Sanding help needed

[Bas]

I made a couple of end grain cutting boards. They came out pretty good for my first attempt. Unfortunately, I got some burn marks while I was crosscutting the pieces, pushed the wood too hard against the blade. :BangHead::BangHead:

Getting rid of these burn marks is proving to be a chore. Sanding end grain with a Random Orbit Sander is about as entertaining as, well, sanding end grain with a Random Orbit Sander! :tinysmile_tongue_t: Besides being tedious, I'm worried about sanding dips and valleys into the board. It takes a lot of willpower to keep making even passes and not pushing the ROS down on the burned spot.

Does anyone in the Cary/ Apex area have an drum sander who can help me with this sometime this coming week? :help: I promise to write nice things about your shop! :gar-La;

 

[Trent Mason]

Bas, I don't have a drum sander at my disposal, but if it were me, I'd grab the belt sander and just go back and forth over the entire area (making consitent circular motions). Still may take a while, but its light years faster than the ROS. Just don't get impatient and leave it on the area with the burn marks. Hopefully, you'll get a response from someone with a drum sander, but if not, HTH.

Cheers, ccasion1

Trent

 

[TV]

The last one I did I put it through the planer. Took care of the burn marks. I took off a little bit at a time just enough so you could barely hear the planer hit it. I am sure it dulled my blades and I had to trim one side 1/16 of an inch (tear out at one end) but it took a couple of minutes instead of 2+ hours.

tv

 

[FredP]

I do!:gar-La; but I aint zackally in cary apex area.:nah: but if you dont mind the drive....... well you know.....:gar-Bi

 

[Trent Mason]

The last one I did I put it through the planer. Took care of the burn marks. I took off a little bit at a time just enough so you could barely hear the planer hit it. I am sure it dulled my blades and I had to trim one side 1/16 of an inch (tear out at one end) but it took a couple of minutes instead of 2+ hours.

tv

Thought about that too, after the fact.

 

[sapwood]

Bas,
How about using a card scraper?

Roger

 

[Partman]

Bas, I just make my first one too. By all means if you can use a drum sander do it. :BangHead: I did use my planer to get it flat, then used ROS to sand smooth. :dontknow:
I put on first coat of oil, was not smooth enough, :BangHead: so sand with belt sander, then some more with ROS. :eusa_thin Some of you seen the WIP at the Klingspor extravaganza. Here is the board when I was done.

Danny

 

[dick541]

Bas, I have a 16-32 sander we can put your cutting board thru, anytime after 7:30 wednesday evening.
dick

 

[junquecol]

Bas, why don't you get a $5 rabbeting bit from Woodcraft, remove bearing, and grind center stud off. Build a "bridge" and use bit as a planer bit to level up things. You will have to figure how to "trap" cutting board, and probably shim opposite side to prevent rocking. I use this method to remove stock from trays for high chairs. Turn it over, and then do other side.

 

[Bas]

I'd grab the belt sander and just go back and forth over the entire area

You're a braver man than I am Trent. I have an old Skil belt sander that I could use for for hollowing out chair seats and rounding over edges, but I have yet to produce anything straight and flat with it It's not just the tool, it's the operator for the most part.

The last one I did I put it through the planer

I did think about using the planer, but I've heard stories of the board coming shooting out accidentally. I can see why - the wood I'm using is petrified maple and expoyheart or something. Man the end grain on that stuff is hard. Not saying it's not the right option, I'm just not very brave :embaresse

Bas, I have a 16-32 sander we can put your cutting board thru, anytime after 7:30 wednesday evening.

Awesome, thanks Dick! I'll PM with the details.

 

[Bas]

How about using a card scraper?

On the long grain, that worked great, leveling the board and scraping off the glue. But on the end grain, it completely destroyed the wire edge after three or four passes. Could be my scraping technique of course.

 

[Joe Scharle]

You can use my Rotex, but we may have to put some bricks in your pockets!

 

[TV]

Bas, I was a bit concerned about the board shooting out. So I took flat piece of melamine, attached a short piece of stock running the width of the melamine. This allowed the cutting board to press up against something but wouldn't allow it to shoot out. Seemed to worked well this time.

www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/1199/medium/IMG_6176.JPG

tv

 

[Trent Mason]

You're a braver man than I am Trent. I have an old Skil belt sander that I could use for for hollowing out chair seats and rounding over edges, but I have yet to produce anything straight and flat with it It's not just the tool, it's the operator for the most part

If you look at the backside of my headboard, you'll find a nice "valley" in it. It was suppossed to be the front of the headboard, I'll just put it that way. :roll: Only lesson I needed. :rotflm:

 

[ScottM]

Bas I did the planer, belt sander, and then ROS sequence with mine. If using a planer you have to take mirco thin cuts. After the planer is used the router and a round over bit to clean up any tear out.

 

[Bas]

Bas, why don't you get a $5 rabbeting bit from Woodcraft, remove bearing, and grind center stud off. Build a "bridge" and use bit as a planer bit to level up things. You will have to figure how to "trap" cutting board, and probably shim opposite side to prevent rocking. I use this method to remove stock from trays for high chairs. Turn it over, and then do other side.

I've seen people use that method to flatten a workbench. which is too large for the typical planer...with a few exceptions (not naming any names Travis Scott ). Maybe I should invest some time in that.

I wonder - what if you put the bit in the router table, raised it a hair, and ran the board over it. You can use the fence and spacers to ensure good coverage (make a pass, remove a spacer, make a pass etc.). But you'd need to support the board once you're removed more than half the material. And while my router table is pretty good, I doubt it's within .003.

Lots of ways to skin a cat (or cutting board )!

 

[Travis Porter]

Bring it over and I can flatten it in 2 minutes. Tonight, tomorrow night are open.

 

[Travis Porter]

End grain cuts on a planer are very very risky. You are highly likely to get blow out and ruin your stuff even with light cuts. DAMHIKT

 

[JimD]

I was cleaning table saw marks off some table legs Sunday and stopped using my planner because of tear out. The knives are sharp and I was taking light buts but the grain does not run consistently in any particular direction. I would be more concerned about end grain but I haven't tried it.

I had the sawblade marks not because of particularly poor technique but because I was squaring up 3 inch square legs of cherry. My little BT3100 will only cut this well with a 24 tooth ripping blade which does not leave a real smooth surface. No burning or deep gouges, just saw marks.

I tried my new Milwauke 5 inch ROS and my old Ryobi 3x21 belt sander, both with 80 grit. The belt sander was noticably faster. I bought the Ryobi for about $60 rebuilt and it is a good buy at that price and decent at the normal $100 selling price. It has variable speed and good dust collection. The motor is low and between the rollers so it has less tendency to tip than my old Craftsman did. I could sand things flat with the Craftsman but then my wife hit it with her car (it was on the floor of the garage/shop at the time) and I got an excuse to upgrade. My only secrets for belt sanding are move the sander around, do not let it sit, and don't push down on it. If you do those two things, they will usually work. My other "speed up" hint is to replace the belt or disk when it gets worn instead of trying to wear every last abrassive particle off it first.

Jim