Hi everyone,
I have some large doors made of vertical grain doug fir. I have sealed and and am ready to sand and stain with a pigmented stain. I have been doing some reading, and I’m a little unclear what type of sandpaper I should use at this point. I have read that garnet P220 may be better than al-oxide since it breaks down, does not refresh itself, and creates a smoother surface. In another article it read, it said that garnet is softer, but that it DOES break down, refreshing its cutting surface. So I was wondering what you all would recommend.
Thanks!
Ryan
Replies
Ryan,
I have some garnet paper but stopped using it years ago as it takes longer to remove wood and wears out very quickly. I use alumnium oxide papers now, suiting the grit and the technique to the wood and the task.
I made four Douglas fir frame and panel doors some years ago and seem to remember that the sanding needed to go quite fine - to 240 grit or even 320 - to get rid of any scratches, particularly if you use an RO sander. Also, the sanding pad needs to be hard and flat to ensure you don't sand out the early growth (the softer part) of the growth rings more than the harder late growth. Soft RO pads are also much more prone with softwoods to rounding corners or edges when you don't want them rounded.
With softwoods I generally sanded starting with a higher (finer) grit as modern AlOx removes wood very efficiently. Using a sucker to remove the dust as you sand allows the AlOx to do its thang so that even 150 grit soon takes out the bumps, dings and rough bits with softwoods. This means a lot less scratching to smooth out with the final grit (that 240 or 320) than if you'd started with 80 grit.
But its some years since I used any softwood at all so there may be better technique that some Knotter can recommend from more current practice.
Lataxe
Thanks Lataxe,
That does help, and it may be better to go finer on the alox than use garnet. I'm sanding it by hand at this point. Not sure if that makes much of a difference in this case. How far do you go with a RO sander?
Ryan
Ryan,
These days I don't use the RO sandermuch as I got addicted to smoothing planes. Any slight tracking or fuzz from planing is easily taken out with hand sanding using modern sandpapers, as others have noted.
I just discovered Mirka Abranet, incidentally. This uses grit mounted on a very open weave lacework, rather than paper. It sands very aggresively (enough so you should use a sucker to take away the dust) but still leaves a great finish.
Lataxe
the best sandpaper for finish is dri-lube paper first coat 280 grit/2nd 320 /3rdand or any others reqiured 400grit. what did you seal them with ,and why before staining? what kind of look are you going for? Dan thewoodbug.
A while ago, I switched to using Norton 3X sandpaper. It really does last long. I seldom use power sanders anymore, just 220 3X. Cuts my time in half and improves the surface.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
I agree with hammer, Its superior to others and readily available. enjoy Ron
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