How Do You Know When You Have Sanded Enough
Sanding. Everyone knows information technology's an of import office of the woodworking process, but it's so hard to primary. Sand too much, and your wood won't stain. Sand too little, and there are scratches all over your wood. So what's the right amount?
The best way to know when you're done sanding is to scribble a light pencil line across your wood before you lot kickoff. One time the line is gone, move upward to the adjacent grit. Repeat up to the highest dust sandpaper, and so wet your wood with mineral spirits to confirm at that place are no remaining marks.
This is the basic method, but lets become all the details!
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A Fleck of Sanding Theory
So first off – why do we sand?
We sand the wood to get all the marks off from the manufacturing process. I know what you're thinking; you don't see any marks.
But they're there, and they'll pop out the infinitesimal you put finish on the piece (see this tabular array, where I learned that the hard way.) And so we ever sand before staining and finishing.
If yous're working with newly purchased wood, I recommend starting with 80 grit sandpaper, and working upwardly from at that place.
The fourscore grit sandpaper removes more than woods than college grits, and therefore eliminates the manufacturing marks faster than a higher grit would. It will, however, get out decent-sized scratches in the wood.
Because of that, you should and so work your way upward in progressively higher grits. Each college dust volition remove the scratches from the lower grit sandpaper, and leave smaller scratches behind.
In an platonic globe, that'd be 80-100-120-150-180 dust, in that gild.
I don't know about y'all, but I rarely accept all of those in stock. I commonly cease up doing something more like 80-120-180, and that works well plenty.
Most of the fourth dimension, I finish at 180 grit. The higher you sand, the finer the sawdust created. Eventually, that sawdust starts to clog the woods pores, which prevents the forest from absorbing stain. Hence, stopping at 180.
Sometimes I'll sand a chip higher, maybe to 240 grit, if I'm trying to prevent stain absorption, like when I'm trying to stain the finish grain to match the balance of the forest (encounter postal service on that here.) But for the most office, I stop at 180.
And if you're working with wood that'south not newly purchased – maybe it's a furniture makeover, or repurposed wood that'south been stained and/or finished, you'll simply showtime at a lower grit. I usually beginning at forty grit, and sand with that until all the stain and/or cease is gone, and then go along frontward as normal (40-60-fourscore…)
A Quick Annotation About Buying Sandpaper
If you have an orbital sander (which I highly recommend,) Amazon sells packs of velcro sandpaper significantly cheaper than whatever abode improvement shop.
The selection available is different every time I purchase, then I don't accept a specific make to recommend, but I've never received annihilation that was bad. This was what I purchased last time, merely don't be shocked if it's no longer in stock.
Frankly, the price divergence is enormous, so if you're worried the sandpaper won't final every bit long, don't be. At $12-$16 for a pack of 75, versus Dwelling house Depot's $8 for a pack of seven, the online sandpaper would have to be full junk for it non to be a better deal.
And it's not. I've been pretty pleased with all the packs I've received.
How to Know When to Cease Sanding
So now that you know which grits to use (and where to start,) how long practice you lot have to spend at each grit?
For the starting time grit on salvaged wood where stain and stop needs to be removed, sand until all of that is gone.
And if you purchased especially rough wood, like furring strips, sand with your start grit until all the obvious flaws take disappeared.
Only for all other grits, follow this process.
Pace 1: Scribble a Pencil Line
Catch a pencil, and scribble a light line beyond your wood. Make sure information technology spans the whole width of your wood, and so that you lot don't miss any spots.
It'due south of import that this is a calorie-free line. If yous press likewise hard on soft wood, you'll dent the forest with your line mark, which will make it much more difficult to remove. This volition upshot in a lot of actress unnecessary sanding on your part (although it won't actually cause any problems, given y'all're sanding with the correct grits.)
It's of import to apply a pencil for this, not a pen or a marker. Pencil writes on acme of the wood, while whatsoever sort of ink will sink into the pores and be more difficult to eliminate, leading to extra sanding.
And if you lot were wondering near crayons, I encounter ii issues. 1) The wax might come off the wood besides easily, leading to yous not sanding enough, and 2) the wax will clog your sandpaper, shortening its lifespan.
Pace 2: Sand the Wood
So sand your wood with the proper grit. Sand until the line has disappeared.
Step 3: Repeat
In one case the line is completely gone, move up to the next dust and repeat the process.
Exist sure to clean off your wood between grits, otherwise the larger sawdust from the previous grit volition remain and create new (bigger) scratches in the wood. This negates all your difficult sanding piece of work, so be sure to clean off your piece!
Check Your Work
So, given that you stop at 180 dust sandpaper, you lot don't demand to worry near over-sanding. The main concern and so, is that you sanded enough. Hither'due south how you lot tin can double check that.
If you're planning to stain/finish with an oil-based product, take hold of some mineral spirits. If y'all don't take mineral spirits, wood conditioner works for this too. (And, per this test, information technology doesn't do a whole lot to the wood if left to fully dry out.)
If your stain/end is water-based, employ water. Be aware that water raises the grain of the wood, so you'll want to do a quick laissez passer with 180 grit sandpaper to bring it back down before you stain/end. (This is called "dewhiskering" and is a skillful practice to go into before using water-based products regardless.)
Wet the woods with either the mineral spirits or h2o. This will highlight whatever marks that were otherwise invisible or hard to see. Meet photo beneath for an case.
Be sure to inspect the wood from unlike angles. The liquid makes the marks much more visible, only sometimes you still have to look for them!
If you still see visible manufacturing marks, look for the wood to fully dry out, so restart at lxxx dust sandpaper.
Side note: Your best bet is really perform this test twice; once after 80 grit and then y'all can make sure you've remove the manufacturing marks, and once after you've finished the highest grit to make sure yous've removed the sanding marks. Only that ways you accept to wait for the forest to dry out in between, which is abrasive.
Source: https://abutterflyhouse.com/done-sanding/
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