Start out saying I thought I new how to sand and boy was I wrong. Really find out when precision is involved. I've found videos on going threw the grits but that's all I can find. Any tips on how fast to sand, how to keep from rounding over edges, how much material to allow for on a project for finish sanding ( ex. Drawers, boxes, etc. ) I've started parking with pencil so know when got everything and to move to next grit. Maybe just need more practice but also not trying to mess up projects. Thanks in advance
How to sand?
- Thread starter Trey1984
- Start date
Trey,
I sand as little as possible.
More seriously, you generally want to avoid using a power sander on the otherwise sharp edges of projects unless you want to round them over. I almost always do that but I wait to use 220 grit, normally the finest I use. A little bit of chamfer or round over is normally a good thing, especially on something like a drawer. I don't mark with a pencil, maybe I should, but I do try to give the projects about the same number of passes with each grit of paper. I start with 80 or 100 depending on how much I think I need to remove. Then I count how many passes I give the sander. Then when I progress up to 150 and then 220 I give it the same number of passes. That works well for me to allow each grit to get rid of the scratches from the previous grit. You may also want to use a light at a low angle on the piece to look for scratches from the previous grit. I also use dust collection when possible both for the sake of my lungs but also because I think it makes the sander work better.
On something narrow, like the edge of a drawer or table top, it helps to get the piece oriented well, clamped down if necessary, and to be careful to have the sander horizontal so you do not bevel the edge. At first it might be better to hand sand the edges. It is easy with a power sander to bevel a 1/2 inch wide drawer side. A hand sander is also a safer way to gently round over the edge after the piece is essentially sanded.
I make no allowance for what I remove with sanding when sizing something like a door or a drawer. If you do it right, the removal is minimal. It should be less than 1/64th. But if my drawer sides are glued up, I will do initial sanding before cutting to final size. That's never a bad idea in my opinion. If you resume sanding with 150 after you cut to size it further reduces the chance you will take off too much.
Jim
I sand as little as possible.
More seriously, you generally want to avoid using a power sander on the otherwise sharp edges of projects unless you want to round them over. I almost always do that but I wait to use 220 grit, normally the finest I use. A little bit of chamfer or round over is normally a good thing, especially on something like a drawer. I don't mark with a pencil, maybe I should, but I do try to give the projects about the same number of passes with each grit of paper. I start with 80 or 100 depending on how much I think I need to remove. Then I count how many passes I give the sander. Then when I progress up to 150 and then 220 I give it the same number of passes. That works well for me to allow each grit to get rid of the scratches from the previous grit. You may also want to use a light at a low angle on the piece to look for scratches from the previous grit. I also use dust collection when possible both for the sake of my lungs but also because I think it makes the sander work better.On something narrow, like the edge of a drawer or table top, it helps to get the piece oriented well, clamped down if necessary, and to be careful to have the sander horizontal so you do not bevel the edge. At first it might be better to hand sand the edges. It is easy with a power sander to bevel a 1/2 inch wide drawer side. A hand sander is also a safer way to gently round over the edge after the piece is essentially sanded.
I make no allowance for what I remove with sanding when sizing something like a door or a drawer. If you do it right, the removal is minimal. It should be less than 1/64th. But if my drawer sides are glued up, I will do initial sanding before cutting to final size. That's never a bad idea in my opinion. If you resume sanding with 150 after you cut to size it further reduces the chance you will take off too much.
Jim
There are a lot of variables. How are you sanding -- are you using a random orbital sander, belt sander, by hand, etc.? What type of wood are you sanding -- hardwood or softwood, like pine? Are you using a quality sandpaper that is for sanding wood? Let us know and we can better help.
Hand sanding is always the best final step. For flattening finishes or veneer or saving corners nothing beats a simply wood block wrapped with sandpaper.
Contour sanding blocks are very nice to have.
Power sanders, especially belt sanders, have ruined more than one project.
Contour sanding blocks are very nice to have.
Power sanders, especially belt sanders, have ruined more than one project.
Picking and choosing from above suggestions and adding a few:
- The rule of thumb in progressing through the grits is +50% each time i.e 80-120-180 or 100-150-220.
- Topping out at 220 on most woods is just about right. Finer grits can be used on finishes to remove dust nibs or to barely scuff the finish for better next-coat adhesion. A polished look and feel comes primarily from the finishes, not from superfine grit sanding of the wood.
- Count your strokes! Maybe the most important suggestion. Minimize overlap, but be sure to get some.
- Just use the weight of the sander and let it float across the wood. Don't press down on it, just guide it. If you're not removing enough material, drop to a lower grit.
