Hi All, I have been carving some 3d Celtic Crosses with pretty good results. About the only thing I am not happy about is finishing them. Obviously they cannot be sanded so to get rid of the hairy stuff I have used steel and brass brushes in a Dremel first then successively smaller burrs and finishing off with abrasive balls. This takes a lot of time without a great finish. Any tips you may have for other methods appreciated. I get different results with different woods, have made Cherry, Maple, Walnut & English Walnut crosses so far with the worst being the English Walnut.
For me, it really depends on the type of wood, amount of detail, grain direction, how durable the fine details are, etc. For the hairy stuff I use steel wool or scotchbrite scrubby pads. Sometimes putting mineral oil on the wood before final 3d pass can reduce the fuzzies (sometimes). If the details are too fragile, a good scrub with a plastic shoe brush works well. It all depends, I don’t think there’s any one method that works for everything. Ultimately, I resort to just adding cycle time and reduce the stepover of the tool, and maybe change the direction of cut.
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Have you tried sanding mops or the small buffing wheels? Like these:
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These are great. I started making my own using a Dremel mandrel. Scotchbrite lollipops.
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I use these for the tight spots, in addition to the buffing wheels that Jim mentioned. They work great for detailed relief work.
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