How to clean gritty boards

[Brad_S.]

I'm looking for ideas, please.
I have several thousand boardfeet of weathered and/or gritty lumber that plays havoc on planer blades. I am trying to devise an easy way of cleaning them prior to planing short of pressure washing them. The ideal machine for the job is the Makita wheel sander but it is expensive and only covers 4 1/2 inches at a time.
http://www.mytoolstore.com/makita/mak04-09.html
I have never seen a pallet board de-duster in person but imagine it too might do the job, but I am looking for something that can handle up to 16" widths.
I am thinking about attaching an electric motor with an arbor to the sawhead and using wire brushes like the Makita's, only more cost effective brushes instead. Has anyone else done anything like this? Does anyone know where to get cylindrical wire brushes cheaper than the Makita ones?

[bull]

how bout a leaf blow..... I have use one in the past !!

[scsmith42]

Brad, I haven't done this, so it's pure spectulation, but I think that I would mount a couple of spring loaded cylinder brushes in front of my planer (on both sides of the board), with a housing around them that's attached to suction, and a blower inforcing the debris back and away (to the sides) of the brushes.

Here is one source for cylinder brushes:

http://www.precisionbrush.com/Item/CBM.htm

Scott

[metalspinner]

Perhaps a very deep cut on the initial pass with the planer can get under the grit embedded in the surface.  If the boards have large open pores like red oak, its unlikely brushing will get most of the grit.  Pressure washing may be your best option, IMHO.

[Tom]

It's messy, but pressure washing is probably the best way.  Boards that have some age, have the offending abrasive matter imbedded in little cracks and crevices where air doesn't do a good job of getting rid of it.  The water would be on the surface and would dry fairly quickly.

[logwalker]

Maybe find a shop that can send thru an abrasive belt sander. Joe