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11-11-2018, 02:47 PM
Watched a segment of a show today about sanding, one of the stars suggests a progression of 60, 80, 120, 180, 220, 320. What do you guys do?
I've rarely gone down to 60 or up to 320. If I've thickness planed it myself then I tend to start at 150, if I buy it planed then I'll start at 120. Reason is that when I thickness my last passes will be to take just a shaving off of both sides to lessen the planer marks. Then I'll finish at 220, using a shellac and turpentine mixture to get a glass smooth finish before applying the varnish.
Mike
I work on the 50-50-90 rule: If there's a 50-50 choice, I'll pick the wrong one 90% of the time! 
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Completely application specific, no one size fits all sequence, starting grit or ending grit.
Not is there a single paper weight, block or platten or abrasive material that is universal.
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(11-11-2018, 02:47 PM)Scouter Wrote: Watched a segment of a show today about sanding, one of the stars suggests a progression of 60, 80, 120, 180, 220, 320. What do you guys do?
I've rarely gone down to 60 or up to 320. If I've thickness planed it myself then I tend to start at 150, if I buy it planed then I'll start at 120. Reason is that when I thickness my last passes will be to take just a shaving off of both sides to lessen the planer marks. Then I'll finish at 220, using a shellac and turpentine mixture to get a glass smooth finish before applying the varnish.
Thats insane, IMHO. Now if your making something like a period reproduction with a french polish or a very high gloss finish, OK I can see going that high.
60 Grit or 80 Grit? I would only use that for serious material removal. Not finish sanding.
With all that said, sanding, like so many aspects of woodworking do what works for you. There are many ways to skin the cat.
Personally, on Oak ill start at 100 and go to 120. Cherry/Walnut/Maple ill start at 120 and go to 150. Every now and again on highly figured woods I might go to 180, but depending on what it is Id be more inclined to reach for a card scraper rather than higher grit sandpaper.
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11-11-2018, 05:12 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-11-2018, 05:13 PM by fredhargis.)
Well, I don't always go through the same grits (it varies some project to project) but I've never did what you saw. I don't even have 60 or 80 grit, (except for some sanding belts). Most often my starting point is 150, and it's also my ending point a lot of times. But I have went as high as 220 and low as 100 when needed.
I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.
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My usual sanding regime starts from 120 to 320, depending on the projects, ending mostly at 220 if extra smooth surface is not required. 150 or 180 is used in between, depending on the surface condition, 180 if it is already fine without visible scratches.
If the surfaces are handplaned and the sanding objective is to bridge over handplaned and other non-handplaned (scraped, for instance) surfaces, I would go straight to 220 or 320.
The surface area also matters as for small pieces like boxes, I won't mind not skipping grits; otherwise, for a large case with both sides of surfaces to be sanded, one less grit used is one chunk of shop time saved.
Simon
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I sometimes use 80, 180,220. Mostly I start and end with 120. The finer you sand the less the stain will penetrate and the lighter the piece will be.
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(11-11-2018, 08:06 PM)CARYinWA Wrote: The finer you sand the less the stain will penetrate and the lighter the piece will be.
I noticed that as well, but not a problem anymore since I switched from stand to dyes. Better control over penetration and color level.
Mike
I work on the 50-50-90 rule: If there's a 50-50 choice, I'll pick the wrong one 90% of the time!
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(11-11-2018, 08:06 PM)CARYinWA Wrote: I sometimes use 80, 180,220. Mostly I start and end with 120. The finer you sand the less the stain will penetrate and the lighter the piece will be. A trick to blend in the end grain (if exposed) with the surface is to sand the endgrain in much higher grit like 400 to 600 than the rest.
Simon
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(11-11-2018, 08:06 PM)CARYinWA Wrote: I sometimes use 80, 180,220. Mostly I start and end with 120. The finer you sand the less the stain will penetrate and the lighter the piece will be.
This ^^
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If you're prepping the stock properly I see no reason to ever need 60 or 80 grit. I usually start with 150 then go to 220. Unless it's a turning and then I might go higher.
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