I just spent the last 3 hours sanding my latest project (a maloof style rocker) and need to vent. Not looking for sympathy or answers or anything of the sort. Just want to vent. If others would like to vent along with me, be my guest.
I don’t like it.
I don’t like wearing a dust mask and then fogging up my safety glasses.
I find it tedious. (As opposed to the fun of creativity and assembly)
It’s dirty. I don’t especially mind but my wife does. Have to take my clothes off before entering the house. Heaven forbid some dust contaminate the house.
It’s boring. Similar to tedious above.
I find myself wanting to hire someone just to sand. Not going to but want to.
Probably more which I will think of later but must go to work at my real job. Don’t even mind today as it takes me away from sanding.
Thank you for listening. PMM
Replies
I hate sanding too... I use my cabinet scraper as much as possible.. that and my performax drum sander.
i think the only solution is to have children and make it part of their chores. I've got a 2 1/2 year old learning the ropes right now. That's what my dad did when we worked on home projects, i just assumed the grunt part of the job was the kids responsiblity. i spent many hours pulling weeds, hauling soil/gravel etc while the grown ups did the hands on important work. good luck.
I used to hate sanding. But now, although I wouldn't take it up as a hobby, I can tolerate it.
Try to look at the good things. As I sand I envision how the piece will look, feel and fit when finished. I think about the completed project and the pride I'll take when my family compliments me.
It also helps to have the radio tuned to a baseball game... And give yourself a reward when you have a job well done...
pm,
Yeah, sanding's not a lot of fun. I try to break the sanding up (down?) into small manageable pieces as much as possible. The first set of Queen Anne chairs I built, I was so impatient to see them together, I simply rough sanded them before assembly. Final sanding of a set of eight took forever and a day. Now, I sand each component of a piece to near final grit before assembly if I can, leaving only membering up joints, and such like, after the construction is done. Usually, then, final sanding is a once-over with 180 grit, before wetting down and 220.
This morning, for instance, I spent an hour or so sanding the frame and the individual pieces of molding which will be the sash for a 13-pane sash door, for the hanging corner cabinet I'm currently working on. Once it's together, I won't sand it until after it's hung, and I'm ready to stain.
Smaller helpings, over time, prevent a bellyful of sanding.
Ray
That's what I need to do....I hate sanding so much I rush through it and in the end my piece looks terrible when I put finish on it.... I need to change my bad habits.
What I do is sand to 220 grit then put finish on the piece (usually tung oil/poly combo). Then I go over the wood again with 220 catching all the spots I missed. Is that a bad practice?
mv,
IMO, 220 isn't bad for sanding the whiskers down that a sealer coat of finish raises, or knocking down nibs between coats. I use the grey looking finishing paper called "no-fil" for this usually 240 or 280, and not the garnet paper that I use for final sanding. Generally, I quit sanding at 180, unless it is something that is really prone to show scratches, like hard maple. Red oak can be sanded to 150 and look good with no stain, and a film finish (lacquer, or varnish).
Ray
Oh okay thanks Ray. I'll pick up some of that no-fil paper this weekend and give it a shot.
Mike
Here's some consolation for you.
I attended a seminar with Sam Maloof as the presenter. He was asked how long it took for him to make one of his legendary rockers.
"Usually about a day for me. I do all of the cutting, rough shaping, and the glue up. Then I pass it off to "my boys" to do the sanding and finishing. They usually spend about three days sanding each one, and one or two days for finishing."
("His boys' are the three guys that he has hired as his shop helpers.)
So, if you got done in three hours, you did good.
Politics is the antithesis of problem solving.
pmmatty you may want to look into using more hand tools in your work. Once you learn to use them effectively it will greatly reduce the time you spend sanding. I prefer to making shavings in lieu of dust.
Ron Brese
Edited 7/18/2007 8:01 pm ET by Ronaway
Very nice work. If you hate sanding just call all your work "rustic", and skip it.
pm,
I guess I must be weird. I actually enjoy sanding although I must admit that I've taken more to scraping and planing lately. I think the dust is/was the problem for me.
