I need some Help (Champaign IL)

[dan sherman]

I just finished up flattening this end grain cutting board (Jatoba & hard maple) using a router sled. The router left the usual "tracking" lines on the surface, but I cant make a dent in them with my 3x18 belt sander, or my #3 smother.

Would anyone with a drum or wide belt sander, be would be willing to take a crack at smoothing this cutting board?

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/3135/cuttingu.jpg (http://img407.imageshack.us/i/cuttingu.jpg/)

[Will Hon]

personally, if it is smooth to the touch, I actually like the look of the tracking marks. It adds an extra depth to the dimension of the wood, and lends to the history of the objects creation.. maybe its just the architect in me speaking :)

[Mike Heidrick]

What are the dimensions? I have a 26" Grizzly Double Drum with 120 grit paper on it I would offer up if you want to come up to Bloomington, IL. You will need some hand sanding/ROS after that.

[dan sherman]

Mike,

I won't need help after all, as a friend called me and gave me some advice, that let me finish up the board tonight. Thanks for the offer though, it's greatly appreciated. The tip was that I need to step out of my comfort zone, and get really aggressive with the abrasives. I stopped by borg after work and then went at it with 40 grit, 80 grit, and then finally 120 grit. it took 4 hours, but the board is now as smooth as a babies butt.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Use a more coarse grit in the track sander. Then progress to finer grits.
Watch our for burning. End grain burns

or Sharpen the planer blades so that they will shave the smallest hairs.
End grain (as you prolly know) requires supremely sharp blades.

Use Green compound or diamond paste on any lapping surface to get that last mirror shine on the edges.