Hand sanding sucks - is a belt sander the way to go?

[Frank Drew]

I also don't believe that sanding past 220 (by hand, with the grain) is necessary -- and I'm talking high end work, under a bright finish -- but I do think you need to spend a good amount of time with the 220, and constantly brushing off your work helps a lot, IMO.

I'm very finicky, and if I'd noticed sanding scratches I'd have revised my methods and gone to higher grits, but I never found it necessary, after all the hand sanding.

[David DeCristoforo]

OK, I'll qualify. If you are using a finish like lacquer or varnish, no, you don't need to go finer than 220. But for oils, you do. I wet sand my oil finishes down to at least 600 and sometimes finer. And yes, you can probably go to the scraper after a sanding with 180. It will just be more work to remove the scratches.

[Richard Dragin]

If you are using a hand held belt sander to do finished work you might be a redneck. It really is a tool of last resort for carpentry and has no place in fine woodworking.

I like to sand to 500 and burnish the wood for my rockers but then I use clear Danish so pigment isn't an issue. If you are staining listen to Howie.

[Tri Hoang]

I may be going out on a limb here but if you hate dust, don't make it in the first place. Hand planes & scrapers will give you a finish ready ...usually faster than sanding.

I hated dust too and have gone to extremes to control it. I've learned along the way that the best way to deal with dust is not making it. Shavings are better than chips. Chips are better than coarse dust. Coarse dust is better than fine dust.

[Andrew Gibson]

I made a pair of tables last year, a tv table and a coffee table. The tops were roughly 2, 8-10" boards joined together with biscuits. After the glue up I had slight differences in the boards and needed to level and smooth them. The first I broke out the belt sander with 180 grit belt. It left a very scratched surface and I ended up with a card scraper and a couple blistered thumbs (first time using a card scraper) to get to a point that I was happy with, then a light hand sanding with a block and 180 and 220 and I was done. Probably spent 5 min max on each grit after the scraping if that. (tops were about 18"x48")

the second table I went straight to the card scraper and in half the time i had spent with the belt stander I had a Nice smooth flat slightly curly cherry table top. again maybe 10 min of sanding and I was done.

I picked up a cabinet scraper as my new toy a few weeks ago and used it to level a glued up panel and in a couple minuets I had a flat and smooth surface. hand sanded with basically only a few strokes of 180 then a couple coats of waterlox and sand at 220 few more coats level with 320 coat or 2 more and 0000 wool and wax and I'm done.

[Robert Chapman]

Sanding is the least favorite part of woodworking for me. So here's what I have done to minimize it. I bought a Jet 16 -32 drum sander. I use 150 grit paper in it. After the drum sander I use the ROS with 150, 180 and 220 grit. It takes very little time to get to the 220 ROS and then I use a thinned polyurethane/tung oil. I sand with 220 between the first three wiped on coats and then 320 and 400 grit with the last two coats. Makes a very nice furniture quality finish.

[Kent A Bathurst]

OK, I'll qualify. If you are using a finish like lacquer or varnish, no, you don't need to go finer than 220. But for oils, you do. I wet sand my oil finishes down to at least 600 and sometimes finer. And yes, you can probably go to the scraper after a sanding with 180. It will just be more work to remove the scratches.

OK- you were referring to wet sanding the oil finish, not dry sanding the bare wood. THAT I can understand, of course.....

[Mark Woodmark]

After finish has cured

http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/...dom+orbital.do

http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/...dom+orbital.do

[Chip Lindley]

Hand belt sanders are at the Bottom of the Sanding Food Chain!

Belt sanders are notorious for tipping and gouging the surface at exactly the wrong moment. In the time it takes to learn how to use a big heavy BS with finesse, you could probably have hand scraped the whole project.

Some BS's have accessory *sanding frames* which help things along considerably. BUT, still there is that CLOUD OF DUST! (WITHOUT the hearty Hi-Oh Silver!) Unless you have a downdraft table, belt sanders are not too awfully dustless.

[David DeCristoforo]

"...use a big heavy BS with finesse..."

Oxymoron!

[Frank Martin]

Mirka vac block:
http://www.amazon.com/Mirka-91490-4-...6209933&sr=8-1

These have been available in Europe for at least couple years, finally available here in the US. I really like it. The port fits the Festool hose readily. Excellent dust collection. I had thought Festool would come out with hand sanding pads with dust collection. Instead they came out with regular old sanding blocks at a steep price...

[Van Huskey]

OK, I'll qualify. If you are using a finish like lacquer or varnish, no, you don't need to go finer than 220. But for oils, you do. I wet sand my oil finishes down to at least 600 and sometimes finer. And yes, you can probably go to the scraper after a sanding with 180. It will just be more work to remove the scratches.

Now that makes sense, I thought we were talking about bare wood exclusively.

[Niels J. Larsen]

Mirka vac block:
http://www.amazon.com/Mirka-91490-4-...6209933&sr=8-1

These have been available in Europe for at least couple years, finally available here in the US. I really like it. The port fits the Festool hose readily. Excellent dust collection. I had thought Festool would come out with hand sanding pads with dust collection. Instead they came out with regular old sanding blocks at a steep price...

Actually Festool have just released hand sanding pads with dust collection and I might buy into that.

However I'd still like to avoid hand sanding (and the noise from the vacuum if I go the Festool way) all together.

I think I'll try the card scraper and some wet sanding since I'll be applying Danish Oil.

[Charles Robertson]

I've been using belt sanders since the late 60's. I know I'm not good enough with them for finish sanding. Own several and rarely use them. In my opinion, unless I'm doing freeform, I use thickness planer, hand plane, random orbit, scraper/handsand-(in what ever order). Not for every one, but it works for me and I'm stickin' to it! You need to have one for those special times but I believe you will rarely use it. You have gotten a lot of good advice from all above. Get one, you will use it. Practice on plywood, you will see how they are a bit testy to control. Thinner the vineer the better. Good luck.

[Charles Robertson]

Don't see how you can avoid hand sanding if you are working with wood. A good vac is pretty darn quiet. I have a Fein-hardly hear it. Wood is solidified dust.