If you think about it, you've spent all the hours milling the pieces so they all fit true and square. The mortises are cut to your satisfaction; all the trim is perfect; the dovetails are perfect. The piece is just what you wanted it to look like.
Now you get to refine it and prepare the parts for the finale! The end product to which you will apply the finish. If it ain't right the finish yells out to everyone!
Oh man after all this work I can't let that happen. Gotta make this baby shine!
It's all good.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Edited 7/18/2007 8:18 pm ET by KiddervilleAcres
Yep Bob, you're weird!Woody
So you hate sanding. Pretty soon you will be saying you hate paying taxes or the sound made by scrapping fingernails on a chalkboard. You kids today have it so easy. When I was a kid I had to walk 10 miles uphill (both ways), through a blizzard, while fighting off bears just for the privilege of finding a cow pile that I could dry out and trade for a burlap bag that I could use for toilet paper (in the days before Preparation H), and then - I’m lost, what was the point I was trying to make?
That was just WAY too funny.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Edited 7/18/2007 9:31 pm ET by KiddervilleAcres
me too. but I hate the look of machine marks and rough wood even more.
I find an ABBA CD and a couple beers makes sanding go better. Get that sander moving to the beat of "Waterloo" and the time passes quicker.
pmmatty,
Sanding is a mind set.
If you start the piece in dread of the sanding to come you will sooner or later lose your interest in woodworking..
I found the right music and maybe a little (read extremely moderate) libation makes the process much more appealing.. I love classical music and the right piece can change the whole tempo of the job.
My favorite reward lately has been Ice wines. (domestic, who can afford that imported German stuff)? So what I do is pour myself a glass and take a sip, I then put the glass in the freezer to remain cold (freezer, not fridge) and set a goal for myself.. when I achieve that goal I go reward myself with another sip and set my next goal..
When you have a whole house to sand it's the only way to remain motivated..
You absolutely need the right sort of music though. While my preferance is towards classical music I also enjoy operas, folk, blue grass, and on the rare right moment some old time Twangy country music.
pm:
"It's dirty. I don't especially mind but my wife does. Have to take my clothes off before entering the house. Heaven forbid some dust contaminate the house."
I didn't like sanding with my Bosch, but I replaced it with a Festool ROS attached to the Festool vac. No more dust! Doesn't eliminate your other concerns though.
Regards,
Hastings
Sanding is absolutely my least favorite woodworking task. I have found a few things that make it less unpleasant for me. I have one of those Triton powered respirators and that helps a lot. I find it to be much more comfortable than having a mask and goggles strapped on. There is nothing pressed directly against my face, no buildup of moisture inside the mask and I don’t get tons of dust in my hair. I also think the Norton 3X sandpaper is great stuff. Sanding is a necessary evil so let’s just get ‘er done! I think giving the sandpaper a good blast with compressed air regularly cleans out the dust buildup and keeps it cutting well. Speaking of compressed air, a good head-to-toe “shower” with compressed air before leaving the shop cuts down on complaints about dragging dust into the house! I also think breaks are important. When your hands are tingling from the palm sander and your shoulders are stiff it’s a good time to go sit on the porch for 5 or 10 minutes and relax a bit and then go back to it.
http://forums.taunton.com/fw-knots/messages?msg=36753.1
I love sanding now, flat stock at least.
I have started a set of 8 maloof dinning chairs, to me its a combination of grinding and sanding. Actually I think that finish sanding something like a maloof style with lots of curves and hard lines is a enjoyable albeit time consuming. Flat stock with a random orbit sander no fun, wide belt- FUN.
Aaron
I don't especially mind but my wife does. Have to take my clothes off before entering the house.
Time to spend some time at the gym, then maybe she won't mind when you take your clothes off.
Very funny. PMM
I'm with you... I did a Maloof style rocker before christmas. The sanding was by far the dullest thing I've ever done. I was a pressed for time so each night I got out I'd sand through one grit, by hand...
Add to it my shop heater broke when it was -20C outside... so I was cold while I was doing it.
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