Sandy Maple ?

[Scott Donley]

I have about 125 bdft of rough cut 5/4 Maple a couple years old. When I sticker'd it I threw on a couple of sandbags on top to add some weight . The bags broke (fell apart ) and covered the wood with sand. A broom helps but not enough and I hate to run it through the planner like it is. Any ideas other than hosing it off ? ( Lesson learned , never use sand bags for weight:( )

[Richard M. Wolfe]

Something with high pressure like power washer would probably be best. I doubt there would be enough sand left to cause a problem. Trying to take it down by sanding would more than likely be a lost cause as you say it is rough cut.

[Peter Quinn]

Have you tried a wire brush and an air hose? Board by board. Maple is pretty hard and grit doesn't cling to it like softer woods like pine and poplar, though I imagine fuzzy rough wood is no joy when sandy? Can you hit and miss plane it on an old set of knives and change them before final milling? Maybe a good shop vac in conjunction with a wire bush?

[Phil Thien]

Very stiff nylon brush in an angle grinder?

[tyler mckee]

I would probably just hit it with the leaf blower and a stiff scrub brush. know anyone with a wide drum sander that could run it through a couple times, knock the sandy fuzz off?

[Scott Donley]

Thanks for the ideas. I had not thought of the vac and brush, thinking a pressure washer might get the wood to wet, wish I had kept the old planner a bit longer, had old blades for it. Again, NEVER use old sand bags for extra weight when drying :o

[Mike Wilkins]

Whip out the belt sander with an 80 grit belt and have a go at it. Planer and jointer knives don't like sand or dirt particles. The belt sander should get rid of most of the really rough stuff.
Try concrete blocks next time.

[lowell holmes]

I would clean it up with a handplane before putting it through the jointer.

Other than that, I recently purchased a set of 6" jointer blades from Amazon for $25.

The wood's value is more than that.

Or, a light pass through the bandsaw will take the surface away.

[Frank Drew]

I wouldn't want to run grit through a machine, either, but if the wood was stacked and stickered and the sand only fell onto the boards, wasn't ground into them, then standing the boards up vertically and bouncing them off the floor a couple of times followed by a thorough brushing with a bench brush and you should be good to go.

[george wilson]

I used to make people who wanted to use the machines in my shop in Williamsburg at least vacuum off their boards with a shop vac with a brush on it (much to their consternation),if they brought in wood that had been dried in a yard out of doors. One used a back yard void of any grass,where sand would spatter onto the wood when it rained... Some of them had zero regard for the machines that I had to maintain.

Another master craftsman came into the shop before I was put in charge,and found a couple of guys running oak through the planer with sand jumping up and down on it.

These guys would run dozens of planks at a time,too.