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Material and finish choice help dictate grit progression. The objective of sanding wood is to remove mill marks, which are caused by woodworking machines, and to remove other flaws such as dents [...]

Here’s a simple way to sharpen chisels using a 3″ sanding drum mounted in an oscillating spindle sander or a drill press. Cut a squared-up 2×4 the length of the sander’s table. Cut a [...]

To sand a lot of molding, glue 80-grit sandpaper to several inches of the molding. Rub a block of Styrofoam on the sandpaper until the block conforms to the molding’s contour. Glue [...]

This sandpaper storage system is about as simple as it gets. It’s just a stack of folded envelopes bound with a big rubber band. Each envelope is marked with a grit number. A thin piece of wood [...]

Why are you working harder than you need to? Sanding is boring. It’s boring to watch, it’s boring to do, and I find it boring to write about. But myths are fun to write about, and there are some [...]

When I’m sanding pitchy wood or removing old finish, my sandpaper gets really gummed up and I can’t get it clean with the rubber eraser-type cleaner. I used to throw it away and buy more. [...]

In my work as a luthier, I sand a lot of curved surfaces. I’ve found that I can make perfect sandpaper backing pads from “kneeling cushions” sold for garden work. Available at home-supply stores [...]

Tool: Edge-Sanding Guide Shop Now  Manufacturer: Festool MSRP: $99 Sanding the edge of a table or interior of a face frame with a power sander can be a fraught affair. There is huge [...]

Deluxe Sanding and Dust Collection Tool: Dust Extractor Shop Now Sander Shop Now  Manufacturer: Uneeda MSRP: $1289 (dust extractor) $499 (sander) You may not be familiar with Uneeda, but the [...]

  If you’re unhappy with how your stained finish is turning out, the problem might be in the way that you’re sanding. Follow these tips and you’ll be good as gold! Go E-Z [...]

I like to use purpleheart pen blanks because they’re less expensive than other exotic hardwoods. Recently, I stumbled on a cool trick. I discovered that I could cause the wood to overheat and [...]

One of the most mundane – but important- tools in our toolbox is a sanding block. We, and I include here my students in grades four to twelve, are using our sanding blocks during the last [...]