Sanding wood

Sanding secrets

We get it—sanding isn't exactly the glamorous or fun. But trust us, a little bit of smooth-out time is the secret sauce for a truly professional finish!

The good news? When you start with Turnaround Timbers wood, you're already ahead! Our stuff is well-planed, so you won't need to spend all day covered in sawdust. You just need the final polish before the big reveal.

 

The grit scale

What's up with all those numbers on sandpaper? Simple! They tell you how much work that little piece of paper is going to do:

Small numbers = coarse and tough. They're the muscle, taking off the bigger stuff.

Big numbers = fine and gentle. They're the gentle final treatment, creating that silky finish.

For sanding wood the grit crew consists of: 80, 120, 180, 240, 320, and 400.

Since you're starting with our premium planed wood, you get to skip the really rough stuff. Your sanding journey usually begins at the sweet spot, 180-grit, then you'll move through 240, 320, and maybe even quick go over at 400-grit for that ultimate, irresistible smoothness.

 

Hand vs. machine

Need to sand a tiny shelf or a huge dining table? Your tool choice matters.

Hand sanding: Gives you fantastic control and a great finish. The downside? pretty darn tiring on a big project!

Powered sanders: Your time-saving heroes! Orbital sanders are easy to use, but can leave some circular scratch marks. This is minimised by random orbit versions. On the other hand, belt sanders have lots of grunt and can sand with the grain, but are harder to wrangle and need a firm hand.

 

Sanding with the grain

Ready for the most important instruction? Always sand WITH the grain!

The grain is your friend—it’s the natural line of the wood. When you sand with it, you're following the lines and leaving a clean surface. When you sand across it, you create tiny scratches that jump out the second you apply a finish. 

This is why traditional orbital sanders sometimes got a bad rap for scratching. Their circular motion constantly forced the grits to cut across the grain, but the modern random orbit sander minimises this.

 

When to change grit

Your goal is to be a detective: before jumping to the next, finer grit, make sure you have fully erased every single scratch left by the previous grit. Do that, and you'll get a professional, beautiful surface every time.

 

What about wetting the wood?

"I've heard about wetting the wood and re-sanding, what's this all about? Yep, it's a thing. Wood swells a little when it gets wet. The pores that have been opened by sanding will swell more than those that weren't, making the surface rough. To avoid this happening when the finish first wets the wood, we get ahead of the game, and wet it with water (just dampen lightly). Then we sand down those raise pores (just with the last grit size that you used). They wont raise again when the finish goes on. So, boom, you have cut the whole rough-when-wet-thing off at the pass.

 

What finish should I use?

Should I use and oil, or a wax, or a poly finish? Check out our blog post where we explore these questions.