Do you always sand after jointing and planing?

[Bernie May]

Do you always sand after jointing and planing? I have a Hammer A3 31 and the boards come out super smooth. If you sand what grit do you start with?

[Jim Dwight]

I've never used a Hammer anything but all the boards I've seen had a sort of wavy appearance after planning. I presume it is from the knives. They may be smooth but the wavy appearance appears after you apply finish. Maybe the Hammer doesn't do this. You could try applying finish to a scrap and see if you like the appearance. Stain would make this effect even more apparent.

I start with 100 or 150 and only go through 220. So if the board looks really good, I would sand with 150 then 220. If the board was really rough, I might drop back and start with 80 grit - but that doesn't seem to be your situation.

[David Nelson1]

Hit em with a card scraper if you don't wanna sand. Adding finishing WILL high light machine marks.

[Jamie Buxton]

I have an A3-31 too. I generally go 120, 180, 320. Then finish.

[Susumu Mori]

A331 with a spiral cutter does leave ever-so-slight scallops on the surface.
You can't see them or feel them, but if you sand with a high grit (like #400), you can see them. Does it affect your finish? I don't know.

[Lee Schierer]

Yes, otherwise you can see planer or jointer marks.

[Myk Rian]

Hit em with a card scraper if you don't wanna sand. Adding finishing WILL high light machine marks.
^^^^This^^^^

[Thomas L. Miller]

Bernie,
I have an A3-31 with the silent power head. I give each piece a light pass with a 4 1/2 smoother. It takes just a minute, is quiet, low to no dust and leaves a really nice surface. I hate hate hate sanding.
Tom

[glenn bradley]

By nature of the geometry of the cutter path, jointers and planers leave scallops just as sharpening leaves scratches. It is the scale of these scallops (or scratches) that determine how smooth something is to us. What constitutes a surface ready for finish is up to you. I never finish anything directly off of a machine except shop jigs and fixtures (and sometimes not even then) :D.

[Rod Sheridan]

Do you always sand after jointing and planing? I have a Hammer A3 31 and the boards come out super smooth. If you sand what grit do you start with?

Yes, and I have that machine.

If sanding I normally use 120 grit then 180, if required then 220 or a card scraper or a plane...........Rod.

[Prashun Patel]

I personally find the scallops or (in my case) planer track marks because of tiny nicks in the knives to be unsightly. For broad surfaces that see the planer last, I like to sand starting at 150 or 220. For narrow surfaces that see my 6" jointer last, I find a smooth or block plane is a great final cleaner-upper. A surface off the jointer may be locally undulating, but it's globally flat. This means it's easy to take super thin shavings with a hand plane. It's often quicker than sandpaper and leaves a perfect surface.