No Sanding?

[John D Watson]

Has anyone applied finish right off the planer? I'm using a Dewalt 735, that has left a nice sheen on the wood.DFace.JPG.jpg
I thought I'd ask this foolish question prior to removing the sheen.

[Reg Mitchell]

well John I personally have. I also have a dewalt and it leaves a really slick finish. I always sand with 320 ROS just becaues it leaves something to let the finish to hang onto, but thats just me.....I don't think I have ever heard of anything one way or the other....intresting to see what the creek says about this situation....

[Jim Becker]

Sometimes you can get away with it, but remember how a planer works...there are tiny "scallops" where each knife stroke hit the wood. It's not really flat. I think I'd still at least sand with 180 or 220 before proceeding with finishing. Further, you really want to get all the surfaces to be the same before finishing to avoid uneven sheens or textures as well as provide some "tooth" for the finish...unless you're only using oil and then you want it really, really smooth first.

[John D Watson]

I guess its just that luster left by the metal blade that has me going.

[Jim Becker]

John, many of the portables have a very high cut per inch, so they seem to leave an extraordinary surface. But you will notice differences once finish is involved and you want all components to have "matched" surfaces before finishing.

[John D Watson]

Jim, You will be glad to hear I have decided to sand after all. I just find it difficult to ruin such a nice surface. Thanks for your input, and I wil try to keep the dumb questions to a minimum. Thanks again.

[Tim Sproul]

I guess its just that luster left by the metal blade that has me going.

Try a hand plane. It will leave that luster and a nice flat surface (no scallops).

It is the experience and opinion of many that a well sanded surface and a well-hand planed surface are nearly (if not entirely) indistinguishable once a finish has been applied, especially a film finish.