What happens if you get a great piece of lumber cheaply and don't have a planer?Well, I don't know how much good this will do anyone, but here's a sequence of pictures showing my efforts with a piece of jotoba (Brazilian cherry) the Rotex and various papers. One interesting thing to note is that this group of sandpaper had already smoothed the other side of the board, so this is the result of
used abrasives. As you can see, the paper is in great shape and has much more life left in it.
These two photos have different color because one was taken with a flash and the other was not. They were also taken with and against the grain to show a different angle. (Subtitled "Guess who got a macro lens").
The more accurate representation is first:
The following photos show the end result of sanding with each paper and the elapsed time. The detail photographs show approximately the same position of the board.
Paper: Saphir 24
Elapsed sanding time: 00:05
Mode: Rotary
Here's a detail of the Saphir 24 paper. Even though this had ground through about 600 square inches of this rough wood, it looks like it's hardly been touched.
Paper: Rubin 50
Elapsed sanding time: 00:08
Mode: Rotary
Paper: Rubin 80
Elapsed sanding time: 00:08
Mode: Rotary
Paper: Rubin 100
Elapsed sanding time: 00:11
Mode: Random
.
Paper: Rubin 120
Elapsed sanding time: 00:15
Mode: Random
Macro View:
Dust ExtractionThe amazing part to me is the amount of dust that was generated by this operation. The Festool dust extraction system works beautifully. I can't imagine the amount of dust this operation would've thrown into the air without it.
All dust on the table unscientifically gathered into one pile.
The Final Result
I found the board surface to be amazingly flat considering how it was and
who finished it. There were only two spots where the sander "told" me it wasn't prefectly flat. Checking with a square confirmed it.
