Hand held bowl sanders

[William Rogers]

I have never used one of these and trying to determine if they are worth the investment. So do the work and to what degree. What speed is necessary for decent performance. I know Sorby has one, any other brand recommended.

 

[Tom Beatty]

I have several, a sorby, one from Vinces wood and wonders, a a couple of inexpensive ones. I use them when I want something less aggressive than a power sander. I like them because when I try hand sanding I am too heavy handed and leave scratches, these do not. I like the one from Vince the best. It uses brarings and handle length is adjustable. I have had the Sorby for several years and it works, but requires sanding head from Sorby. Diameter of shaft is not standard. Vinces is a standard so you do not necessarily have to buy from him, but I do anyway. Have seen ones you make yourself from kits (Capt Eddy Castilan) that also seem to work and you can size handle to your hand.

 

[robo hippy]

Well, when I transitioned from hand sanding to power sanding, I looked at the inertial sanders and didn't even consider them and went straight to the angle drills. Main reason is I once turn my bowls, and they all warp, and the inertial sanders are worthless for that. Especially with the coarser grits, I find that I have to sand with the lathe not spinning at all. Can't say that I have had problems with them being too aggressive. When sanding with an angle drill, you want low speeds, and for me that means never above half speed. The abrasives cut better at slower speeds, both the drill and the lathe. It gives the abrasives time to dig in and cut which you don't get at high speeds. I made an articulated arm for when I sand bowls, and that is one of my videos. What it does is lets my arm rest on it and all the drill hand has to do is pull the trigger. This makes it a no effort thing and I can use the other hand to slowly rotate the bowl at speeds lower than the lathe can go.

Some day, I am going to invent a flex shaft system that runs off of a mini lathe and will mount on the articulated arm...... Figure I could run 5 or 6 inch discs on it...

robo hippy

 

[Doug Freeman]

I never tried an inertial sander because a power drill at low speed is essentially the same thing, yet is not dependent on just how the disc is held against the wood. One thing that helped my sanding was using a router speed control to control drill speed vs the drill trigger. Its impossible to hold the trigger at the same speed and its less fatiguing to not try to hold it. The trigger is held full on with a velcro cord strap and speed set with the speed control. I can remove the strap and use the drill normally for other stuff.

 

[Al Chavez]

Very interesting thread and replies.

I made an articulated arm for when I sand bowls, and that is one of my videos. What it does is lets my arm rest on it and all the drill hand has to do is pull the trigger. This makes it a no effort thing and I can use the other hand to slowly rotate the bowl at speeds lower than the lathe can go.

robo hippy

Very interesting thread and great replies about the power sanding from Doug and Robo.
Doug,
I have a speed control and a box of velcro strapping so thanks for that tip.

Robo,
Can you provide a pic or link (or clue of the video title) to the d.i.y. articulating arm you have made? A pic would be fantastic actually but I enjoy your videos too. Just point me in the right direction if you can.

I just bought a Trent Bosch hollowing system and I am starting to think it may lend itself to a sanding rig as well with some tinkering.
Thanks
Al in Texas

 

[hockenbery]

I have never used one of these and trying to determine if they are worth the investment. So do the work and to what degree. What speed is necessary for decent performance. I know Sorby has one, any other brand recommended.

inertial sanders work really well on the outside walls an the high part of the inside walls. They leave very little scratch marks.
they rely on the speed of the wood to move so they don’t work at all on the bottom inside center of a bowl.
great for spheres and ornament balls. You can play with the speed start at 5-600 rpm. It works off the speed of the wood moving by. 9-1100 or higher for a 3” ball.
a stiff foam mandrel will work best. A really soft foam may not work at all.

you can make one to test That will work real well for a few bowls.
drill a blind hole at 45 degrees in a handle ( thick broom stick) choose a drill diameter to match the diameter of your Velcro pad mandrel. Stick the shaft of the Mandrel into the drilled hole.
put the edge of the disc against the spinning wood and it will begin spinning and sanding.
it may squeal a bit (add a little bees wax to the mandrel shaft).
After 2-3 bowls the hole gets larger and the Handel will drop out easily If you turn the handle the wrong way. By that time you will appreciate how well it works and invest in bearings or by a commercial one.

another cheap option is using a cheap air tool you have lying around. you can mount your mandrel in a HF die grinder and use that as a handle. disconnect the air hose and push the edge of the disc against the wood. And angled tool woul be a lot more comfortable if you have one.

 

[William Rogers]

@hockenbery
Al, thanks for the ideas. I will try and get a feel how it would work.

 

[hockenbery]

@hockenbery
Al, thanks for the ideas. I will try and get a feel how it would work.

Be sure to use a stiff foam mandrel. Soft foam won’t work well if at all.

 

[Paul Grenier]

I've used inertia sanders with mixed results depending where on the bowl you want to sand. I've also used a 55 degree variable speed angled sander a lot until recently when I bought the pneumatic mini pro random orbit sander from Wood Turners Wonders. I really like it because you can set the speed by setting the air flow to what you need, it's random orbit, it's small and fits easily into the interiors of bowls and has a palm/lever switch. Currently I only have a 30 gallon air compressor and with the random orbit sander set on slow speed, my compressor doesn't run all that frequently. When I get my 60 gallon air compressor next month, it'll run even less often (which will make my wife happy)

 

[Dave Landers]

I use inertia sanders sometimes. I bought a mini die grinder from Harbor Freight. I like the angle grinder best. The grinder with a 1/4" collet works for sanding mandrels with a round (not hex) shaft. Was around $10 on sale at the time, so pretty low investment to try it out.

I pick up the inertia sander when I feel like using something less aggressive than the drill. But it doesn't work well near the center of a bowl - not enough wood movement to spin the sanding disk.

 

[robo hippy]

Here is a link to that video:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnhdZh2Ens8


As for maintaining speed, for a while I had a piece of about 1/4 inch thick cork taped to the trigger so I couldn't press down farther than that, which was about half way. I don't use it any more though. I just listen to the sound. Just a thing I do depending on sound and feel more than anything else. Again, with this articulated arm, things are much more simple. Some day I may make a new and improves one... I can't see sanding bowls without it.

robo hippy

 

[Al Chavez]

Great idea!
Thank you very much.
Al