• View
• Edit
• History
• Print

Sanding

Sanding prepares the surface of wood to receive a finish. The combination of sanding and finishing establishes the appearance of the wood and how it feels to the touch. This is, of course, distinct from the overall appearance and heft of the article, which is established more by the design, decoration, how the joints are made, the choice of wood species, etc. Which is more important will depend on the piece. I am interested in small items, such as keepsake boxes, more than furniture and so surfaces that feel good to touch are important to me.

Drum Sander

I have a small, home-built drum sander. It shares the basic structure of my drill press and my original DIY wood lathe, so I can only use one of them at a time. It is the only machine I have that can reduce the thickness of a piece of wood and make that thickness the same over the whole sheet. In a fully-equipped workshop, this would be the job of a thickness planer. I don't want to spend $500 on a planer or have to find room to store it or figure out how to hook it up to my dust control system. I'll just struggle on with my tiny drum sander. To get to the point, I don't consider using my drum sander as part of the sanding process. I'm not primarily trying to make the surface of the wood smooth. I'm reducing and evening out the thickness of the piece. I do try to finish the process with as smooth a surface as I can manage. But, my impression is that a planer would leave a smooth surface with just a little sanding required. Again, my drum sander is a substitute for a thickness planer and is part of the milling process, not the sanding process.

Update - By gluing fine-grit sandpaper onto a worn out drum, I've obtained a much smoother finish. This gets around the lack of commercially available fine-grit drums.

Hand-Held Power Sander

Over the years, for various carpentry projects, I have accumulated a variety of power sanders. I have a dedicated disk sander (not a power drill attachment), a belt sander and a quarter-sheet palm sander.

2-Inch Disk Sander

Bought on eBay, January 2024, for sanding turned bowls.

Hand Sanding