Sanding Wood

Aluminum Oxide Sandpaper is the most common sand paper to use when sand ing wood because it self renews, and therefore lasts longer than other sandpapers.

General Technique
When sanding wood, always remember to sand with the grain of the wood. Start with a lower grit (around 100), and sand until all the marks in the wood are from the sand paper, then move to a higher grit. Jumping to a high grit to save time will often result in quite the opposite as you will often end up sanding longer just to remove the scratches left by the previous grit. This is more important with harder woods like maple than it is with softer woods like pine.

Note for high grit lovers
If done correctly you should not have to sand wood above 230 grit before applying finish. In fact, doing so could actually cause the wood not to take the finish as well as it should.

If done correctly, very little sand paper will last a long time. In most cases you can stop sanding at 150 or 180-grit. If you plan to use a water-based stain it’s best to sand up to a 200-grit sandpaper. This is because water based stains can tend to pickup and magnify a scratch. It can also be a waste of time to sand with very fine sandpaper. Sanding maple with 400-grit sandpaper, for example, will tend to seal off the grain and prevent finishes from penetrating. It is not recommended to go back to your work with a metal blade after sanding; sanding leaves behind bits of silicon that will ruin and dull your blades really fast. If you must go back with a chisel, plane, or knife, make sure to clean off all particles with an airhose first.

Silicon Carbide is not for wood
Silicon Carbide Sandpaper, (black color sandpaper) available at the Metcalf Store is not recomended for use on wood. The sandpaper is too hard, which actually causes the sandpaper NOT to last as long. Also, the paper often leaves black spots on the wood. When sanding wood, stick with the pink stuff.