Drum sander scratches

[William A Johnston]

I have read many threads on this subject. I have a Wood master 2675 drum sander. I use 80 grit to flatten my end grain cutting boards. I have a heck of a time trying to get the grit marks out of the end grain. Should I go from 80 to 120 then 150 grit on the drum sander and drop back to 120 grit with my ROS sander?

I typically make around 8-10 boards at a time. I've never ran them through my planer with a spiral head but I've seen videos of a lot of people doing that?

I'm not in a position to get a wide belt sander as this is just a hobby and I give them as gifts.

Bill

[Cary Falk]

I have never had much luck with 150 on a durm sander. I usually stick with 120. If it were me I think I would do up to 120 on the drum sander then drop down to 80 on the ROS and make my way up to at least 220. All that being said I have never made an end grain cutting board so I have not tried it. It is what sounds reasonable to me.

[Nick Decker]

I see quite a few posts by people who don't use the finer grits on drum sanders. I use 180 and even 220 all the time. The key, for me, is a SUPER light touch. You're not removing stock, you're removing the scratches from the coarser grit. It's more time consuming, changing the paper, but it only takes a quick, light pass or two and it means less time with the RO sander. Also insures that the board stays flat longer.

[Bradley Gray]

I have a dual drum sander. I run 80 and 100 grits. I run the final 2-3 passes at the same setting then go to a ROS.

[glenn bradley]

Like Nick, I do run finer grits on the drum sander and for just the reason he states; finer scratch patterns. I do not do this for all things but, certainly have a range of grits ready to go from 36 (stock removal) through 400 grit (rarely used). The workability of a wide range of grits will depend on how you use your drum sander and what you are doing with it.

For cutting boards I go up to 320 on the drum sander and then eliminate the linear scratch pattern with a brief run of 320 on the ROS. I oil the boards by submersing them. This gets oil deep into anywhere it can which keeps outside contaminates from getting in. I give a small bottle of mineral oil and an instruction card along with each board.

[Wayne Lomman]

As Bradley says, do the last 2 or 3 runs at the same setting. This means your final scratches are much shallower and easily removed. Cheers

[John K Jordan]

I have a heck of a time trying to get the grit marks out of the end grain.

Bill, I haven't done this on cutting boards, but I often remove scratches and smooth by hand with cabinet scrapers. Properly sharpened I find them incredible, even though they are usually used on side grain.

For a wider surfaces, I have one of these which holds a bit of bend in the scraper and makes it easier to hold. (I rarely use it for what I do)
After scraping I use a ROS with fine grit. http://www.leevalley.com/us/Wood/page.aspx?cat=1,310&p=32669
How useful this method is might depend a somewhat on the wood you are using - if you have a scraper handy it might be worth a try.

JKJ

[Carl Beckett]

I often remove scratches and smooth by hand with cabinet scrapers. Properly sharpened I find them incredible, even though they are usually used on side grain.



This was my experience as well (I had drum sanders a few different times and did not get the finish with them). Scrapers work great once you get the hang of it.

[roger wiegand]

After finally learning to correctly sharpen a plane blade (after 40 years) and tune a plane I'm delighted to find that I can take boards sanded to 80 grit to a finished surface by hand planing in about a quarter the time it would take to sand them. Much more pleasant as well, with a lot less dust and noise. Next up is learning to get a good edge on a scraper-- it happens about one time in ten by random chance now, I'm sure there must be a way to do it consistently. With a good edge a scraper is a delight on end grain.

[Dan Hahr]

I’m in the fine grit camp. I used 150 one time on my 19-38 and decided that changing paper took more time than a few extra passes. I sanded the flat trim for my entire house at 220 and just ran a 16/22 cutting board flat with it as well. It came out dead flat and smooth. I will use a ROS for the final cleanup at 220 once I cut the juice groove. I took less than a 1/32nd off both sides combined to get there. I do make sure my glue ups are close to dead flat.

Dan

[John K Jordan]

Next up is learning to get a good edge on a scraper-- it happens about one time in ten by random chance now, I'm sure there must be a way to do it consistently. With a good edge a scraper is a delight on end grain.

Check out the article in December 18 FWW, page 20 "How to sharpen and use a curved scraper". He has good information on how and why to prepare the scraper and burnish the cutting ede. I use carbide rods to burnish.

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Most of my scrapers are curved for woodturnings but I do keep some straight (not in photo). The sharpening technique is basically the same for cuuved or flat scrapers. The critical thing is getting the face and edge of the scraper perfectly square before burnishing.

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JKJ