Sanding Techniques

Unique situation require specific techniques to correctly and efficiently sand pieces.  Knowing various techniques, along with properly reading the wood allows for the best possible finished piece.

How to Sand Round Corners

The outside corners and edges of stock sized by a table saw are square, simple angled, or compound angled. All outside corners and edges can be rounded on a disc sander. Stock is finished with rounded corners for decoration, protection of persons or material, and to permit joining or fitting with other parts.

How to Sand Crosscuts

The surface of stock exposed by a saw cut across the grain can be smoothed by sanding. Such smoothing can be readily done on surfaces up to 1" x 10" areas using MARK V set in Disc Sander position. If support table is positioned so that down-turning side of paper is used, maximum width accommodated will be less than 6". If table is raised to use cross-moving section, stock 10" wide and 1" thick can be sanded. Wider stock is sanded by using miter gauge and sliding work across disc.

Top 5 Tips for Great Results When Sanding

Sanding is an essential step in perfecting your woodworking project. If you don't do it, your finish will likely look awful. If you do it wrong, you could ruin your work. So, follow the tips below to get on the short road to success.

Sanding and Finishing MDF

I am wondering what other folks are charging for painted finishes. We use an outside finisher who charges $12.00/ft for a painted finish. This is a satin, opaque pre-cat lacquer finish on MDF. That adds up quickly, but in addition, our finish materials supplier tells us that the only way to get a really good finish on MDF is to sand it to 400g.

Recipe for Sanding Sealer

This week’s question comes from a viewer who writes: “I’ve really enjoyed your podcasts, they are all very informative. I recently found myself more exited about woodworking. Though I’ve had an interest since childhood, I never really had the resources, till now. Anyway, I was watching one of your podcasts and you mentioned a recipe for making your own sanding sealer.