Problem Correcting Blade Burn-In

[Keith Starosta]

I'm in the middle of putting together my first cutting board. Pretty standard...walnut and maple, checkerboard-type pattern (thanks to Marc Spagnuolo). Being that this is my first attempt at doing this, I'm happy with my progress to date. I do have a problem that I thought at first I could solve pretty easily, but now have to turn to you experienced folks to solve. While ripping out strips for the "checkerboard", I had some blade burn on some of my end grain. I thought at first I could just sand it out, but using 80-grit didn't get it all. In fact, I was barely able to touch it. I really don't want to leave it there, bur I sure don't want to scrap this wood, either.

Any tips on the most effective way to remove this burn? Unfortunately, I don't have a drum sander...only a P/C ROS. I was thinking card scraper, but am not sure.

Thanks in advance!

- Keith

[Gary Whitt]

Block plane.

[glenn bradley]

I use a card scraper and try to do it immediatly after cutting. Seems to come out easier when it's fresh but that could just be my perception.

[Lee Schierer]

The easiest way is to prevent it. You need to tune up your saw so it doesn't happen. The saw marks visible on your wood would indicate the alignment is off. Maple should not burn if your saw is sharp, properly aligned and your feed rate is steady. When cutting woods like Maple or Cherry you need to have a continuous rate of feed at a rate that doesn't bog down the saw. If the saw is bogging down then the blade may be dull or gunked up with wood resin. Bogging can also be caused if the belt isn't tight on your saw you may not be getting the full motor Hp to the blade. Lastly, cutting thick woods will make a saw work harder. Most 1 to 1-1/2 Hp saws should be able to handle cross cuts up to 1-1/2 without too much problem with a sharp clean blade.

You didn't say what type of sander you were using. I would recommend a belt sander with either 60 grit or 80 grit to start and work your way to 220.

[Keith Starosta]

The easiest way is to prevent it. You need to tune up your saw so it doesn't happen. The saw marks visible on your wood would indicate the alignment is off. Maple should not burn if your saw is sharp, properly aligned and your feed rate is steady. When cutting woods like Maple or Cherry you need to have a continuous rate of feed at a rate that doesn't bog down the saw. If the saw is bogging down then the blade may be dull or gunked up with wood resin. Bogging can also be caused if the belt isn't tight on your saw you may not be getting the full motor Hp to the blade. Lastly, cutting thick woods will make a saw work harder. Most 1 to 1-1/2 Hp saws should be able to handle cross cuts up to 1-1/2 without too much problem with a sharp clean blade.

You didn't say what type of sander you were using. I would recommend a belt sander with either 60 grit or 80 grit to start and work your way to 220.

Lee, I am using a standard 5-hole Porter Cable ROS. I do have a belt sander. I will try that, too.

As to the current state of my table saw...yes, I do need a major tuning. I didn't realized just how BAD it was until I started this project.

Thanks.

Keith

[Wayne Morley]

You might try a router bridge to remove the burns and flatten the top of your cutting board. Take a look at this thread for info. on the router bridge.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=30316

This is a handy tool that you will find many uses for.

Wayne

[Jim Becker]

As noted the belt sander may be more effective. Or try to visit your "up north" relatives when I'm not on some other part of the planet and run them through my drum sander...

[Donnie Folangelo]

Low angle block plane or some agressive grit sand paper on a ROS

[Matt Guyrd]

I have read in other posts that it is considered a no-no to some to run an end-grain cutting board through a planer, however, I have made upwards of 25 end-grain boards and have ran all of them through my Ridgid planer with no problems.

The board should be relatively flat and I take micro-cuts with the planer. When I first tried this method, I had a bit of tear-out on the back edge. To resolve this, I do one of two things. I either make the cutting board one row longer than the finish length, plane, then rip the last row off, or I bevel the back edge. I typically cut a small bevel on all edges anyway, so this works well. Even if I use the first method of adding a row, I will bevel the back edge just to eliminate the tear-out.

Matt