I was sanding a walnut table for way too long before a friend pointed out my mistake

I was getting ready to finish this big walnut dining table for a client, and I spent nearly two full days sanding it by hand. My buddy came over, watched me for about five minutes, and said, 'You know you're clogging the paper instantly with that much pressure, right?' I was pushing down so hard trying to get it smooth that I was just burning through paper and not really cutting. I switched to letting the weight of my hand do the work, and the difference was night and day. Has anyone else had a simple technique tip that saved them a ton of time and materials?

3 comments

3 Comments

simonk987d ago

Oh man, that is such a classic mistake. Did the same thing painting my deck. I was scrubbing the brush into the wood like my life depended on it. My dad saw me and just said to let the paint do the work. Total game changer. Went from a whole weekend job to finishing in an afternoon. That light touch thing is real.

torres.blair7d ago

Feel your pain on that one. I wrecked a whole belt sander learning the same lesson the hard way. Sometimes you just need someone to point out the obvious.

blair_chen817d ago

Man, that reminds me of my buddy's disaster with his new pressure washer. He was trying to strip paint off his fence and just held it in one spot, super close, digging in. Completely gouged a huge line of wood out before he even realized. @torres.blair is totally right, you need that outside voice sometimes. I had to point out he was fighting the tool instead of letting it work. He was so mad at himself, but man, it was a clear lesson. That light touch advice saves so much time and money.