Working Railroad Switch Padlock - finished pics finally

[Mutawintji]

OMG .... 1200 .... does that mean 1200 grit ... the highest I have ever gone to is 400.

Do you polish each part to 1200 before assembly, and if not, what level do you polish to before assembly ?

Also .. how big a part do you think the 'spindle sander' plays in the finish .... I mean, is it possible to get that finish on the lock without a spindles sander ?

Greg

[Hermit]

OMG .... 1200 .... does that mean 1200 grit ... the highest I have ever gone to is 400.

Do you polish each part to 1200 before assembly, and if not, what level do you polish to before assembly ?

When using a poly finish, I sand to 220G before the poly, or 400 grit for end-grain, then 600grit or 1200grit W&D between coats, with a final 1200 grit W&D rub-down after the last coat before waxing.

Also .. how big a part do you think the 'spindle sander' plays in the finish .... I mean, is it possible to get that finish on the lock without a spindles sander ?
Greg

A normal drum sander will do the same job, to smooth the curve in the hasp, even one mounted in a drill press. The only advantage of the oscillating spindle sander is that the drum moves up and down, leaving less 'grooving' to be hand-sanded out. I't's not necessary at all, just a time saver.

I rough-cut it with the bandsaw, then sanded the curve smooth with the spindle sander and rounded off the edge with a Dremel round-off bit, then did the last bit by hand.

[Mutawintji]

Thats cool ... I unnerstan ... means I don't have to buy a spindle sander. I have small 'drums' 50mm ? that I can put in the lathe and sand that way.

I will have to buy some 600 and 1200. I thought only stones came in that grit. Quite often I just rub emery paper (any grit) against itself to make fine sandpaper.

W&D means Wet and Dry ? If so, do you actually have to wet it. I have only ever wet sandpaper on metal, never on wood ?

Greg

[Hermit]

Thats cool ... I unnerstan ... means I don't have to buy a spindle sander. I have small 'drums' 50mm ? that I can put in the lathe and sand that way.

I will have to buy some 600 and 1200. I thought only stones came in that grit. Quite often I just rub emery paper (any grit) against itself to make fine sandpaper.

W&D means Wet and Dry ? If so, do you actually have to wet it. I have only ever wet sandpaper on metal, never on wood ?

Greg

Yep, it's wet and dry. No need to wet it, though, as it's name suggests.

Actually, grits go much, much, much higher than 1200. I use up to 12000, in the form of Micro-Mesh.

Check out the gloss on the back of the (Merbau) guitar neck in the thread linked in my signature. There is no finish applied in that pic, just rubbing through the Micro Mesh grits, from 180G to 12000 G. (My current project. That pic is in Post #3.)

A quick Google search will give heaps of results for Micro Mesh, available from The Sandpaper Man among others.

N.B. When using oil finishes or wax, the higher the grit you can go to, the better the result.

[crowie]

G'Day Steve, I'm way short of your league on sanding as I use mainly 80grit and 120grit.....
Your results speak for themselves, extremely well finished.
Cheers, crowie

[Hermit]

G'Day Steve, I'm way short of your league on sanding as I use mainly 80grit and 120grit.....
Your results speak for themselves, extremely well finished.
Cheers, crowie

Pete, you'd be surprised at just how quick it is to work throught to 12000 grit with micromesh as I did on the guitar neck test. After the usual rougher sanding, I only spent a couple of minutes with each grit, 9 in total:

Micro-Mesh 2 inch.jpg

I just bought a set of tiny little 2" square pads to test the stuff out - will be getting larger ones next. These little ones are good for small areas like the guitar neck though. They're washable, too, by the way. ( Wood N Workshop Products - Micro Mesh Finishing Set 2'' x 2'' 9pce )

It wasn't used on the padlock, incidentally. I didn't know there was such a thing back then and just used normal 1200G W&D.

[Mutawintji]

Ta Mate ... Great info. Will check the sandpaper man.

are you saying that once you have reached, say, 400, then it only takes a few seconds/minute for each following grit ?

Greg

[Hermit]

Ta Mate ... Great info. Will check the sandpaper man.
are you saying that once you have reached, say, 400, then it only takes a few seconds/minute for each following grit ?
Greg

Not seconds. A couple of minutes per grit. Each is effectively only removing the previous grit's scratches, which get progressively finer. It'll depend on the timber, the area, and ease of access of course, but that's all I did on the back of the guitar neck when testing it out. It was real easy because it's a nice, straight stretch of timber. (Merbau) Longer with each would make for an even better finish.

It's not worth going to all that trouble if you're using a sealing type finish like poly, though, since it provides the gloss. 220 or 400 is good enough then.

[Mutawintji]

Steve .... tried searching for your guitar link but unable to find. Can't find anything with 'Merbau' in it. Do you have a link or a direction ?

I am going to seal with wax only ... so will have to go the full distance.

Greg

[Hermit]

Steve .... tried searching for your guitar link but unable to find. Can't find anything with 'Merbau' in it. Do you have a link or a direction ?

I am going to seal with wax only ... so will have to go the full distance.

Greg

The link is in my signature below.

(Doesn't have Merbau in the name, either, which wouldn't have helped.)

[Mutawintji]

Ummmmmm ... your signature iz not below ??

I went to your profile and found the cigar-box-WIP .... and I can see the finish in this photo ...



If that is the result of micro-mesh pads then I want a heap of them ...

cool bananas ... Greg

[Hermit]

Ummmmmm ... your signature iz not below ??

I went to your profile and found the cigar-box-WIP .... and I can see the finish in this photo ...
...
If that is the result of micro-mesh pads then I want a heap of them ...
cool bananas ... Greg

Yep, just Micro-Mesh pads, no 'finish' otherwise.


You don't see this (arrowed) in your view of the page?

Signature.JPG

[Mutawintji]

Steve ... Every time I read a post of yours it raises two more questions ....

Is there any wax on the photo ... or just the micro pad finish

What level of grit do you go to before using the first micro mesh pad ?


No .. that signature does not appear in your posts (for me) but it does in your profile. In your settings you can elect to have signature visible or invisible .. you must have it set to invisible ?

cool bananas ... greg

[Hermit]

Steve ... Every time I read a post of yours it raises two more questions ....
Is there any wax on the photo ... or just the micro pad finish

No wax or anything else, just bare wood. That was just a test of the Micro-Mesh, I didn't really need to sand it to 12000G. I'll be using nitro-cellulose lacquer or water-based WOP on the guitar when I get to the finishing stage.

What level of grit do you go to before using the first micro mesh pad ?

Micro-Mesh is new to me too, just learning, but I think I went to 220G from memory.

No .. that signature does not appear in your posts (for me) but it does in your profile. In your settings you can elect to have signature visible or invisible .. you must have it set to invisible ?
cool bananas ... greg

Nope, it's set to 'Visible'. Actually, I think that setting controls how you view the posts of others. Might be wrong, though. Do you have it set to invisible?

[Mutawintji]

I'll chk !

Greg