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Thread: Sanding boards

  1. #1
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    Default Sanding boards

    What do people use for a flat substrate for sanding boards?

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  3. #2
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    I had a melamine off cut lying around. I know your supposed to find special glass but the thick melamine MDF is flat enough.

    Sprayed contact adhesive and stuck a sheet of sand paper on it.
    The melamine was free because it came from an old wardrobe that I cut up.
    So total cost was less than a dollar. If it goes out of flat or the sandpaper wears out, I guess I'll be up for another 90 cents or so.

    Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
    My YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/2_KPRN6I9SE

  4. #3
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    I have no doubt that's a very simple question but I can read it 2 ways so must ask.....

    Do you want to know

    What flat substrate to lay boards on while sanding them

    Or

    What flat substrate to stick abrasive paper onto to make a sanding board


    Sorry, but there's always someone around here who can make things more complicated and today it's my turn
    Cheers, Bob the labrat

    Measure once and.... the phone rings!

  5. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by labr@ View Post
    I have no doubt that's a very simple question but I can read it 2 ways so must ask.....

    Do you want to know

    What flat substrate to lay boards on while sanding them

    Or

    What flat substrate to stick abrasive paper onto to make a sanding board


    Sorry, but there's always someone around here who can make things more complicated and today it's my turn
    The second choice, a dead flat surface to glue sand paper to. I currently have a 19mm piece of MDF but has cupped slightly. I also bought a 600x300 ceramic floor time for the princely sum of $1.00 and was wondering if this would be flat enough, without me going to a glazier and getting a piece of 12mm toughened glass to put paper on.

  6. #5
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    what are you sanding?

    boards or completed boxes?

    and what standard are you aspiring to achieve?



    the general "advice" is that a finished box should be sanded on paper stuck to a cast iron saw or jointer table.
    A particle board or MDF bench top (~40 mm thick) with laminate on one side is probably a good enough substitute.

    boards being prepped for a box would normally be sanded through a drum sander. Other sorts of mechanical or hand sanding risk rounding or tapering the edges.
    regards from Alberta, Canada

    ian

  7. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by ian View Post
    what are you sanding?

    boards or completed boxes?

    and what standard are you aspiring to achieve?



    the general "advice" is that a finished box should be sanded on paper stuck to a cast iron saw or jointer table.
    A particle board or MDF bench top (~40 mm thick) with laminate on one side is probably a good enough substitute.

    boards being prepped for a box would normally be sanded through a drum sander. Other sorts of mechanical or hand sanding risk rounding or tapering the edges.

    Perfection!! Nothing less. But if that were true I'd buy one..... hahaha.

    I'm sanding completed boxes etc and it's due to the rounding and slight tapering that has occurred on my current board so am looking a new board.

  8. #7
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    Somewhere in my life travels I seemed to have acquired a glass cutting board with a hideous fruit picture on it. Of course I didn't throw it out as it might come in useful one day. Now it is what I use for my sanding board and it just so happens to be the exact width of the cloth backed sandpaper. Oh, and it has little rubber feet which grip the bench top extremely well

  9. #8
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    Are you sure the board is causing the problem rather than technique?

    Boxes that are tallish in relation to width may be subject to a rocking effect when being pushed back and forth. Lifting the box when bringing it back then carefully placing on the board for the next stroke enables pushing the same way for each stroke and this can help.

    Turning the box every few strokes should eliminate taper due to uneven pressure. It may sound counter intuitive to do this as it seems like doing the same as back and forth strokes. However doing the strokes the same way tends to make you "set up" better for the stroke and I have a perception that pushing is more controlled than pulling.

    Wide low boxes are less likely to be affected by technique but even they can become tapered if pressure is consistently greater on one side over a number of strokes.

    All this may not apply to people who are less unco than I am but it works for me.
    Cheers, Bob the labrat

    Measure once and.... the phone rings!

  10. #9
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    I use boards with melamine both sides from Bunnings and glue different grades of sandpaper each side. When sanding I sand with a circular motion, not sure at all about a back and forth motion as it tends to leave marks on the cross grain of the box ends which can then be difficult to remove. Cheers.

  11. #10
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    I do hold the box as low to the board as possible to prevent rocking, and sometimes do circular motion, but if the board is cupped it will sand out the corners more. It's more for the clean up of the separation marks from the saw.

    ill see how my floor tile goes. But also do have some glass that I will frame up for support and see how they go.

  12. #11
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    Any board you glue something to one side will cup, and i dare say that glueing to both sides will still cup and i think that no matter how much care yo take there will still be a rocking motion.
    I make some pretty small boxes,70 x 50 being the smallest, and i sand them with a random orbital sander and always get a perfect even surface but it all comes down to getting the feel for whatever technique you are using and getting a good feel means using that technique regularly.
    I have been using the same model Metabo sander for the last three years and i am on my third one, so yes it is my go to sander.

  13. #12
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    Just to add my two bobs worth. For all my boxes I dress the timber on my home made drum sander with 120 grit paper (after ripping on table saw). Prior to glueing up I hand sand with 240 then 400 paper.

    When the box is in one full piece (prior to say slicing lid off), I use my Triton variable speed ROS and sand through 240, 320, 400, 800, 1500 and lastly 2000. The finish is as smooth as, like glass.

    I don't possess a lot of machinery, basically just my De Walt table saw, home made drum sander, and home made router table. Also a belt sander with 12 inch disc on side, and a Bunnings Makita Compound Mitre Drop Saw. That's pretty much my main machinery.

    Paul

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    I dropped by a granite / kitchen / stone place and picked up a sink cut out piece for a flat surface.

    He had one that was finished on all edges for a customer who never picked it up, and no charge..

    I also picked up a piece of plate glass that was too small for the glazier to use, but about sandpaper sheet size.



    Russ

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    Quote Originally Posted by russ57 View Post
    I dropped by a granite / kitchen / stone place and picked up a sink cut out piece for a flat surface.

    He had one that was finished on all edges for a customer who never picked it up, and no charge..

    I also picked up a piece of plate glass that was too small for the glazier to use, but about sandpaper sheet size.

    Russ
    i did exactly that but the place I went to said all their customers want to keep their cut outs for chopping boards etc so will keep looking.

  16. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by labr@ View Post
    Are you sure the board is causing the problem rather than technique?

    Boxes that are tallish in relation to width may be subject to a rocking effect when being pushed back and forth. Lifting the box when bringing it back then carefully placing on the board for the next stroke enables pushing the same way for each stroke and this can help.

    Turning the box every few strokes should eliminate taper due to uneven pressure. It may sound counter intuitive to do this as it seems like doing the same as back and forth strokes. However doing the strokes the same way tends to make you "set up" better for the stroke and I have a perception that pushing is more controlled than pulling.

    Wide low boxes are less likely to be affected by technique but even they can become tapered if pressure is consistently greater on one side over a number of strokes.

    All this may not apply to people who are less unco than I am but it works for me.
    Couldn't have said it better myself! I use a scrap of 17mm melamine about 1200 long and 300 wide with cloth backed 180grit glued to it and a full stroke on the side of a box can remove a lot of material so a little extra pressure on one side can easily correct a deviation . . . or create another !! The sanding board is one of the handiest things I have made since I started making boxes - improved the finished product no end.
    .
    Updated 8th of February 2024

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