HOW TO SAND WOOD

By Istiaq Xaowad
Deadline- 8/8/2022 2359hrs

Date: 7/8/2022

“Right the circle, left the circle, breathe in and breather out.”. The famous quote from
Karate Kid, said by Mr Miyagi, played by the deceased actor. Pat Morita (1984), depicts the basics
of sanding wood by repetitive action of sanding wood to make it smoother. It is the process of
abrading wood fibre so that they are rendered uniformly rough. We call it sanding even though the
tools used here are sandpaper and sander, but no sand whatsoever is involved in this process.
When one intends to sand wood, they should follow the proper ways of sanding. Well,
there are no absolute ways to follow sanding of wood but one can follow a generalized ways to
begin with.
General steps of sanding wood
There are different ways of sanding wood. Some prefers by hand and others by machine.
Here I will go on with the machine method of sanding wood which gives a more delicate and
smoother finishing.
Step 1. Set up a work space and wear sanding dust protection
Sanding is a process which makes a lot of dusts. Therefore, its best to initiate the work
outdoor, or in a more controlled environment such as garage or a workshop. Its best to use a secure,
flat surface, or worktable/workstation. A wooden table with smooth surface with no budges is best
to work on. One should make sure they wear safety googles to avoid getting sawdust in their eyes.
A facemask, or sanding face respirator can be worn to filter out the dust. It is also safe to wear
utility work gloves, which are usually thick gloves worn when sanding, and to help reduce sanding
vibrations on hands.
Step 2. Pick your different sandpaper grits
Now that we have set up our workspace, it is time to select out tools. The first thing which
we need is choosing a sandpaper. Sandpaper has different grit ranges from very coarse to very fine
grit papers. The range starts from 60 grit to 320 grit. One starts from the very low grit papers and
polishes up to the highest grit to attain the finest polish. Usually people use 80, 120, and 220 grit
papers, which saves both time and money, and does the work as efficient as human hands can
attain. Unless the wood is very rough and low quality most people do not use the 60-grit paper.
This process is the longest and takes most patience and concentration as unbalanced pressure can
cause unevenness on the surface of the wood.
Step 3. Start with a coarse grit sandpaper
 Now that we have everything at our hand and know how each sandpaper works. Let us start
with the roughest grit paper which is the 80-grit paper. As noted above, this first round of sanding,
with the coarsest grit, will take the longest to finish but it will also take out most of the wood fibres.
There will be a noticeable difference in the look of the wood as we sand. It brings out the true
colour and grain of the wood as all the blemishes are removed.
Step 4. Use a medium grit sandpaper.
Now it is time to move up the ladder a bit. We will use a medium grit sandpaper, such as
120 grits to 150 grits, to start to smooth the surface of the wood.
Step 5. Finish the sanding with a fine grit sandpaper.
Finally, finishing up the sanding process with a finer grit sandpaper, such as a 220grit
paper. Ultimately, we want to make sure the wood surface feels smooth to the touch once its
complete.
Step 6. Remove sawdust form wood.
Lastly, we need to clear out the sawdust from the plank of wood we just polished. There
are many ways to do this. One can use vacuum cleaner or use a damp cloth to wipe out the dust. It
is better to use a brush first then use a damp cloth if vacuuming seems expensive.
As we can see sanding a wood is no less than a form of art itself. It requires patience, skills
and even more so perseverance. In this way one can turn a raw, unfinished wood into a polished
and furnished smooth wood.
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