Planing Question

Carl Koop asks:

At the very least, brush it good, then run a shop vacuum over it carefully.

And have an extra set of planer blades on hand. You are about to get more experience in changing them.

Charlie Self "Don't let yesterday use up too much of today." Will Rogers

Hi, Carl,

You don't really seem to be convinced that you have a grit - or whatever - problem. If that's so, and it's just storage dirt, then just go for it. If you think that there is serious grit/mud/concrete contamination, then belt-sand it first.

Cheers,

Frank

A neighbor gave me his old deck (20 or so redwood tubasixs and a few pt fir). The boards are in varying condition but all were dirty and had lotsa rough spots. I have been hitting them with a vacuum followed by a light pass with a belt sander and finally the vacuum again. Oh and check for metal first. Finally cut off the really rotten stuff. This keeps the sand and crud out of the jointer and the planer.

Another friend had the nerve to call this treasure "fire wood". Humph. Philistine. mahalo, jo4hn

and for the really dirty spots, have a scraper on hand.

That's why they make them replaceable

I'd run a lot of boards through on a light pass (after brushing and vacuuming them) before I put the new blades in. Ed snipped-for-privacy@snet.net

================ Without reading any of the replies you have gotten I would just run oit thru the planner...

Reasons Cleaning is not one of my favorite things...and I never cleaned lumber anyway... Planner blades are not that expensive...(and I am cheap) Total time spent cleaning would be equal to or greater then just planning And changing the blades is not a difficult process...

I may (depending on how "dirty" I though the lumber to be) swap in an old set of blades and do a fast clean up of the surface using them...

Bob Griffiths

As a new owner of a planer I say clean it however you can and get that metal out too. Your blades will thank you for it. Have fun! Joe

Thanks for all the answers and suggestions! I have no concerns regarding metal in the wood and the dirt is not real heavy, so I think a quick brushing and vacuuming is all that is called for. Once I have run them through I will see if a blade change is required.

By the way the lumber came from a local custom millwork shop that was basically cleaning out old lumber. I picked up 25 4/4x5x120 white oak boards for $50.00, 10 4/4x6x120 hard maple boards for $50 and 3 8/4x8x120 Honduran mahogany boards for $40.

-- Carl