I need to ask everybody something

Not having to do it. ;-)

-- Only the Shadow knows....................

the work

-- david ,new mexico ,allheart

Who does it!

-- Dan-- Info for all @ http://www.hoistman.com

Sharp hand plane and you don’t have to sand! :)

-- Jeff, Indiana

ok thanks

-- kosta brownsville brooklyn my home

I will eventually buy a largeish drum sander so that I can stick the wood in one end and they come out sanded Alistair ps it will also be handy when I needs me barth on Christmas eve every year.LOL

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

I have often been told that you could create the most beautiful piece ever made..but if you skimped on the sanding and the finishing..the piece will be a failure.. Not sure just how true that is..but its always in my mind when I work on the sanding portion of my pieces.. I’ve always followed my mentors footsteps when It comes to sanding and that was 80 grit..100 grit..150 grit..220 grit..320 grit..400 grit.. Steelwool..then finally burninsh with a cotton rag till it shines..then finally put on the finish.. Many feel this is overkill but its how I have always done it and have been afraid of how my piece would look if I cut corners and didn’t go that far.. But I will testify that I absolutely love how it looks when im done.. So in response in the question..what would I change?..probably nothing out of fear that I or the customer wouldn’t like how it looked if I did cut corners..and yes..it takes a horrendous amount of time to do it this way..lol

-- Randall Child

yea thats the 2 things that you cant skip

-- kosta brownsville brooklyn my home

The amount of time available to do it. Sanding time is generally when and where I spend my quality time away from distractions for longer periods. I get left alone when any power tools are running, and power sanders run for long periods between breaks… Sort of like meditation time, or as some friends call it, “get right time” but it sure seems like I don’t have enough time to do sanding right…

-- Trying to follow the example of the master.

life and cost of sandpaper. sanding has to be done i just wish i wasnt shelling out 10 bucks to sand each project. at the end of the year i probably spend over 100 dollars on sandpaper or more

I am contemplating throwing away all of my sanders and just doing it by hand. I’m tired of the swirls left by the random orbit sander and the quality of my joints doesn’t require a belt samder to level them out…at least not anymore. Scraping and hand sanding, with QUALITY paper, is the way to go.

-- Don, Pittsburgh

The duuuusssst….even with the best DC ….masks and respirators….I still find I sneeze alot after a large sanding project…..not to mention all the dust in your hair…clothes and on all your tools….its a nuisance..

After that comes the fun of reaching tight areas….even with all the little micro tools and such…you still end up with places near impossible to reach…..like the inside of hollow vessels….arrggg…

-- Woodworking.....My small slice of heaven!

LOL teenage.. I know how you feel, but that’s like gas for the car.. you always gotta have it if you want to drive the darn thing.. when Sam Maloof was alive..I went to visit him and saw rows and rows stacked high, of all the different grits a sandpaper..in cases!! it’s all part of the deal..but yes..it’s expensive I know.. I have found the Norton 3x papers to really last a very long time and is really good so you use less and get more out of it, but you do pay for it that’s for sure..
Don.. I have a sander by Dynabrade called the jitterbug..it’s a square air finish sander that all but eliminates swirls and scratches.. I like to use it right before I start hand sanding and it seems to help alot..I notice that random orbital sanders have several “Scratch patterns” that varies in sizes.. my dewalt has a 3/16” scratch pattern for heavy removal but my Dynabrade orbital has a 3/32 and the jitterbug has one that I can’t even tell because it’s so small..

-- Randall Child

I would hire a kid like you to do it for me. Interested?????

Just kidding (or am I)

-- Kent Shepherd * The goal is-----More Tools!

Now for real! The dust is the worst thing for me. I need to get an air filter to help with that.

-- Kent Shepherd * The goal is-----More Tools!

I hate having to change the paper so often.
I think that sandpaper cost is a very very small percentage of a job especially when sanding is the most important part of the job. Nothing ruins a stain job like sanding marks or scratches. Personally, I like sanding.

I never could understand why shops would hire new guys and put them on the sanding bench with no experience when the final finish is so dependent on a good sand job.

I agree 100% with bentlyj, excecpt, I am not too fond of sanding, I try to plane where I can by hand or use cabinet scrapers then sand at a high grit to make it go quicker. good point too about the new guys! I guess I never really thought of it like that.

-- Nicholas, Journeyman Cabinetmaker, Partenkirchen, Germany

benrlyj, Good point on the new guys. I’m certainly guilty of that. At least they can’t cut their hand off with a sander (I think) We do production cabinet doors, so there is a lot of sanding. I’d loose the experienced ones if all the did was sand. Oh wait, I loose the new guys because all the do is sand. Oh, the dilemma!

-- Kent Shepherd * The goal is-----More Tools!

wow I didnt think that I would get a response like this so many people really hate sanding

-- kosta brownsville brooklyn my home

i actualy like sanding its relaxing just my fingers dont like it but that doesn’t mean i’ll do anyone eles’s unless your going to pay me my day rate is £120 aday ok LOL…........

Andy

-- cut it saw it scrap it

yea well they keep making new sanding innovations every year but they are all expensive. Like festool they have the best dust collection for sanders theres no question about it but to get say a ETS 125 costs over $150 and say you buy a ct mini with that your looking at over $500 just to get started not to mention sandpaper.

-- kosta brownsville brooklyn my home