- If you have any suspicions your surface is uneven, pencil over your surfaces for your 1st, lowest grit. When the pencil marks are removed, that's it. You don't need to repencil for subsequent grits.
- To minimize roundover don't push the ROS past its center point at the end of each surface.
- Use twice as much sandpaper as your instincts tell you. It gets clogged quicker than you realize, and when it picks up something from the wood (like sap from a knot), that's what causes swirl marks. The biggest cause of swirl marks is pressing too hard on the sander.
- Final sanding can be done with used 220 on a hand block and a flashlight to spot super fine swirls you can't feel.
- If you applied a satin or matte finish, final rubdown with 0000 steel wool or brown paper sack using light pressure. If you have a gloss finish, apply polish or wax and lots of elbow grease.
A lot of great advice….especially in the SN video. FWIW, I always raise the grain by wiping the piece down with a different wet rag in between grits so that the grain gets raised and you wipe away the residual grit from the more course grit. After the finest grit I wipe down with mineral spirits before applying any stain or finish. I also blow off piece in between with compressed air. Lastly, I have a bright work light that I shine across the piece at almost the same height as the piece to highlight and imperfections or those pesky damn pigtails that occur from time to time.
For random orbit sanders, move the sander at a speed of one inch per second. That eliminates the little swirls.
Several people have mentioned scrapers. To me these are one of the most underrated tools. A properly sharpened scraper can pay for itself in the sandpaper it saves, and you can get an exceptional finish. You are producing fine shavings instead of dust, which is a major plus on your breathing. I keep two scrapers at the ready in case one is getting dull and I don't want to stop to sharpen.
That's one of my mistakes I see already is waiting to late to sand. So sanding before cutting to final size what grit are you working up to? 80-100 or 120-150? I also think I might be taking off to much. I use a shop vac hooked up to my ro sander. I need to get different hose hook up bc using the original end on shop vac so that's 2 feet of hard plastic I'm having to balance also. I think going to do little more hand sanding for nowTrey,
I sand as little as possible.
On something narrow, like the edge of a drawer or table top, it helps to get the piece oriented well, clamped down if necessary, and to be careful to have the sander horizontal so you do not bevel the edge. At first it might be better to hand sand the edges. It is easy with a power sander to bevel a 1/2 inch wide drawer side. A hand sander is also a safer way to gently round over the edge after the piece is essentially sanded.
I make no allowance for what I remove with sanding when sizing something like a door or a drawer. If you do it right, the removal is minimal. It should be less than 1/64th. But if my drawer sides are glued up, I will do initial sanding before cutting to final size. That's never a bad idea in my opinion. If you resume sanding with 150 after you cut to size it further reduces the chance you will take off too much.
Jim
I'm using random orbit sander. I'm using klingspor 80 120 150 and I got 220 but haven't worked that high of grit bc didn't know if was necessary to now after reading these post. I'm using hard wood such as walnut, hard maple, some exotics and only soft wood I really use is soft maple. When I get done with a grit on the random orbit sander I go back over with the same pad(grit) by hand then move to the next grit. I'm scared of my belt sander only use it for shaping. Had really bad experience and really fast. Lol
These are my suggestions for using a ROS:
Jim
- ROS are really for larger, flat surfaces. Don't try to use this on an end or edge. Instead, use a block of wood with sandpaper wrapped around to sand these areas by hand.
- Use a scraper before sanding to remove any glue and bring surfaces even. In some cases I might even use a plane if a surface is too proud.
- Unless you have a particularly rough board you probably don't need to start with #80 grit. Decreasing by 1-2 grits is sufficient (say you start at 120, then go to 150 and end with 220).
- Keep the sander moving and flat on the surface. You need a firm grip, but not really any downward pressure.
- Sand until you've removed the scratch marks from the previous grit before going finer.
- Woods have different characteristics. Walnut is open-pored. Maple is closed. Don't expect to get walnut as smooth as maple with sanding alone. You'll need a filler used as part of the finishing process for that. Sometimes sanding with too fine a grit can make the wood so it doesn't stain as well. This is usually when you get in the 300-400 grit range, though.
Jim
Watch that one last night
I have scrapers but I haven't too the time to learn how to sharpen. It has been on my list. Will make it a priority because I see lots of woodworkers using them on YouTube for finishing and shaping.
Pete put this post out a couple of weeks ago and it's pretty informative.
Of course there are attempts to sell you product and other courses involved but the linked course is free for the asking and the ancillary sales and emails are pretty innocuous. It's really worth checking it out since the first half or so is directly about sanding.
Of course there are attempts to sell you product and other courses involved but the linked course is free for the asking and the ancillary sales and emails are pretty innocuous. It's really worth checking it out since the first half or so is directly about sanding.
