fyb Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 I got some gorgeous ribbon striped sapele for a project I'm working on but I keep getting tear out and I just put new blades in my planer!! Most of the body blank came out fine but there is some noticable tearout in a few spots. I tried to get a pic but my camera couldn't really get it right Can I moisten the grain to raise it up some las if I were fixing a ding? Will sanding sealer cover it up some? What else can I do?? I can't find anyone locally (north central Connecticut) with a drum sander unfortunately. Thanks for the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acousticraft Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 Welcome to the world of Sapele. It has that sort of double gain in it and it makes it difficult to thickness with out tear out. I have had this problem with all the Sapele Ive thicknessed but it is a very stable wood and the only Mahogany species I can get where I live. I am helping 3 students building Sapele solid body guitars. I planed them to within 1/16" thickness and will get them thickness sanded from a cabinet making company who has a big drum sander to clean up any tearout once they have sanded the edges. It makes a nice final product but is anoying to thickness or joint because of the grain problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 I do believe there are some woods that cannot be planed. Same issues with curly maple, although for a different reason. Most small tear-out comes out very easily with water + heat (soldering iron) and an orbital sander. I don't recommend this for thinner pieces, I only do this for 1.5" - 1.75" thick pieces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentwood999 Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 is it i spiral head cutter? (i would use a thickness sander on high figure woods) just my opinion if its a regular blade cutter i would not use it on high>expensive figured woods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 cant say i am too sure a bout the steaming them out idea, with a dent you use steam to re-expand squashed wood, here the wood is actually missing- so if you manage to steam it all level - surely it will just shrink back eventually Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 no I can't see steam working either, as Wez said steam is used to fix dents not tear out, it won't expand so much that it will fill a hole in the wood. I'm also working with sapele at the moment & have had a few bits of tear out. The easiest option is to leave 1/8" or so & use a belt sander, drum sander or thickness sander to go the rest of the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fyb Posted June 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 (edited) Well thanks for the input guys. It looks like sanding might be my best option but I don't know anyone with a big enough sander. I'll try to think of something! I'm thinking maybe getting something large and very flat (a piece of 3/4" melamine or something similar) and adhering sand paper to it ... then sanding that way just to keep everything nice and flat. We'll see Edited June 12, 2007 by fyb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 Can't steam out tearout. Hand-planing with a SHARP plane, skew (angled) against the grain, or sanding are the two options I can think of. Khaya (ribbon stripe) is also very, very roe-y and tears out a lot, but a good sharp plane will take care of any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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