how do I remove wax buildup from drum sander?

[zapdafish]

I bought some exotic wood from Klingspor and after splitting it on my bandsaw ran it through my drum sander to cleanup the marks and dimension them. I think the wood had been covered in wax and didn't realize what it was till after I found my drum paper coated in something nasty. I tried to use one of those cleaning bars but it barely helped.

Any idea how to clean that stuff off the sandpaper? And how to remove it from the wood in the future before sanding it?

Thanks

 

[ehpoole]

The first question is whether it was really wax. Especially in the case of Pines and Exotics, there are many woods that have very high resin/pitch contents which will easily foul things -- especially if you generate enough heat (such as in sawing or sanding) to significantly melt the resin. This is very easy to do when sanding such woods. You may find you get better results running such woods through a thickness planer (whenever possible as they generate much less heat than sanding), then hand sanding with a ROS and inexpensive disposable sanding discs to remove any planer marks.

I mention this because, while it is possible you were sold waxed wood, I doubt that was the case as it is not the normal manner in which wood is sold.

I don't have any first hand experience with your particular issue (I don't have a large band or drum sander), but if your paper is fabric-backed you may be able to get away with soaking the sandpaper in a suitable solvent to help soften -- and hopefully dissolve -- the contaminate, then use a wire brush to carefully scrub the paper clean while it is still wet with the solvent, then rinse thoroughly in solvent, then water then let everything dry for a day or two... then try running your cleaning sheet back through it to see if that finishes cleaning the sandpaper.

However, if your sandpaper has a joint in it (such as with bands) then there is a chance that the solvent may damage the adhesive used in the joint and result in joint failure.

Whenever working with highly resinous woods it is important to be aware of the undesirable effects that heat buildup can cause ... both during sawing and sanding, either of which can liberate the resins if enough heat is created.

I'm sure some of our members with band and/or drum sanders can probably offer more specific advise with respect to your issue.

 

[Matt Furjanic]

What species of wood was it? It would have been pretty apparent if it were coated with wax. I would guess it was not, but it was most likely a rosewood of some kind. Like cocobolo, or bubinga, or something in the rosewood family. Possibly bloodwood? These woods contain a lot of natural oil and will gum up sandpaper in a heartbeat - especially if it gets hot. I avoid sanding these woods with a drum sander as they will ruin your paper just about every time. If you must, then you have to sand a minute amount at a time to avoid heating the wood. There is probably nothing that will remove the deposits on the sandpaper. The only real solution is to replace it. Matt...

 

[WoodWrangler]

Would love to know if there is an answer to this .... cherry does it often if the pass is even a hair too aggressive. Viola, paper is ruined!

I've had a little (and I mean very little) luck with a trick someone once told me of using a piece of scrap acrylic/plastic and forcing it on the drum while running to remove the build-up. Sometimes it works, but usually not enough.

Another trick I've tried with moderate success if spraying some blade cleaner on the spot, then using the acrylic to force is off. The downside is that the paper is now wet with some chemical.

 

[Mike Wilkins]

Some woods may have a natural substance that will build up on the paper. Drum sanding generates lots of heat, which will cause the pitch to melt in the wood and stick to the drum. I know this from personal experience. As a first test of my new drum sander, I ran a short length of pine through the machine, only to be dismayed at the amount of 'stuff' built up on the drums. The sanding cleaner stick just laughed at my efforts. I wound up changing both the paper on the drums. Lesson learned not to be repeated.

 

[Tarhead]

That's price of of drum sanding some types of Exotics...especially Rosewoods. You can lessen it by speeding up your belt speed, taking less of a bite, feeding the piece diagonally into the drum and using 60 grit abrasive.

1 part Simple Green and 1 part water will soften it if you let it soak overnight.

Another option is to buy a bulk roll of abrasive from Klingspor, cut your own and toss them when glommed up. Whole lot cheaper than buying pre-cut abrasive and the same thing the manufacturers use.

 

[zapdafish]

Think it was rosewood but I'm not sure. I'll post a pic of it later. It was just labelled exotic

I ran it through the sander because my previous experience with super hard exotics (bloodwood) is they chip real badly at the tail end when passing through a planer.

I am not really wanting to try and recover the paper by soaking overnight, I'll check out Klingspor bulk rolls and see about cutting them myself. That seems like a pretty reasonable alternative.

 

[McRabbet]

Steve,

I fully support everything that Mark has suggested -- I have an older Woodmaster 26" drum sander that uses 6" hook & loop paper that I cut from large rolls from Klingspor and wrap helically around the drum. A real key to remember is to take light passes with any drum sander and to remember that it is a finishing tool, not a thicknessing tool. If you have foreign material on your wood -- beit glue, wax or pitch -- it is always best to remove that stuff with a scraper before you process the stock in a planer or sander. Those materials simply defeat the abrasize by filling it the space in the grit and it is all very difficut to remove as you've discovered (DAMHIKT). Once that material gets into the paper and it heats up, the abrasive properties are destroyed.

 

[Matt Furjanic]

Tarhead mentioned using 60 grit paper. I totally agree with this. The coarser the paper, the less likely it will burn. If you are using like a 150 or 220 grit, and sanding rosewood or cherry, you don't have a chance. Use 60 grit and take light passes. In my experience, trying to clean the paper is not worth the effort - change the paper.....

 

[Bas]

1 part Simple Green and 1 part water will soften it if you let it soak overnight.

+1, although 3-4 hours typically does the trick. I once sanded some painted panels, and it got all the paint that had gotten lodged into the grit off. When a roll starts to age, I put it aside, then once a year or so I soak all of them at once. It's good to keep some sacrificial rolls around for extremely waxy/ coarse/ gritty/ painted boards.

Or use the left hand.
[video=youtube;fULNUr0rvEc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fULNUr0rvEc[/video]

 

[zapdafish]

I am making a deadblow mallet out of a piece of exotic wood from Klingspor's. All I have left to do is cap it with leather pads on both sides and fill the head with shot.

Any idea what kind of wood this might be?

View image in gallery​

 

[ehpoole]

I am making a deadblow mallet out of a piece of exotic wood from Klingspor's. All I have left to do is cap it with leather pads on both sides and fill the head with shot.

Any idea what kind of wood this might be?

My initial guess would be something along the lines of Olive Wood?

 

[Matt Furjanic]

Zebrawood

 

[erasmussen]

I am making a deadblow mallet out of a piece of exotic wood from Klingspor's. All I have left to do is cap it with leather pads on both sides and fill the head with shot.

Any idea what kind of wood this might be?

View image in gallery​

I got some of it, its Bocote

 

[Carl Fisher]

Looks like Bocote to me as well.

 

[Russ Denz]

another vote for Bocote, not that the number of votes determines reality. just my nickel's worth