[gowings]

I was wondering what finishers here are following when you polyurethane maple plywood. I have used solid maple for edge banding and a minimal amount of carpenters glue has oozed out of the edges in spots. I wiped it off but would like to sand the plywood face to make sure I got it all and prep the maple for the clear finish I am putting on it.
Palm sander/ orbital sander etc. 220/180 grit. etc.
Thanks

 

[bzguy]

The first grit you use to get the edge-banding flush depends on how accurately it was applied.
You could waste a lot of time with 180-220 if your edge-banding is thicker or not applied perfectly straight.
I take a common graphite pencil and make a zig-zag line across the joint, 1/2" or less apart, 2-3 inches wide.
When you start sanding the pencil line immediately disappears on the high side, then you know how to proceed to get it all flush and make all pencil marks disappear.
Then you can go to 180-220 for final.

 

[Steve Neul]

If you just wiped the glue off with a dry rag it might take a more agressive sanding than 180. The veneer is usually thicker on maple plywood. You could start with 80x paper and work up to 180 grit. If you washed the glue off with a wet rag then 180x should work fine. If it is trimmed smooth then for the most part all you need is to sand the wood where the water has raised the grain.

 

[HowardAcheson]

The way to "see" the glue is to wipe the area with a rag dampened with mineral spirits. This will highlight any glue squeeze out or any other sanding miscues. Let it dry thoroughly before further finishing. You could also use naphtha or alcohol. Both will evaporate faster than the mineral spirits so you can get back to work faster.

Be very care with any sanding or scraping as the veneer is very thin. If you sand through the veneer you have a major problem.

 

[gowings]

Thanks for the reply's.
I use a flush trim bit on the maple 1/4" edging. I did wipe the glue off with a damp rag. I'm just wanting to give it a quick sand in case I missed a few spots and give the maple plywood veneer a 1 time quick pass over. I will try the solvent trick or methyl hydrate on a rag. That's what I use to pick up the dust in between coats of polyurethane.