That moment

T

thegeek574

Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Messages
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Do you all know that moment where you flip over the 12 inch blade, that you painstakingly got both sides to 1500 grit, and see those 120 grit scratches that seemed to appear out of nowhere and mean you get to start over? I'm done for the day.
 
I know that moment. Intimiately. Alas, that's one downside to working in a space with limited lighting.
 
tryppyr said:
I know that moment. Intimiately. Alas, that's one downside to working in a space with limited lighting.
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Yeah, I got some cheap clamp-on work lights at different angles to light my finishing space. One head-on and one each side of me. This has reduced my oh-#&$* moments drastically. I feel for ya man.
 
To help prevent this moment from being more common, use lots of various light sources. I have both incandescent and fluorescent work lights that I use to check scratches when sanding. I sand mostly under incandescent, and then periodically check with the fluorescent. I also take the blade out into the sunlight or even flat light under a window. I also get close to the blade when looking for scratches and look from various angles.

If you see a little bit of a scratch left, do not give in to the temptation to go ahead and move on to the next grit, thinking it will come out with that grit. It won't.

And when in doubt, keep sanding at the same grit. When you think you're done with a grit, go ahead and sand a bit more.

--nathan
 
How did you get to 1500 grit without seeing 120 grit scratches :confused:

Lighting, lighting, lighting
 
I always take it out side and use direct sunlight...it is amazing what it will show.

Also try coloring your blade with a black sharpie before you move down in grits. You would have found those 120 scratches a long time ago.

Something you might keep in mind are cork belts. I have been using them in 400 grit then 1000 grit. The 400 grit cork will get those 120 scratches out fairly easily and then use the 1000 grit and hit the buffer followed by hand sanding at 1500.

You will be back to where you want in no time.

Using the cork belts almost feel like cheating at times :)
 
I had the blade to a CLEAN 1500 and then didn't have a chance to work on it for a few days. I was working on guard fit up and it just got scratched up.
 
thegeek574 said:
I had the blade to a CLEAN 1500 and then didn't have a chance to work on it for a few days. I was working on guard fit up and it just got scratched up.
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Ok, understand... And that really sucks! Stuff like that happens to me when I say to myself "I should hit it just one more time on the buffer, or I don't need to wrap the blade if I just need to clean up the edge of the bolster." Good time to call it a night.
 
thegeek574 said:
Do you all know that moment where you flip over the 12 inch blade, that you painstakingly got both sides to 1500 grit, and see those 120 grit scratches that seemed to appear out of nowhere and mean you get to start over? I'm done for the day.
Click to expand...
I've also been meaning to test out one of those large magnifying loupes- the kind that swing over on a big arm above your work.
 
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