Ideas for sanding large wood beams (a lot of them)
Wunderbar
| Posted in General Questions on
Im doing a post and beam build with old growth fir beams and looking for any advice on sanding them quickly before install. They are 4x10x20′ beams that will be exposed. Normally would just use my hand planer/belt sander but there’s over 40 of them so was thinking there’s gotta be a faster way.
One idea i had was to lay them all out and use a floor sander…
thanks in advance!
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Replies
Electric hand planer
The 10" sides I would run through a benchtop thickness planer like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HRM0OIM
It will make short work of them and leave you with a surface that just needs to be roughed up with 220 grit sandpaper to take a finish.
For the 4" sides maybe a handheld electric planer.
+1 for using a planer here. If you have a set of sharp blades in the planer, you should get a smooth enough final surface that you won't need to do much/any sanding. I don't think a floor sander will work well, because you probably would find the dimensions on the beams to be too uneven, so the floor sander wouldn't sand things evenly across all of the beams when they were lined up together.
I would advise getting a trim router and rounding over the edges of those beams to make them easier to handle as a final step before installation. I've done that on some treated beams before and it makes them much nicer to work with, and doesn't take very much time to do.
Bill
For a high-end professional finish, there are no real short cuts aside from industrial sized thickness sanders. You will want to plane first with either a thickness planer or large handheld planer, and then sand. A random orbital with 120 grit gives a nice finish. And you may want to re-sand after they are installed to remove scuffs and dings from the installation.
I also think routering the corners with either a chamfer or round-over looks very nice.
For a more rustic look, and a faster job, you can put sanding discs on a flexible rubber pad on your angle grinder. Or, there are many different types of heads that can be put on a grinder for a variety of finishes. You will want a minimum 5" grinder for this, 6" is better.
These wooden posts and beams will almost certainly be the focal point of your home and work put into them now will be well worth it.
Would I be correct in guessing this is green wood?
You do understand what the green wood will shrink about 15% across the grain when it does it will almost certainly crack\check and twist as it dries. Any straight square and smooth surface is temporary in green wood.
Note sanding generally does not work on green wood as the dust becomes a past that clogs the sand paper quickly.
If you got the wood from a mill, they likely can plane it for a reasonable fee on an industrial size machine.
I kind of like seeing the saw marks in beams.
Walta
thanks for the replies!
I dont think i can really use a bench top planer as they are so large and don't have level infeed/outfeed setups.
Ill look more into better hand planers, ive got a 3" electric planer and my 4" makita belt sander is pretty great.
They aren't green, air dried for a couple years. Came out of an old growth groove that got hit with a forest fire a few years back.
I've heard of people using those benchtop planers, but letting the planers run rather than the wood. In other words, set the beams on sturdy sawhorses or the like and then let the planer travel down the beam.
Obviously this could be dangerous if not done thoughtfully and with some safety protocol in place (remote switch, a way to catch the planer at the ene of cut that doesn't involve hands close to blades, etc.)
What type of saw cut these beams? I'm assuming you've ruled out the rough cut look? You can still 'buff' a rough cut to make it less splintery.
The floor sander idea doesn't sound terrible in theory, but would take some set up tbat could be difficult-- i.e. needing to ensure the faces are very evenly in plane and will stay that way as you walk a sander along them.
That's an interesting idea to have the planer travel. I think I'd want to put it on rails. Off to Google to see if anyone has done it.
Makita makes a 12-1/4" hand planer: https://www.amazon.com/Makita-KP312-12-1-4-Inch-Planer/dp/B000140B54
But it's $2500.
They also make a 6-1/4" version: https://www.amazon.com/Makita-1806B-10-9-4-Inch-Planer/dp/B00004YOD2
It's a more reasonable $830. This video shows how to make a "sled" that allows you to use a hand planer to smooth pieces that are wider than the planer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp2vSodcTOQ
I have to say asking the mill to plane them is looking better and better.
I have a friend that used the teeter-totter technique for his dewalt thickness planer, it worked ok until the timber gets stuck, then you have an awkward problem.
I have used both of the power planers shown above, the 12" is an absolute beast to use all day.
+1 for bringing them to a mill. Then hire a labourer to sand them.
Will you be using joinery or connector plates for the post and beam construction?
hmmm, some good ideas here. I could take them to a mill, the $1 a BF quotes ive been getting just seem a bit much.
I suppose I could do a rough beam look, just would hate to sand it on a ladder in the future when the wife says its too rustic....
Using connectors for the construction (ridge beam top straps and birdsmouth with hurricane ties)
Wunderbar,
Plane or sand the beams. Left rough they are difficult to finish, hold dust but can't be easily cleaned, and feel unpleasant to touch.
If my math is right $1/BF is $67 a piece. That's probably a fair indicator of the labor and equipment needed. What do they weigh, maybe 200 pounds? Just to move them around probably takes 2-3 people.