Talked to an old timer at the lumber yard last week and he changed how I look at sanding

I was grabbing some maple for a kitchen job and this retired cabinetmaker in his 80s saw me grab 80 grit. He said stop using anything below 120 on hardwoods unless you like creating more work. Said he learned that in 1962 building kitchen cabinets for a hotel downtown. I tried it on a test piece and he was right - I was spending twice as long trying to remove those deep scratches. Anyone else ever get a tip from a stranger that just stuck with you?

4 comments

4 Comments

robin5911mo ago

Oh man, that reminds me - my buddy Dave who does refinishing said he met a guy at a flea market who told him to lightly wet the wood before the final sanding pass. Said it raises the grain so you don't get those rough patches after staining. Dave tried it and said it was a game changer for him.

sage_green1mo agoTop Commenter

Wait, so he wets it and then sands it again while it's still damp? Or does he let it dry completely before the final pass? I always figured wet wood would just gum up the sandpaper real bad... I've ruined a couple of pieces by not waiting long enough between coats, so I'm curious about the timing here. Does he use a spray bottle or just a damp cloth? And what grit does he start with after it's wet, like does he go back to the same grit he just used or jump to a finer one?

charles_mitchell1mo ago

Different wood types act totally different here. I've found open grain woods like oak and ash raise up way more than closed grain like maple or cherry. You gotta adjust your timing based on what you're working with. A spray bottle works fine but I just use a damp rag, wring it out good so it's barely wet. Go back over it with the same grit you just used and it'll knock those raised fibers off clean.

jennifer8331mo ago

Oh my goodness, I used to think wetting wood before sanding was just going to cause more problems. I was totally wrong about that. I tried it on a small walnut table I was working on and it made a huge difference. You let it dry completely first, then hit it with the same grit you were using before the wetting step. The water swells up those little fuzzy fibers so when you sand them off they stay gone. I was surprised how much smoother the final finish came out compared to just dry sanding over and over.