Hello all, I was going to name this thread “When Good Flush Trim Bits Goes Bad”, but I thought I would kept it a little more serious. <!—-><!—-> <!—->
As you can see from the photo, my flush trim bit isn’t helping me build this box. It is 1/2″ MDF with curly maple veneer on three sides, paint on the bottom and back. The front is 1/2” maple.<!—-> <!—->
When I was flush trimming the maple to the box, my bit left a groove in the veneer. You can’t feel it, but you can see it in the light. I do need to sand the edge of the maple. The paint removal is from my “2nd bit” I tried, I am going back to the first bit now.<!—-><!—->
So, my question is, what is the best way to sand the veneer and the maple? Do I sand with the grain of the curly maple or in the direction of the curly waves?<!—-><!—->
Also, I have some areas of “bit burn”, can those be sanded out? <!—-><!—->
I am going to finish with Danish Oil.<!—-><!—->
Replies
I like to run a piece of masking tape along the seam edge... on your box it would be on the painted part. That way if your bit is a wee bit too deep it'll cut into the tape and give you an opportunity to readjust before cutting into the painted surface. It also gives the bearing somewhere to run that won't cause bearing burn.
To answer your questions...
Always sand with the grain.
If the bearing/bit burn has produced a polished surface then a moistened rag would help open it back up. Then once the moisture is all gone you can just sand it back to a uniform surface.
Hi Kevin, thanks for the hints, I will give that a try.
-Zach.
It appears as if you set the bit too low.
When flush trimming, set the bearing just below the edge to be trimmed. That way you will avoid burning or gouging the adjacent surface.
You may want to try wetting the surface with a sponge to raise the grain then sand with 150 grit paper. This may help without sanding too much.
J.P.
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