Although at times it can seem very complex, woodworking is a very straightforward process. No matter how difficult the project, we can nearly always break it down to three steps. First you need to be able to cut your wood into the right shape, secondly you have to fix your pieces of wood together, and finally you have to complete the appearance of your wood by smoothing and finishing it. As I said, simple, but each of these three steps can take many years to perfect. In today’s article I wanted to look a bit closer at the final step, sanding and finishing Pattern Flush Trim Router Bit Set B0CKYCZMKH.
The process is made up of two elements. First is the sanding, the process of smoothing the wood to remove any blemishes or rough edges. This is important because any minor blemish or scratch in your wood will be magnified when you apply your wax, polish or varnish to complete the process.
Whilst there are a number of different ways to sand and smooth your wood, the main three methods you can use are;
1. Sandpaper – More often that not this will be the method you use to smooth your wood. Sandpaper comes in a variety of grades based on the size of the grains on the paper. The higher grade numbers have smaller grains and therefore produce a finer finish. With this in mind think carefully about what the right grade of paper will be for the job you are tackling. Generally you will start with a coarse grade to clean up the worst scratches, before moving on to a finer grade to complete the smooth finish that most projects require.
2. Steel wool – Steel wool, sometimes called wire wool, can be used to produce a finer finish than can be achieved with the finest grades of sandpaper. With certain types of oily wood, wire wool will leave the surface of your wood so smooth that you will not need to use any further wax or polish.
3. A Cabinet scraper – This is one of the less well known woodworking tools. Nonetheless I would recommend it as a useful addition to your woodworking tool box. A standard cabinet scraper is made up of a rectangular piece of flexible tempered steel attached to a handle. You can use it at the beginning of the finishing process to scrape along the surfaces of your woodworking piece to remove small tears and blemishes from the wood. On certain projects you will find it useful to use the curved cabinet scrappers for finishing curved surfaces such as mouldings.
After you have completed the process of sanding and smoothing your wood surfaces, the next step that will make your wood look really smart is to apply a finish. This finish can be in the form of a wax, stain, varnish or polish. The key thing to be conscious of when you are selecting which finish to use is that it will significantly change the look of your wood. Furthermore you might not be able to fully appreciate the scale of that change by looking at the tin. To be sure that you don’t ruin your project at this final stage you should always try out the varnish, wax or polish that you intend to use on a piece of waste wood. That way you will be sure of what it will look like before you pass the point of no return.