| For projects such as staining or refinishing wood | | | | piece. These scratches will be smoothed when |
| furniture, a quality sanding job will significantly | | | | you follow up with finer grit sandpaper. |
| contribute to the workmanship of the final piece. | | | | Don’t rush |
| To achieve the best results, wood should be as | | | | Since a good sanding job can be tedious, you |
| smooth as possible before paint or stain is applied. | | | | may feel the temptation to rush through it. |
| Adhering to these sanding best practices will put | | | | Though sanding may not seem immediately |
| you on track to achieve a polished wood finish: | | | | gratifying, any imperfections that are missed |
| Sand with, not against the grain | | | | during sanding can show through in the final piece. |
| Sanding against the grain can create deep | | | | Taking the time to do the job right will pay off |
| scratches that are difficult to remove. Though | | | | with a beautiful smooth finish that serves as a |
| experienced woodworkers may sand against the | | | | uniform foundation for stain or paint. |
| grain in certain circumstances, they typically finish | | | | There are many hand and power tools on the |
| by sanding with the grain to remove | | | | market to make sanding easier. The tools that will |
| imperfections. As a general rule, always sand in | | | | work best for your application depend on the |
| the same direction as the wood grain. | | | | magnitude of your project and what you are |
| Use progressively finer sandpaper | | | | trying to accomplish. Electric sanders can make |
| The appropriate sandpaper to use will depend on | | | | sanding large areas much quicker than sanding by |
| the project at hand, but in general, larger | | | | hand. Innovative new sanders such as the linear |
| imperfections like scratches and dings should be | | | | sander Duplex LS 130 EQ from Festool tools |
| sanded out with coarser sandpaper before final | | | | reduce the manual labor that is traditionally |
| touches are made. Scratches left by the coarse | | | | involved with sanding intricate details like tongue |
| sandpaper are to be expected, and are | | | | and groove joints. |
| acceptable as long as they are uniform across the | | | | |