What grit sandpaper after Helical planer and jointer?

[Paul McGaha]

I think I start sanding at about 120 grit after stock has been thru my jointer and planer. Both have Helical heads on them. I think I might even be able to start at 150 grit.

I'm curious as to what others do?

PHM

[Don Jarvie]

I always start with 150 then 220 if I paint. I use 320 or 400 if I stain. For painting I use 320 after the primer and 1st coat of color. This smooths out any raised grain.

For staining I will use 320 after each coat of stain and then after the 1st coat of finish. After each coat of finish I will use 400 then 600. Wax at the end.

[John Vernier]

Where I used to work, I found that I could sometimes remove the marks from a Byrd planer head with a pass of a 180 disk, if it was a fresh disk. I was using a Dynabrade air sander with a relatively aggressive orbit action, so a different machine might not cut quite as quickly, and of course it depends on what species of wood you are working. Even the depth of the helical furrows will vary with the hardness of the wood. I would think that 150 grit is a good place to start, generally speaking.