Woodworking - How to fix this (Plywood tube)

Soldato
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Hi Guys

Got a hole saw and cut about 14 circles out of birch ply. I tried to line them up as well as i could when glueing together. However on a few pieces the hole saw has destroyed the edges quite badly.

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wuVi3M7.jpg

My initial instinct was to sand the hell out of it. I mounted my orbital sander on it's side, but that ended up with a few flat spots, and in some parts seemed to make it worse.

Then glued some sandpaper to a block and tried rolling the hole unit along it to try and flatten it out but that didn't seem to do much.

I imagine what would be ideal would be a huge belt sander. I do have a regular belt sander but need to pick up some belts. The issue here would be the risk of taking off way too much.

I imagine you can all see the look i'm going for. I think it was @divuk83 who's made some great plywood based tables/benches using the same tactic (though better implemented).

I did see something called Wood Grain Filler but not sure that'd work.

Any tips on the best way to go about tidying this up?

I've got some clear varnish to
 
Associate
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If you're looking to get the rough surface off you'd put it in a lathe and then use a long piece of sandpaper or the like which would retain its shape. You could just try hand sanding it? Maybe get it turning some other way, for instance put a screw in the end, put the screw in a drill chuck, clamp the drill off to a table and lock the trigger... but you'd need to be careful how much strain you put on your drill motor. If you're looking to fill voids... sawdust and pva based woodglue mixed into a filler? 2 part resin wood filler? Depends if you're painting it or what.

Edit: To pluck a random video off youtube as to what sanding round stock looks like when it's spinning: https://youtu.be/rIAWxSjwqtA?t=170
 
Soldato
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Cheers. I had thought a lathe but that’s one of the few things I don’t own!

The drill idea could be decent. As you say I’d just need to support the other end as it’s pretty long so would put a lot of strain on the motor.

The plan is to use a clear gloss varnish. I did use some pva/sawdust on a few bits where I had gaps. It’s mainly just to fix the rough bits. Think just lots of hand sanding is probably the way to go and accept it’ll take a lot of effort.
 
Associate
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If you're just going clear coat on it then I usually do PVA + sawdust for those kind of things if it's a small void if you're trying to get some kind of colour match.

Perhaps instead of having the piece spinning you could clamp it in a vice and have it stationary, then take a long strip of sandpaper as seen in the video I linked and just use that to rub the piece by pulling both ends of the sandpaper one at a time... you know, like using a towel after having a shower if that makes sense :p.
 
Soldato
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Will have a play tomorrow. Cheers

What’s annoying is I’d mounted them all one a bit of dowel which in theory should’ve kept them all in line and had just cut the spare ends off. They would’ve been perfect for mounting in a drill!
 
Man of Honour
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Cheers. I had thought a lathe but that’s one of the few things I don’t own!

The drill idea could be decent. As you say I’d just need to support the other end as it’s pretty long so would put a lot of strain on the motor.

The plan is to use a clear gloss varnish. I did use some pva/sawdust on a few bits where I had gaps. It’s mainly just to fix the rough bits. Think just lots of hand sanding is probably the way to go and accept it’ll take a lot of effort.

Just don't do what my dad did and try taking a chisel to it while on the drill... and end up with 3 inches of chisel embedded in his leg resting against an artery.
 
Man of Honour
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I've seen Adam Savage do what you are trying to do in videos so many times and makes it look so easy... in reality not so.
 
Associate
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I mean... Adam recently just about took his hand off by cleaning his lathe's lead screw with a rag while it was spinning... so these things can be pretty dangerous as with all loose items near rotary tools.

I'm guessing your dad lost control of the chisel because he didn't have it braced against a tool rest like a lathe would have had?

Personally I'd just keep the part stationary and make a long strip of sandpaper and pull it back and forth moving it up and down the piece.

Remember to work down your grits also, don't be afraid to start down at 60 grit or something before working up to 180 or wherever, but if you work through your grits you'll do less work than just going in with a higher grit from the get go.
 
Man of Honour
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I'm guessing your dad lost control of the chisel because he didn't have it braced against a tool rest like a lathe would have had?

I'm not entirely sure what happened - I turned up about the same time as the ambulance. All I know is he was trying to round something off by turning it on a drill while using a chisel in some way.
 
Associate
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What about a thin band of sandpaper wrapped 360 around it. Hold one end in each hand and pull it backwards and forwards so it slides around it all?

I have a roll of continous emery paper which is what I'm thinking of.
 
Associate
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Can you put some screws into the dowels and set it up horizontally with 2 blocks so that it can rotate . Then you can use the belt or orbital sander safely
 
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