The Fine Art of Hand Sanding

To get the best results when sanding by hand, use a sanding block. You can make your own by cutting a 4½-by-4½ inch square out of three-quarter-inch softwood. Or, you can buy a commercially made block at your hardware store.

The sanding block takes the place of your finger tips behind the sand paper. Don’t allow more than half of the block to go over the edge of the object you’re sanding. If you do, you’ll round off the object’s edges.

You’ll find that using a block is much better than sanding with your finger tips. Your fingers would follow dips and other irregularities in the wood, leaving a wavy surface. For curved objects like woodwork, use a sanding sponge. This device conforms to curved pieces and works on both wet and dry surfaces.

No matter what type of surface you’re working on, sand with the grain. Otherwise, you can end up with serious scratches. Overlap your sanding strokes, applying equal pressure to forward and backward strokes. This allows the wood fibers to be cut rather than combed down.

The only time you should sand across the grain is when you want to remove a large amount of wood. Then finish sanding by going with the grain.

If an object is made of pieces of wood that meet at right angles, like a framed kitchen cabinet, sand the top and bottom pieces first. Then, as you sand the side pieces, you’ll remove any cross-grain scratches.

In some cases, you shouldn’t sand at all. For example, if a surface has large gouges and dents, sanding will only make shallow craters. Instead, put a damp rag on a dent and touch it with a hot iron. The steam will raise its crushed fibers. Fill deeper dents and scratches with wood putty and then sand.

To sand a very small object, tape sandpaper to a flat surface and run the piece across it, rather than sanding the traditional way.

Take the time to sand thoroughly, using the proper progression of grits. Staining won’t hide a poor sanding job. In fact, it’ll just make it more obvious.