I am making a box to hold cremation ashes for a loved one and I want the finish to be especially good. It is made of walnut with dovetail joints. I have sanded the sides on a bench sander with 120 grit and am satisfied that the surfaces of each side are good and flat.
Now what? Some people are advising me to now use a random orbital sander with 220 grit. Others to start hand sanding and only go with the grain.
Replies
I'd go with 180 grit then 220grit in the RO sander. Depending on what you will use for the finish, you may want to go to 320 grit, raise the grain and re-sand at 320 again ( I always sand to 320). I'm very particular about my finishes, but I don't hesitate to use RO sanders.
Rob Millard
Thanks Rob,My family got a kick out of the fact that I finally found another person who was interested in talking about wood working at 7:30 on a Saturday morning. Roger Smith
I agree with Rob, though with a film finish 220 is usually enough. And though the ROS is a useful tool, I would follow it by hand with the grain using the with the same grit as last ROS. This won't take long, but just eliminates the risk of a stray orbit appearing. With an in-the-wood finish--oil or oil/varnish I definately would go finer--320 or 400 would be good. In my own reproductions--usually Queen Anne or Chippendale-- I usually use a lot of hand plane finishing because in those periods there are usually the subtle waves of hand plane work, more and more subtle as the time period advances. Even so, if I plan a stain or dye I take care to sand the entire surface with the same ending grit--typically 220 directly from the planes--so as to give a uniform surface for the color.
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. I get so frustrated when I spend so much time designing and crafting a great piece, only to botch it on the last step. I am learning though.Rog
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