Sanding Scaffold boards

[Geoff Hammond]

I make shelving and furniture from reclaimed scaffold boards (Ok I know I am not a proper woodworker) :shock:

I give them a good sanding with a heavy Makita belt sander then finish edges off with an orbital sander.

I am however getting on a bit and the Makita is a big tool for me to throw about all day

I am looking at other ways of making the product a bit easier and was looking at the Axi 260SPT Spiral planer with the tungsten cutters. Obvious concerns would be if I miss some screws and nails and rip some of the cutters to bits. Also not sure if the planer would be as flexible as using a belt sander

I was also thinking of a drum sander

Any advise appreciated

 

[MikeG.]

I wouldn't go near a used scaffold board with an edge tool.......ever. The grit left from workman's boots, angle grinder detritus, being chucked down onto hardcore & rubble....and so on. Besides, if used scaffold boards have any charm it is the battered look, and shoving the whole thing through a planer is going to A/ wreck blades at a frightening rate and B/ turn out too-clean boring-looking bits of low-grade timber.

'twere it me I would be looking at sand blasting.

 

[Doug71]

If I am cleaning up something like scaffold boards I use a Festool RO 150 sander. It has a random orbit mode but also a geared mode which can eat through timber quite quickly. If you put a soft pad on it follows the shape of the wood while sanding so you don't get the flat/new looking areas like with a plane or belt sander.

Not really sure if it's easier to handle then a belt sander but might give a uniform look quicker while keeping some character.

The Festool version is good but not cheap, think Makita and Metabo do an equivalent cheaper.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

I've had good "rustic" results with new scaffold boards and a belt sander. It mostly got out the bandsaw marks from when the board was ripped, but not all of them (only because I gave up before I had removed everything). It's not a planed finish, but not an unfinished finish, if you see what i mean. Belt sander with 40 grit will remove a lot of material, and can do a lot of damage to the workpiece and your fingers. I have managed both, sometimes at the same time. I like my belt sander - a lot - but I have done a lot of damage with it, too.

 

[marcros]

If I am cleaning up something like scaffold boards I use a Festool RO 150 sander. It has a random orbit mode but also a geared mode which can eat through timber quite quickly. If you put a soft pad on it follows the shape of the wood while sanding so you don't get the flat/new looking areas like with a plane or belt sander.

Not really sure if it's easier to handle then a belt sander but might give a uniform look quicker while keeping some character.

The Festool version is good but not cheap, think Makita and Metabo do an equivalent cheaper.

I have the metabo version. Probably not as good, but it has similar modes for fast stock removal and finer finishing.

 

[ColeyS1]

I wonder which model sander you've got? I had an old grunt of a makita that died and replaced it with a seemingly lighter more modern version. It's still needs holding back but doesn't seem as fierce as the earlier one.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

 

[fatbob]

An angle grinder and flap disc will clean them up nicely.

 

[That would work]

I have used a wire brush very aggressively to "age" pine. It removes the softer spring/summer grown parts and you end up with ridges (the denser later growth) that replicate old worn timber. To do that on a scaffold board though would be a big undertaking and probably there would not be enough differentiation within the grain to get that effect.

 

[Trevanion]

What are you actually trying to do, achieve a clean surface to turn it into usable timber (which is absolutely insane by the by) or are you trying to achieve a rustic look that's all the rage with these bloody things? If you're wanting usable timber, buy usable timber such as PAR redwood or even new scaffolding boards and stop wasting your time which is precious. If you're wanting a rustic look you will absolutely lose it completely with a thicknesser and you will also wreck the machine, it would be best to stick to elbow grease and a belt sander.

The local scaffolding company sells used boards for about £50 a pop because they know full well daft idiots will buy them at the moment (Thank Grand Designs!), I know they're buying them in for less than a tenner each new :lol:

I wonder which model sander you've got? I had an old grunt of a makita that died and replaced it with a seemingly lighter more modern version. It's still needs holding back but doesn't seem as fierce as the earlier one.

Makita still makes the "earlier" 9401 belt sanders but they're about £300 new, The newer 9403 sanders are a whole 1.5kg lighter but do have an extra 200W of power behind them according to Makita's specs. I've got the baby brother the 9304 which is a kilo lighter again and about the same power as the 9401 and it never misses a beat, it's by far my most used power tool to the point where it's almost like an extension of the arm :lol:

I wouldn't go near a used scaffold board with an edge tool.......ever.

That's just because you don't understand how a cap iron works and how it negates ALL difficult spots in planing something like this including cement, nails, embedded stones and even the steel cappings on each end. I know more than you about it so you should take it as fact and not question it at all.

:wink: