I hate sanding.
Reason being..
Sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand.....
Replies
Yeah sanding can be a B***h, but I build to relax, so its a part of my building ritual. If I'm making something else, its a bother, but I kinda enjoy spending hours going from a 60 grit down to a 0000 grit steel wool to get a nice smooth finish on a neck. It really brings out the grain, which looks really nice when using a light finish or a wax finish on straight wood.
Barring that, have you considered perhaps a Tom Sawyer approach? Trick people into paying you to do the sanding? Just saying.....
When making necks, my favorite sandpaper is a torn off piece of a belt sander belt, 120 grit. There was a bit of a gouge the spoke shave left, and I was trying to minimize it... So, add some pressure and some elbow grease... Didn't notice it getting hot until OUCH!
You really can't see it, but I have a first degree burn on the outer soft part of my thumb.
On the same neck, when I migrated to 150grit, I mistakenly had my index finger too close to the edge of the fretboard and cut myself...
Bottom line: sanding is dangerous work!
See?
Sanding is bad.
My least favorite task as well. That's one reason a cabinet scraper is one of my favorite tools. It can give wood a smoother finish than most sandpaper and requires less repetitious effort. I still do a lot of sanding but often the finish from the scraper with linseed oil finish is perfect.
Three words: Random. Orbit. Sander. :-)
Have you tried liquid sanding? Just put your wood in a running stream of water. It may take a few (hundred) years. But works great for rocks!
John Sawyer has got it right. 3M sand paper = 3x the work. Good sandpaper is worth every extra $ you spend on it.
Beach.
>:-E