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Took me 6 months to notice I was sanding in the wrong direction
I was building a bookshelf for my daughter's room and kept getting these weird scratch marks no matter how fine of grit I used. Finally my buddy came over and watched me for like 2 minutes and said "dude you're going against the grain, you've been doing that this whole time?" I felt so dumb but after I switched direction the finish came out glass smooth. Has anyone else had a basic technique click way later than it should have?
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vera_murphy25d ago
Yeah I had pretty much the same thing happen with a walnut table I was working on. Switched to going with the grain and it was like night and day. But @nina_johnson86 has a point about figured wood. I've got a piece of curly maple that I had to sand at a 45 degree angle to get it right. Straight grain woulda been a mess. You probably just need to pay more attention to the wood you're working with and adjust your technique. I use a sanding block with light pressure and check the finish under a bright light every few passes. That's the only way to catch those scratch marks early before they set in.
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nina_johnson8625d ago
Holding it right there. Going with the grain is overrated for a lot of woods. Some of the best finishes I've gotten came from sanding at a slight angle or even cross-grain on certain figured maple and walnut. Following the grain strictly can actually leave behind those tiny ridges that catch the light and look like zebra stripes. Straight grain sanding is a good starting point, but it's not the only way, and calling it "wrong" is too simple. You probably had too much pressure or a dull piece of paper, not a direction problem.
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