Thread: Best sandpaper for removing dovetail pins

I used to use a belt sander that was flipped upside down, this worked good but very dusty. I now use a sharp block plane and it's easier, faster and there's no fine dust. There is a technique to it, but it's fairly simple once you know how.I've used your technique before with success, maybe try using a spray adhesive?

On some drawers and a small box I made recently, I used my block plane followed by ROS with 120, 180, & 240 grit.
A very sharp #4 or #5 plane will also work if used carefully.

Many thanks groeneaj and Chesand, I really appreciate it.

I would like to have a go with the block plane, but have never been game due to the high risk of breaking off the training edge of a pin or dovetail. Obviously there is a trick to doing it properly. Anyone like to advise on this please?

The ROS required a bit of skill too as it can quickly gouge in if not exactly level wit the workpiece.

I checked this website and found that Hermes ( from Jim Carrol's Wood craft Supplies) and SIA were the best recommended, with Norton not too far behind.

Our local Townsville Wholesale Paint warehouse, which supplies the spray painting trade big time, actually had blue sheets of SIA paper made in Switzerland, so I grabbed so 80, 120, and 180 grit. Glued the 80 grit to the underside of the MDF used previously, and it worked like a charm, with a bit of elbow grease.



This time I used a dust mask, and vacuumed any excessive dust, just to be on the safe side. The dust was fine brown timber dust , not the yellow dust I was getting originally

Will give the ROS a go for the higher grits

Originally Posted by Dengue

I would like to have a go with the block plane, but have never been game due to the high risk of breaking off the training edge of a pin or dovetail. Obviously there is a trick to doing it properly. Anyone like to advise on this please?

Plane from the outside edge inwards

Reverting back to your origin post, I think you fell victim to the generic Chinese " If we make it look like xxxx, they will think it is xxxx, and once we get their money, who cares if they work out that it isn't xxxx" syndrome.

Actually the Chinese can and do make some damn good stuff, as well as some abominable stuff, and they make to order.
Manufacturer "You want xxx for that $yy?"
Customer/Importer "I want something similar for 85% of$yy."
Manufacturer "OK, we make special model for your price."
Goes off to make design changes to meet price, might use an extremely inadequate adhesive, might reduce the tube size or thickness, use fewer or inadequate components, extend machine tool usage beyond what is viable, job the product to an cheaper, incompetent factory, or whatever else it takes to reduce costs about 1.5 times what the customer wanted to achieve, some for the customer, some for their back pocket.

The difference between a good importer and a poor one is the ability to understand this, understand the end user's requirements, and ensure that 100% of product going into their container(s) is 100% fit for purpose. Unfortunately, we are becoming infested with the "it looks like, the customer won't know till it's too late " variety.

Thanks malb, but in this case, I think that the yellow "Painters Roll" sandpaper I originally used was not designed or manufactured for the purpose I was using it. I suspect it is specifically designed for light sanding by hand and orbital sander, not hard grinding of hard edged pins like I was doing.

Chesand, I used the ROS on higher grits once the pins had been flattened, and it worked like a charm, being careful to keep it flat on the workpiece when starting and finishing each side of the box

It depends on how much material you are taking off also. Another option is to use a sharp chisel to carefully pair away most of the pins, then use your sandpaper on a flat surface to flush it with the box carcass.

A few thoughts.

Always thought Painters Rolls were junk. There must be a some reason painters find them acceptable.
2mm seems excessive protrusion. Aim for something between a hair breadth and a smidgin.
Sanding off with 80grit means you are putting unnecessary deep scratches into the sides of your box and have to work through the grits to eliminate them.
A said above, best tool is a sharp block plane, preferably low angle for this end-grain cutting.
Alternatively, a flush trim bit in the router. The guide bearing will ensure no gouging. A small trim router is just the machine for this. Easy to control just one-handed.

Get some practice with a sharp block plane you'll fine life so much easier.

As pointed out earlier plane from the outside in and at a skew angle.

Practice on hard as well as soft woods, if you have an adjustable mouth (on the plane) set it to fine, and very narrow gap between the sole and the blade edge. For ease of planing run some candle wax on the sole of the plane it will help it cut smoother.

Finish off with 180 and 240.

Cheers


Steve

1. use a sharp chisel to carefully pair away most of the pins

2. a flush trim bit in the router

Damn, never thought of these - would have been lots easier. Thanks for the suggestions. Not sure about the router bit, though, as both sides of each corner will have protrusions

I agree 1 -2mm is far too high for the pins, but on the trial box using pine, I made the mistake of the pins being below the finished surface, so decided not to risk it on my first fair dinkum box with Silky Oak. With my thicknesser, the sides of the boxes can differ by 0.5mm max

I agree that I need to develop some hand tool skills, esp with the block plane

Will have to do the next one with greater care, and less rush

Dengy, The stuff you started with really does meet my description of "stuff that looks like something but isn't". We used to have this style paper here 40 years ago, but it went away when better stuff evolved, then China started making a low grade version and someone started importing it because they can buy it ultra cheap, wholesale it and someone can make a buck while still selling it cheap. Unfortunately it doesn't make it work or worthwhile to buy.

With the router suggestion in the previous post, yes you will have pins and tails protruding. The solution is to add a sub base to your router with a step about 3mm high and 16mm back from the flush trim bit (assuming a 12mm side thickness). The step rides on one surface behind the joint protrusions, keeping the router base above them while the FT bit hangs over the corner and trims the protruding bits from the surface the sub base is riding on. Have done a rough sketch to illustrate. You might prefer to try with a test joint first, and/or add a shim of thin cardboard or thick paper where the bearing will contact the side. This would leave the protruding pins/tails proud by the shim thickness to allow final sanding.

Hi malb, many thanks for your insight into the quality of sandpaper, it was most interesting.
Appreciate you taking the time and effort to make and publish the sketch on using a router to trim the protruding pins and dovetails on a box. Another case of 1,000 words being saved

Practise cutting your your dovetails, once you are really proficiant at cutting them there should be only a wisker to remove

Haven't used this Gifkin jig before, nor had any success in making dovetails with other jigs, but I found that for this particular problem, using a flexible flush trim Japanese saw did a beautiful job.

In this case I used a Topman -Z 150D from Carbatec.

In future, I shall do a trial cut and measure the height of the pin on some scrap before cutting the good timber.

Another lesson learnt