WOOD SLAB SANDING SERVICE
Precision wood slab sanding is available at Commercial Forest Products in Upland by appointment. Wide belt sanding allows woodworkers to flatten slabs that are cupped or bowed. Wide-belt sanding gives large slabs a smooth & consistent surface. It is ideal for table tops, bar tops, countertops, etc.
Live edge wood slab sanding from urban cut trees are extremely popular in contemporary woodworking, However. live-edge slabs can be difficult to process due to dimensional variations.
Is Sanding More Effective than Planing Slabs?
Sanding slabs is a longer process than planing wood slabs. However, sanding is far superior to planing when you need to mill a slab to thickness, for several reasons:
- Planers do a poor job of flattening wood. Planers squeeze the inbound wood through a fixed opening where the knives make contact. This works well when the wood is narrow and already pretty square. However, a wide / cupped slab will likely split under the pressure of the rollers. Or possibly, jam up inside the planer as the knives continue to run, branding the slab with knife burn marks.
- Wide belt sanders allow the slab to pass at small, decreasing intervals. Thus, the first few sander passes may only sand the topmost portions of the slab. This increases the number of passes but results in a flatter slab with a better finish and less chance of damaging the slab during milling.
- Slabs are often larger than commercially sawn wood. Planers tend to struggle when surfacing larger dimension wood, even when he surface is relatively flat. This is because the planers have a fixed amount of horsepower. When the knives take a deep cut to mill through a wide surface area, the finish tends to suffer.
Basically, slow and steady wins the race when it comes to flattening wood slabs. This, the wide belt sander is your best option for removing imperfections & ensuring flatness.
What Does Sanding Cost?
As of March 2025, sanding costs $125/hour + $175 flat set up.
Slab sanding is billed by the hour. We can give you an estimate, but actual time may vary.
There are many variables & handling considerations that affect the job. For example, slab dimensions, density of the wood, dryness of the wood, starting thickness, flatness of the inbound wood, etc.
For reference, a reasonably well sawn pine slab measuring 2″ x 20″ x 96″ may take 1=2 hour to sand to 1.80″. Alternatively, a warped or poorly live-sawn pine board of the same size may take closer to 2-3.
How To Get Your Slab Sanded
Contact us first to give us the particulars & set up an appointment, Due to space & time considerations, we do this by appointment only.
Sanding is done overnight, so we’ll give you a day & afternoon time to deliver the slab. You pick up the next morning.
What Do We Guarantee?
Nothing.
We will try our best to help achieve your objective with your slab. We won’t take on a sanding project if we don’t think we can help.
Regardless, we are billing for our time & expertise and cannot guarantee results.
Basically, this is a good service if you need help making an awkward slab manageable. Giving it a glass-like polished finish should be done afterwards, in your shop.