Proper sanding

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Thought I would throw this out; A lot of people do not know how to properly sand. With the grain is a given but how much to you sand ? One rule of thumb I use is to make 7 passes over one area and move on. & passes gives me the smoothness I need for the next coat. With each grit I practice this and always can rely on the proper smoothness is achieved.
 
So true. Sanding is something I used to put way too much effort into and get inconsistent results. A quality product and a diligent, repeatable technique cuts the time required down to a decent level. Frequently in the past I would over sand with one grit and not enough on the next always with mixed results of course. Take a breath, pay attention and enjoy the ride ;-)
 
sanding

I like Don's idea. Sanding and testing as you go. Counting the number of "strokes" will work in some instances but if you are sanding ebony versus pine the stroke count version may differ.
 
To what grit do you go on raw wood?
I will use 100 to 320 on raw wood depending on the type of wood and or veneers.
I rarely run my hand over the wood while sanding. 1. I do not want to contaminate the wood with hand oil which will cause lacquer sealer to repel from the wood. 2 If I do I make sure my hands are very clean.
I started using Micro fiber cloths to clean the dust off the wood . Using a micro fiber cloth take all and any dust off and dose not put dust into the air so I can spray immediately. The micro also will grab any area that has the slightest roughness left behind.
 
Don MS will work fine. I move so fast that waiting for something to dry like that is not very practical. When I sand I like to get sealer on it as soon as possible. Plus I know it is dry and there is not hidden pools of wetness hidden in the grain. One of the worst woods to wipe down with any thing after sanding is Mahogany. The porousness of the wood will hold anything that is wet for a long time. Which mean I will take a air hose to the end grain and blow it out.

Back to knowing how smooth the wood is while sanding. One rule of thumb is in the feel of the paper, the sound it makes and the easiness of the slide. You do not need to count to know this. I like to count when I get started and when I am at the right sound , slide counting just seems to drop off. When your working on really old furniture one thing you never want to do is to destroy the natural patina of the woods aging. I have learned and developed my method to help me hear and see the changes that accrue. If I go to far it can destroy a piece and if I do not go far enough I will get a blotchy mess.
 
I was watching I think one of Tommy MacDonald's episodes on his website several months ago. He had finished a project and had sent it out to have it finished. I think the jest of it was that he was more productive if he had someone else finish for him. And the job was done better. Anyway, he went to the finisher and followed along as the guy went through his finishing process. It was a real eyeopener for me. The detail to the sanding was amazing. If I remember correctly he hand sanded everything.
 
Hand sanding gives you the best feel foe the piece. Jarrod dose most of the sanding while I do the finishing but where my personial touch applies is going over his work to make sure everything is right on each piece that I do.
 
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So if I have this right on the shutters I'm doing Start with 100. Wrap it around a paint stick and go 7 passes on each louver. Once done move up in grit and repeat. I'm only going to 150 or so I see no need to get much smother than that for paint. Right?:dunno:
 
Chuck after you sand with 100 then use 120 for a quick sand that will knock the 100 down. It's fast and only a couple passes over the louvers will do. Then prime as I told you. and after each coat has dried a quick pass with 120 will open the surface for the next coat. On you last coat use 220 for the finial sand and then shutter will look great. I hope you can find the One Shot. Do a Google search for it with your zip code.
 
Ok so it is only seven passes.
Is that by hand? With a random orbit sander? A pad sander?
:dunno::huh:

I would think that 7 was an example :) (not mine). I try to do 'about' the same amount of sanding on the different surfaces so I don't lose track :huh:. I have had that unpleasant experience of being in the finishing stage and hitting an area that I did not complete like the others. The finish variation is a painful reminder :D.

I never go straight from machine to applying finish but that is just due to the type of stuff I do. Once I am past the ROS, the rasp and file, I consider myself in the finish sanding stage. This is nowhere near as regimented as it sounds, there's a lot of "feel" (and possibly feeling lost) in it. I do find that sort of keeping track of strokes as I move through the piece helps me not miss things or build in variations that will shout-out once the finish is applied.
 
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Glenn sounds like you have a good system worked out. I've seen other finishers work that do just that, Shout Out ! in areas and dull in others from lack of a good system sanding.
Chuck all my sanding is hand sanding. Unless it's backs or under tables things I can get away with a palm sander on.
 
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