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80 grits for all hardwoods , 120 for tops me amigo!

I do 80 grit to get it close to final thickness and then do 120 for the last pass or 2!

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

I've used 80 for pretty much everything, since I'm too lazy to change the paper out everytime.

Have fun setting it up, it pays to read the instructions. I had to set up mine just a little high on the open end to avoid ridges, but it works pretty well.

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

80 for almost everything. I usually clean up after that with higher grits on the random orbit sander. I will often clean the tops up with a few passes of 150. I usually level my rosettes with the 16-32 sander as well. A few passes with 80 and then a number of really light passes with 150 and it comes out great!

Josh

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Josh House

Canadian Luthier Supply
http://www.canadianluthiersupply.com
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House Guitars - Custom Built Acoustic Instruments.
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Hesh...Where are you placing the Performax? I figure it's about time for you to be removing a bathroom fixture or 2! Bathtubs seem to take up a lot of unnecessary space.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Hesh, I recently sold my 16-32 because I found that it took up too much space and never got used as I prefer other methods of thicknessing. Before I had that one I had a 10-20 and I wish now I had kept it, as I much preferred it to the 16-32. I could much more accurately thickness timber with it, using multiple passes in all four directions, than I could with the 16-32. Of course it had it's limitations, but I believe it's shorter cantilevered drum had an advantage over it's bigger brethren.

Oh as others have said 80 grit and finish with 120. That said, I kept 120 on it most of the time, as course thicknessing was done with the plane or SafeT planer. Remember it's not really a thicknesser but a surface finisher.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Hi Hesh

I have the 16/32 I use 80 Grit for most back and sides, things like walnut and tops I use 150, used to use 120 then 180, but just switched to the 150. I like to feed in four directions like colin describes feed the board turn 180 degrees, flip over then turn 180 degrees again.

I don't have a source for the paper in the USA, but I buy it on rolls and cut my own loadings, using one of the originals as a template.


You will need some sort of fine dust extraction on the machine.

on resinous woods Shane gave me a tip months back feed them fast and take very light cuts, feed at as much as an angle as possible, this even works with cocobolo I find.

Hesh, I use 80 for everything, if I have a very resinous wood, ill switch out to 60, then back to 80.

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Hesh I buy 50 yard rolls from Kim. Good prices and good paper. Here is her e-mail.
discount_abrasives@yahoo.com

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Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
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Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

Hesh on the easy to sand woods I use 80 grit. On the tough stuff like coco, ziricote, bloodwood and other oily woods 60 grit. Hesh one thing I want ti stress is kto clean your vac filter frequently. The more suction the better. Sawdust that is not removed adds to the sandpaper glazing problem. Light cuts high speed and as steep an angle as you can get. Finish off with light passes with the grain. Get one of those crape sticks too. Clean the paper frequuently. Like Mario stresses about building it's the sum of all these small parts that go a long way to succesful drum sanding.

_________________
Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

I have done Coco with 80 and it has probably been the worst for clogging the paper. Like others have said the key is to feed it in on a high angle and you should be okay. If you have a lot of stock to remove than Lance's idea of 60 grit is probably a good idea. In fact I think I may try it myself.

I got frustrated on the first few guitar trying to level the rosette by hand. I found I would often take little chips out of the purfling when I was scraping or I would sand away the top material faster than the rosette wood (all my rosettes are wood or wood/shell). So I thought I would try leveling with the sander. It really works great and takes like 2 min. The key is a lot of really light passes. When the rosette is close to level I will send it through the sander 3 times or so without adjusting the height. Then I lower just a little at a time and send the top through 2-3 times before each adjustment. I have found this works great. I have also never had trouble with the darker rosette wood (snakewood, black Brazilian) getting ground into the spruce or cedar top. That was something that would happen when I tried to sand level by hand. If you take a heavy pass you will find you remove the top wood around the harder rosette wood. So stick to light passes and you should be fine.

Josh

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Josh House

Canadian Luthier Supply
http://www.canadianluthiersupply.com
https://www.facebook.com/canadianluthiersupply?ref=hl
House Guitars - Custom Built Acoustic Instruments.
http://www.houseguitars.com

Definitely get one of the abrasive belt cleaner sticks. You'll want to use that often, especially on coco. I cringe at the thought of how many dollars worth of paper I wasted because I didn't bother checking.

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

It's good to hear that somebody -Colin- liked the 10-20 better than the 16-32. I was just thinking about picking one of these up from Amazon. $500 with $80 of sale, free shipping too.    Unless someone tells me it's not worth it, I gotta go click on "Proceed to Checkout"bbeardb38776.6725810185

I have the 10-20 and I wish I'd bought a wider one... Not so much that I'm ditching this one, though. You lose the option of doing things like feeding a wider piece at an angle on more resinous woods. Plus, it takes twice as long to take two passes (not a problem for a hobby builder like myself).

It is better than not having one, though. :)

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

Hmm, wider huh? I was actaully thinking about either the 10-20, or the Woodmaster 718 Molder/Planer/Sander/Saw contraption (used), but it's only 18" wide, but 5hp. But now I'm stealing the thread...

I have a 10/20, and love it. The stronger your dust collection, the better. Be sure that your paper is tight, and evenly spiraled on the drum. If it loosens, it will overlap, and cause deep sanding in one spot which could wreck a peice of wood if you're near final thickness. Take your time and use small cuts. Never try to hog off wood, it just doesn't have the power. I hope you are happy with your new tool.

Al

I don't use any paper on my 22-44..........works great and burnishes the wood while I'm at it.

Doug

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Guitars...One's too many...Twenty is not enough.

Hey Russell,
where abouts in the uk do you get your rolls from?
I have a 16/32 and find the single sheets way to exspensive. Do you get yours from axminster or is there somewhere cheaper.
cheers
Heath

Hi Heath

At the moment I buy rolls from axminster, but I have been looking just recently for somewhere else to get them CSM Abrasivesplus is an option they are based in nottingham, call them for a price as there web prices are more expensive ! Tel: 01636 688888


I also found a place called Okeden timber he has 50mm wide stuff very reasonable, I just can't work out in my head if this would work.

Hesh, If you got one of those big flat belt cleaners that you run through the sander, please let us know how it works. I just use a stick held up to the belt/drum/disc of my various sanders, and that works very well.

BTW, I also use the cleaning stick all the time on sheets of sandpaper, esp when sanding finishes. I just rub it on the sheet like a big eraser and it makes the sandpaper last A LOT longer.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

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