Removing burn from cut boards

[Jerry Keen]

Does anyone have a method to remove burn marks from cherry or alder? Sanding is very laborous, and removes a lot of material.

[Jim Becker]

Welcome to SMC, Jerry.

You can sand, scrape or touch up the edges with a very sharp block plane if need be. Cut slightly wider and dress the edges with your jointer. (Still requires sanding, however, to remove the knife scallops)


But the best thing is to eliminate burning from your cutting routine. Be sure your saw and fence are aligned properly, have your splitter/riving knife in place, use feather boards and other supports to keep the boards from wandering during the cut. Use a steady cut speed and avoid stopping in the middle of the cut...keep your push block right where you need it so it can be used as soon as practical without stopping the cut. Etc.

[keith ouellette]

I have found what Jim said about table saw technique can help with most of the burn marks. Not having a steady feed rate causes most of the marks with me.
If I am ripping a number of pieces to width I will have the jointer set up to remove 1/32 (or a little less) so I can re edge the piece I am cutting off of after each cut. That way each piece I cut has one jointed edge.
In a perfect world with a perfect saw and a perfect blade and a perfect technique re jointing isn't necessary. Thats an assumption because I haven't visited that world yet.
You will still need to do a little edge sanding.

[Jesse Cloud]

Hey Jerry,
Good advice above, about steady feed rate, splitters, featherboards, and alignment.

I always rip 1/32 proud and then run the edge over the jointer once, and only once or you can loose parallel.

[Danny Thompson]

I find a light touch with my smoothing plane (#4) or block plane works the best.

[glenn bradley]

I use a scraper whenever possible. For me it gives the most control as burn marks are often odd shaped. I second anyone who states that I would rather spend the time trying to avoid the burn in the first place rather than fix it after.

I use dedicated blades for rip and crosscut. I have much less burning now that I have moved away from general purpose blades. Don't get me wrong, I run GP blades to rough size lumber and such, just not for final cuts.

[Craig D Peltier]

Mineral spirits will soften it up and make it easier for sanding.