Devin Burroughs Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 Has anyone ever feed OSB through a thickness sander? I have seen it finished smooth and it looks really cool, I am just concerned about it gumming up belt due to the large amount of glue content. I am building cajon drums during me particum as a student teacher and I thought that this could be a cool way to create a affordable cool looking front for the drum. Other wise the kids are doing it by hand and eating up time and sand paper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bombarde16 Posted September 19, 2012 Report Share Posted September 19, 2012 We're going to need some more information on the build to answer the initial question: Why are you doing this? MDF already comes in varying thicknesses, what thickness do you need? EDIT: Whoops, I got my acronyms mixed up. Oriented strand board (aka waferboard) it is. What gums up sandpaper isn't so much the glue, but sap. OSB is typically made of resinous softwoods, so you can expect it'll destroy sandpaper fairly fast. If that's the look you want, certainly a thickness sander will get you there faster. Just brace yourself to eat through the cost of several belts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRBaker Posted September 20, 2012 Report Share Posted September 20, 2012 That's what I like about OSB....you can make it the thickness you want so easy. If you want it thinner, use a thickness sander and you don't have to worry about going through the veneer. If you want it thicker, just leave wet rags on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackHart9000 Posted September 20, 2012 Report Share Posted September 20, 2012 I'd likely try the first pass with like 50 or 60 grit just to see how much it gums up the belt. If it handles it alright, you might be fine to use 80 or 100. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted September 20, 2012 Report Share Posted September 20, 2012 I guess I'm wondering why it's necessary to thickness the material at all. After a quick google it appears most cajons are built using 1/2" or 3/4" ply for the sides and top, and a thinner ply for the front. Even the cheapest ply is going to be more durable and easier to work with than OSB, and I'd have to imagine that beating on a thin sheet of OSB could quite possibly begin to break it apart. And if a particular thickness for the front is desired that you can't find in ply, why not just have the kids glue up some panels of pine or poplar, which they could easily pass through the drum sander? I don't know, I guess OSB sounds like more trouble than it's worth in this situation. Cool project though. Post some pics of the kids' work when they're done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted September 20, 2012 Report Share Posted September 20, 2012 When we sand anything resinous on our drum sander we take light passes and use a crepe rubber cleaning stick to keep the belt from loading up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jHop Posted September 21, 2012 Report Share Posted September 21, 2012 Hate to toot my own horn.... I've got an OSB Turning project going. True, it's still ongoing, and the updates have been delayed. (Stinkin' homework... and work...) Kinda the opposite from what you're looking at. Take it easy, but I had no problems sanding at 700 (maximum speed?). Paper does fill up, but it doesn't gum up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin Burroughs Posted September 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2012 I guess I'm wondering why it's necessary to thickness the material at all. After a quick google it appears most cajons are built using 1/2" or 3/4" ply for the sides and top, and a thinner ply for the front. Even the cheapest ply is going to be more durable and easier to work with than OSB, and I'd have to imagine that beating on a thin sheet of OSB could quite possibly begin to break it apart. And if a particular thickness for the front is desired that you can't find in ply, why not just have the kids glue up some panels of pine or poplar, which they could easily pass through the drum sander? I don't know, I guess OSB sounds like more trouble than it's worth in this situation. Cool project though. Post some pics of the kids' work when they're done! It's not for the sides or top, I want it for the front since it looks really cool once it is sanded and cleared. It is simply going to be a fancy looking front. It's to be around a 1/4" thick finished. I could simply glue up some alder (local) but I am designing this as a plywood lab so if I could incorporate osb it would make it that much more relevant and will show the kids a alternate use for a cheap material. I'm going to attack it with the belt sander first and see what happens. Jhop your osb turning is cool, kind of the same idea I'm looking at, a simple cheap material used not for what it was intended. Quiznos (at least in Canada) uses finished osd on the fronts of their cabinets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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