Christina Gurnham wrote on 09/19/11 at 21:41:08:Kerry those mirrors are amazing!
Awww shucks....
Christina Gurnham wrote on 09/19/11 at 21:41:08:how do you get the backside to be so flat? [...] Do you use a sander [...] to remove the bump?
Diet and exercise, of course! No ... wait ... wrong answer.
I
do sand the backs flat, but not with a power tool. Here's my "secret"!
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A few things to remember:
- The "sanding stick" should be FLAT
- Both the stick and the sandpaper should (ideally) be longer than the diameter of what you're trying to flatten.
- While sanding, try to keep the sandpaper in contact with the workpiece "from rim to rim". It's almost impossible to get a finished surface that's anything BUT flat this way.
- As with all sanding on the lathe, keep the abrasive in motion! A moderate amount of movement will do; I find that moving my hand in a small clockwise circle (against the rotation of the workpiece) helps keep things under control.
Christina Gurnham wrote on 09/19/11 at 21:41:08:Also another issue I have had - when i put a finish on you can see tiny little concentric circles in the finish - what am i doing wrong? these always seem to appear when i am face turning
I'm gonna fall back on "sanding basics":
- Don't change grits until all scratches from the previous (coarser) grit have been removed, and all remaining scratches are consistent with the current grit.
- Before changing to the next grit, hand sand (with the lathe off) with the grain to help remove cross-grain scratches
- Wipe off the workpiece in between grits. You don't want to have stray 100-grit granules left on the surface as you press against the workpiece with 150 grit.
- Don't "skip grits". Each succeeding grit should be about 1.5 times the number of the previous one.
- Proceed to a higher grit than you think is sufficient. On my mirrors I used sandpaper from 120 to 220, 320, 400; then switched to soft Abralon pads for 500, 1000, 2000, 4000.
Christina Gurnham wrote on 09/19/11 at 21:41:08:so i was able to do an inlay of the rose pattern - i think it looks good but there is definitely room for improvement.
Hey - that looks very nice. Your next ones should be knockouts!
Christina Gurnham wrote on 09/19/11 at 21:41:08:i stack cut the rose on top of the mirror blank with the scroll saw. it ended up leaving some gaps between where the rose fit in and the mirror blank.
I'm not much of a scrollsawyer, but you might want to try tilting the table a few degrees when you stack cut. It's not very intuitive, but you end up making a hole and an insert with matching, angled sides ... when you do it right the piece pops right into the hole and level with the background surface.
The table angle you use depends on the thickness of the work, and you have to cut in the right direction ... either clockwise or counter-clockwise, I can't remember which.
Christina Gurnham wrote on 09/19/11 at 21:41:08:i think when i try it next i'll glue up the rose and then trace the rose outline onto the mirror blank. Then i'll cut out the outline from the mirror blank and glue the rose in. hopefully that'll be a tighter, cleaner look
Try a couple of practice pieces with the "tilted table" method. (There must be several good online sources of info on it.)
Christina Gurnham wrote on 09/19/11 at 21:41:08:i think tightbond III stands out like a sore thumb).
Yeah, I can imagine. Isn't TB3 kind of a brown color to begin with?
Christina Gurnham wrote on 09/19/11 at 21:41:08:pretty good so far.
I'll say! You're only a step or two away from "Ooh la la" greatness!
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