Sanding wood edges

[Pandamonium]

I'm going to build a ramp for one of my dogs who keeps pulling a muscle, probably from jumping on and off the bed in the middle of the night. (He's an 11 lb yorkie) Anyway, I did some sketching, went to Home Depot, and had some pine boards cut to size. So right now, I've got a stack of wood sitting in my living room.

This is my second attempt at DIY furniture-ish stuff. I'm going to sand all the pieces down, stain & seal them, then assemble with glue/nails. I already have a strip of carpet that I plan on staple-gunning to the wood. Since I'm at the sanding stage, I'm wondering, is it even possible to sand the rough edges flat? Or will I need to use wood filler to take care of that?

 

[MotF Bane]

You want to sand the right-angle edges of the wood to a rounded bevel, correct? That's absolutely possible. Easiest ways are routers or power sanders. Since this is your second attempt at DIY, I'm going to guess you have neither, and suggest for a large ramp, you go to Home Depot/Lowes/similar and rent such a power tool. For a smaller ramp, get some sandpaper and a block, and have fun.

 

[KMc]

Hand-held orbital power sanders work well and are relatively inexpensive.

 

[vi edit]

I don't understand what you mean by "rough edges". Are you talking about the butt joints of where the 2x4's (or whatever lumber) you are using join together?

 

[dank69]

If you are covering with carpet, why sand it at all?

 

[amdskip]

Just paint it. Stained pine just doesn't look all that great.

 

[Pandamonium]

So I had a 12'x11"x1" plank of pine cut into 5 strips. I want to sand the end edges. So the "face" I want to sand is a 1"x11" bunch of endgrain. (My terminology could be way off here)

 

[BoomerD]

So I had a 12'x11"x1" plank of pine cut into 5 strips. I want to sand the end edges. So the "face" I want to sand is a 1"x11" bunch of endgrain. (My terminology could be way off here)

Wouldn't hurt to gently sand the edges, but if you're covering it all with carpet, it doesn't need to be perfect...just get any splinters off, give it a quick sand...and cover.

 

[*kjm]

Just paint it. Stained pine just doesn't look all that great.

DONT use wood filler. If you can sand it by hand do so. Just go from low numbers to high ending at about 220, use some wood conditioner
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...=SPM2378998502

and stain.

If the wood is that rough you could always cover it over the sides like dank69 said....

Good luck and show picks

 

[BoomerD]

BTW...11 pounds? That's a BIG yorkie...ours is less than 6 pounds.

 

[*kjm]

BTW...11 pounds? That's a BIG yorkie...ours is less than 6 pounds.

True.....

I built one close to this for a friend
http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/dog-ramp-steps-convertible-dog-stairs-ramp

The stairs were screwed in place and the dog could care less

 

[NutBucket]

Something like this will take care of all your basic sanding needs:

http://www.amazon.com/Makita-BO4556K...1414399&sr=8-3

 

[olds]

Simple. Keep the dog off the furniture.

 

[coldmeat]

Why don't you just get one of those benches to put at the end of the bed and teach him to jump up/down in 2 steps.

 

[highland145]

Feed him less and use the extra $$ to equip your new shop.

 

[Pandamonium]

Well I want to sand it down so that I don't get splinters while working with it or when I move it around after it's built. The staining is probably unnecessary, but I like stain better than paint.

The ramp I'm building is going up to a bed-height shelf that will go over my "nightstand" and rest next to my pillow. So it is more like a table with a ramp perpendicular to its length. I wanted to do it this way so that neither of us would trip over the thing in the morning.

As for the dog, I'm not sure that he's 100% yorkie. His hair isn't straight and seems to stop getting longer at about 3" or so. He's got yorkie coloring, appearance, and temperament though.

Edit: The dog isn't overweight, it's just a bigger yorkie. I'll dig up a picture in a minute. I won't want to go the bench route because I'm pretty sure the jumping is the reason he keeps hurting himself. This dog is like my wife's baby, so I want to make sure the little guy is okay. I've thought about steps but I don't want to trip over them and it seems like more work to build steps than a ramp.

 

[*kjm]

Well I want to sand it down so that I don't get splinters while working with it or when I move it around after it's built. The staining is probably unnecessary, but I like stain better than paint.

The ramp I'm building is going up to a bed-height shelf that will go over my "nightstand" and rest next to my pillow. So it is more like a table with a ramp perpendicular to its length. I wanted to do it this way so that neither of us would trip over the thing in the morning.

As for the dog, I'm not sure that he's 100% yorkie. His hair isn't straight and seems to stop getting longer at about 3" or so. He's got yorkie coloring, appearance, and temperament though.

Edit: The dog isn't overweight, it's just a bigger yorkie. I'll dig up a picture in a minute. I won't want to go the bench route because I'm pretty sure the jumping is the reason he keeps hurting himself. This dog is like my wife's baby, so I want to make sure the little guy is okay. I've thought about steps but I don't want to trip over them and it seems like more work to build steps than a ramp.

Just make some thing like I posted in my link..... (mod it) and I'm sure you will be fine

 

[Fayd]

Just paint it. Stained pine just doesn't look all that great.

not true at all.

pine requires a sealer, but stained pine can look REALLY good. much better imo than oak. pine can acquire a 3d luminescence similar to maple.. oak can't.

one thing though. pine is soft, so you need to be careful with the palm sander. don't press down on it, or you'll end up making lines through your piece that you can't sand out.

 

[NutBucket]

one thing though. pine is soft, so you need to be careful with the palm sander. don't press down on it, or you'll end up making lines through your piece that you can't sand out.

Orbital for rough sanding, random orbit for final sanding:

http://www.amazon.com/Makita-BO5030K...1418577&sr=8-8

Problem solved

 

[Fayd]

Orbital for rough sanding, random orbit for final sanding:

http://www.amazon.com/Makita-BO5030K...1418577&sr=8-8

Problem solved

i have a random orbit palm sander. my point stands.

if you'd like, i can take a pic of my screwups on the bottom side of my shelves. they were done with a random orbit sander. it's not highly noticeable, but i know they're there.

pine is fine to sand with a powered sander as long as you're not pressing down on the sander. pressing down causes it to gouge into the wood.

 

[NutBucket]

If you use 36 grit any sander will gouge wood

 

[Fayd]

If you use 36 grit any sander will gouge wood

100 -> 150 -> 220 -> 400 (hand sanding)

that's the way i do it.

 

[BudAshes]

Simple. Keep the dog off the furniture.

sassboat wins this round. Seriously, dogs sleep on the floor.

 

[BoomerD]

Nah, our two ratdogs sleep on/in the bed. When it's cold, they're under the damned covers...it's amazing how much room a little dog can take...

OP, why not steps instead of the ramp? Takes less room, just as easy for the dog.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

BTW...11 pounds? That's a BIG yorkie...ours is less than 6 pounds.

ours is 22