How to remove planer marks

[Darius Ferlas]

Another plea for help!

My planer left a couple darker marks on a 7 foot board. This seems like the result of the rubber roller skidding against the wood - dirty rollers and/or improper height adjustment . I tried sanding the marks away but that is not working too well. Has anybody who encountered that found a way to get rid of the marks without additional passes through the planer?

[glenn bradley]

I find a card scraper deals with friction marks and almost-burnt discoloration better than sanding. This may work better on your marks as well.

[paul cottingham]

+1 card scraper.

[Rob Sack]

You could use a drum sander or wide belt sander if available. Otherwise, a good dual action sander with a firm pad should do the trick. If you have a large enough compressor, there's nothing like a pneumatic dual action sander. I've been using Dynabrades for years and they consistently work well. Start with 100 or 120 grit and work your way up to whatever you need for final sanding.

[dan petroski]

that area is probably compressed. try raising the grain with an old steam iron or your favorite method and then sanding

[Larry Fox]

Sharp smoothing plane set to take a whisper-thin shaving!

[george wilson]

The burn goes into the wood for some distance,depending upon how severe it is. You will have to resort to something more than light sanding to get rid of it. Scraping,drum sanding,or hand planing are options that will actually remove enough wood. Getting the burn wet won't help.

[jerry nazard]

+1 what Larry Fox said: smoothing plane. Very quick.

[Peter Quinn]

Wax the table, clean the feed rollers and pass it once more, taking off another .015" or so. It won"t change your thickness enough to make a difference but it will keep your material flat end to end. I"ve seen guys at work use every manner of methods to remove localized machine marks, and in a glancing light you can spot the little valley they leave like a sore thumb after the finish goes on. It gives it that "I screwed up" look more so than a hand finished look.

So if you use a sander, sand the Whole surface. And if you use a scraper or plane, do the whole surface. In my opinion, the easiest way to surface the whole surface is the planer but not before you remedy the condition causing it to burn in the first place.

[Steve Griffin]

Sounds like burn marks. Does the wood pause at that point? If so, first thing to try is lube the table. I use the dry cote spray products almost every session with the planer.

If you are just talking about some minor snipe or chatter marks, then sanding is your solution. Either by stationary belt sander if you can justify the tool expense, or 6" ROS sander with 100 or 120 grit.

-Steve

[Don Dorn]

I agree - card scraper, drum sander or jack plane. Jack plane is the fastest and does the best job. If it's a single piece, it will be done before you get things ready for the drum sander. Card scraper runs a close 2nd in my opinon.

[Karl Card]

Correct me if I am wrong. if he sands and scrapes where the burn is wont there be a serious "dip" there when done?

If it is as bad as he says it is would it not be wiser to adjust and lube planer and replane to get desired cut from one end of board to the other?

I am asking this because some of the burn marks I have had would either need to be cut out or the whole board redone.

[Darius Ferlas]

I tried sanding and the card scraper. Not a dent, or rather... it did cause a little more denting than there, presumably, was. It looks like the skidding compressed the wood indeed, but that didn't cross my mind until I read Dan's suggestion.

Since the board is one of the side rails of a bed I'm working on, continued sanding and scarping would further deepen the depressions in the surface.

In the end, I cleaned the rollers (long overdue) and applied a coat of wax on the planer table and extensions. Worked like a charm. Two skinny passes took car of the problem.

Thank you for all the responses.

[Karl Card]

I tried sanding and the card scraper. Not a dent, or rather... it did cause a little more denting than there, presumably, was. It looks like the skidding compressed the wood indeed, but that didn't cross my mind until I read Dan's suggestion.

Since the board is one of the side rails of a bed I'm working on, continued sanding and scarping would further deepen the depressions in the surface.

In the end, I cleaned the rollers (long overdue) and applied a coat of wax on the planer table and extensions. Worked like a charm. Two skinny passes took car of the problem.

Thank you for all the responses.

glad to hear and actually your thread reminded me that I havent cleaned my rollers since I have had the planer, about a year...

[Harvey Pascoe]

Yep, and some woods will gum up a planer much faster than others so inspect and clean your machine regularly. A little pine sap on the table will bring it to a halt. I use lacquer thinner on the table to remove gum, but not the rollers where a small brass brush is good for removing embedded wood chips that tend to cause the rollers to slip. Gum or resin on the rollers appears not to be a problem but embedded chips are. And by all means, wax the table.

[Mark A Johnson]

The iron sound like it could be a good try. One thing I do to help is wax the lower panel with a good quality auto wax. I haven't had any finish issues.