** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 8:58 am

I tried one of the Black and Decker versions for my last two pipes. It was my first effort with a sanding disk (all previous pipes had been hand shaped with a dremel.) It worked pretty well, however I found that it was difficult to true up. That made me uneasy because little nicks could result in the tighter spaces like the shank/stummel joint. It's worth a try though.

Jeff

ArtGuy · Post by **ArtGuy** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 9:48 am

I use a 5" 3M padded disk with a velcro backing. I picked mine up at a local Wal-Mart. The grits to not go up as high for hook n loop as they do adhesive backed disks, but then again I only go to 220 on the disk anyway then it is all hand sanding from there.

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 10:06 am

The one disc that I've found that I like is the 3" padded disc from woodturnerscatalog.com. It has almost zero runout and the foam backing is fairly soft. You can get extra soft additional pads as well, so that you can get a very gentle sanding. The baking pad is also tapered, so that you can get into the tight spots fairly easily.

However, I still prefer my belt grinder (not belt sander - big difference) because it's much more natural movements for me. I usually only use that disc to clean up the heavy grit from the grinder (I use 80-grit to shape). The fine tuning is always done with dremel (RIP), files, and sandpaper strips.

abbeypipes · Post by **abbeypipes** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 6:10 pm

the discs I used were from my woodturning days ,vitex produce a range of discs I remember them going up to 400 grit,