Sanding chatter marks off the edge of hardwood pieces.

[drodda]

Anyone have a good reasonably quick method of removing those pesky chatter marks off the edge of hardwood pieces cut by the bot? I spend hours some days just cleaning up pieces and thought I would see if anyone has a faster method.

Thanks for the help,

-D

[harryball]

Some things I've tried...

Vary your cut method from climb to conventional and use the best of the two.

Slow down.

Try making your last cuts slightly over sized then come back with a slow clean up pass trying climb and conventional to see which is best.

I use a spindle sander. The Jet models can go down to a 1/4" spindle which is great for cleaning up.

A disk/belt sander works well on large radius items.

/RB

[Gary Campbell]

Dave..
Good sanders are usually the first part of the answer. We spend many hours sanding machine marks from our products. Not just the Bot, every machine makes its own type of marks. Jointers, shapers, planers, and of course, routers.

We use a Delta Edge Sander, a 27" wide belt sander, a 60" stroke sander, a spindle sander and a Delta belt/disc sander for stationary sanders and a miriad of hand held sanders also. There is, however, no replacement for time spent hand sanding wood. No machine sands well without putting in its own marks. Even the best of them.

This is the main reason we prefer solid wood over plywoods. By the time they are flat, the veneer is gone.
Gary

[drodda]

I upgraded my machine to the new motors. The chatter is better but still there. I always cut the parts to .02 oversize then make a final slow cleanup pass at full depth. This also helps clean up the marks. However as Gary points out the machine marks are still there. I have a router but even the spindle guys seem to get the chatter marks.

I guess The answer is that we just have to spend the time to sand these by hand. Sanding has to be the most time spent for what seems like a very slow gratification process. The only thing worse than sanding chatter marks is sanding out the sander swirls in cherry after sanding the chatter marks out.

Thanks for the replies though,

-D

[Brady Watson]

You really want to make sure, 1st and foremost, that your pinions are not worn out, that the rack has grease on it & that motor to rack tension is correct. The #1 cause of 'chatter' is worn pinions. Going down the list, poor material hold down (only verified by closely observing the part while cutting) can cause this, as well as cutter deflection due to cutting too aggressively. You can't just hang your head under the table sides and look at the pinion upside down and claim that your pinions are not worn visually, or rule out that they 'must be good' since you just bought them 6 months ago. It's really the only consumable on the entire machine.

To pinpoint the culprit, try cutting out one part VERY conservatively. If 3/4" thick, try cutting out at 1/8" per pass at 1 to 1.5 IPS, and observe the edge quality. Waterline marks aside, see if the chatter is still present. If it is no better than the other parts you've cut @ prior production speeds, then pinions are to blame. If the edge quality gets better, then cutter deflection is to blame, and to a lesser degree, material hold-down, depending on the method used.

-B

[knight_toolworks]

one sanding machine I have found that is pretty good is the ridged osilating belt/spindle sander. it is easier to get curves smooth and it's faster then a spindle sander.

[joe]

Steve,

That sounds very interesting. Where can I get a peek at one.

We have one of the large floor model oscilating spindle sandles, with a tilting table but what you are describing may be a step up.

Joe
www.normansignco.com (http://www.normansignco.com)

[dubliner]

I think he meant Rigid
http://www.ridgid.com/Tools/EB4424-Sander/

[knight_toolworks]

the borg or home depot. it is 199.00
my edge sander is too aggressive for such work and I have it set for horizontal work.
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100061671&N=10000003+9 0401+500897 (http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100061671&N=10000003+9 0401+500897)

[harryball]

I had one of those... after about 3 days I took it back, I found it to be noisy, rough running and generally poorly built. While using it parts kept falling off. Maybe I just got a bad one but I bought my Jet spindle sander after that with a 1/4" to 3" drum. I find the 3" drum useful for long curves or removing edge marks on straight stock.

Just sharing my experience, by all means if they work for you that's great. Like I said, maybe I just got a bad one.

/RB

[knight_toolworks]

I agree it is noisy but it seems to hold up from all of the people who have reviewed it over the years. far more choice of grits and longer lasting sanding material too then a drum.

[drodda]

I have a General Oscilating drum/spindle sander. It works good however I find on larger pieces it is hard to keep the piece moving and the drum leaves an even bigger mark than I started with. On small stuff it works great but on larger things with a contoured edge it is hard to work with. I have even added a much larger table top to allow for the piece to rest comfortably on the tabletop. I find that it is virtually impossible to get done without having to correct drum notches.

-D

[rcnewcomb]

3M makes a Scotch Brite Combi-Wheel that attaches to your drill that is the perfect tool for sanding curved surfaces and edges like the disked portion of a relief carving. I used it on hard maple and was able to sand an 11"x11" dish to smooth-as-glass in under 5 minutes. Shop around because there is a lot of variation on pricing. I was able to find some at a local hardware store (Menards) for $4.99
9163

[drodda]

Thanks Randall, I will have to take a look at those. Might be the thing I am looking for.


-D