N00b-in-training Posted August 24, 2015 Report Share Posted August 24, 2015 Did a quick weekend project and I'm rather frustrated. During my last project I found some tear out from the planer (Dewalt 735), but it wasn't noticeable until I was finishing. During my project this week (Ash) I thought I was extra careful to look at grain direction before I planed and then sanded (I don't want to get into my smoothing plane issues) 120/150/180. Not seeing any signs of tear out I moved on with dyeing and finishing. Well... One of the boards there's clear tear out, see pic below. Question: How do you find tear out before you finish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapid Roger Posted August 24, 2015 Report Share Posted August 24, 2015 It must just be me but, I don't see the area of concern. Would please point out where you see tear out?I'm fairly new to wood working (only 10 years so far) and I don't really do any quality work but that board looks normal to me, Rog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N00b-in-training Posted August 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2015 It must just be me but, I don't see the area of concern. Would please point out where you see tear out?I'm fairly new to wood working (only 10 years so far) and I don't really do any quality work but that board looks normal to me, Rog The little light colored flakes.... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N00b-in-training Posted August 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2015 I wipe with mineral spirits before finishing. It will reveal most problems. you might also revisit your sanding routine. Thorough sanding should have taken care of the tear out. I sand twice with each grit and scribble with pencil all over the baord between each grit so I know I have sanded the entire board evenly. Gotcha. I'll try both next time! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick S Posted August 24, 2015 Report Share Posted August 24, 2015 It may just be the photo, but it almost looks like something is repelling the stain in those spots. Usually stain will fill and color tearout - it just looks bad. Can you feel the tearout in the surface? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted August 24, 2015 Report Share Posted August 24, 2015 Not sure if you have a random orbit sander or even better a drum sander but you may find it better starting with 80 grit or even 60. Then go to 120g and up to 180g or even slightly higher (220 - 240). On a board like that the 80g should remove machining marks from the planer. I find that with a ROS run it across grain in overlapping strokes with the weight of the ROS being sufficient (don't press). Then run with the grain in overlapping strokes. Then repeat the process again (across grain, with the grain) and you will have a good, but rough to the touch, surface. Apply some mineral spirits and have a look in raking light or hold it against light from a window in various directions. Tear out would then be apparent. So you can run the 80 grit over it again until it has gone.Then and only then proceed with the finer grits other wise you are just polishing the tops of the rough stuff and as you have found out when applying finish the low spots will show up like they have.When you see Norm running his ROS over a board in TNYWS they only show 10 seconds or so because TV time is precious. In reality it takes much much longer. Also with ash being very open grained you may consider pore sealing prior to finishing. There are many products to pore seal but a great one to start with is shellac. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPCV_Woodworker Posted August 24, 2015 Report Share Posted August 24, 2015 It may just be the photo, but it almost looks like something is repelling the stain in those spots. Usually stain will fill and color tearout - it just looks bad. Can you feel the tearout in the surface? Gonna have to agree on that one, looks more like compressed areas from chips riding through the planer. that or glue splatter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N00b-in-training Posted August 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2015 Gonna have to agree on that one, looks more like compressed areas from chips riding through the planer. that or glue splatter.I can definitely feel the indentations. Maybe there were chip on the underside of the board when i sent it through for a final pass, I'll be sure to watch for that next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodger. Posted August 24, 2015 Report Share Posted August 24, 2015 (edited) Sanding does take a while. Like Terry said, start with a coarse grit and move up, being careful not to skip Any grits.You may also want to try running your stock on a slight angle when putting it through the power planer. This will skew the cut and help with tear outout. Be careful, of course.When all my sanding is done, I wipe my project down with water, and look at the board on a slight angle. This helps id problem areas. Then I circle them with a pencil.Sunlight works much better than artificial lights. Edited August 24, 2015 by franklin pug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CessnaPilotBarry Posted August 24, 2015 Report Share Posted August 24, 2015 Try zipping across the surface with 320 grit on a felt block. The paper will leave a bit of dust in tear outs, chip outs, plane tracks and deep sandpaper scratches that is very easy to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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