Sanding Wood Made Absurdly Easy
In this video tutorial, Rod shows you a great product and technique you can use to sand carvings, turnings, edges, trim and even flat panels. It will improve your results and save you a bunch of time!
Training Information
Every so often I come across a furniture project so daunting, it makes me stop and rethink my entire process and how I can be more efficient. Several years ago I had one of those jobs. A large commercial refinishing project that required an enormous amount of sanding. I needed something to cut down my time, yet at the same time improve my results.
Flat surfaces are not the problem for me. It's the carvings and turnings that eat time, resulting in me loosing my patience and ultimately not sanding as much as I should.
I tried sanding gloves, but they caused hand fatigue and the abrasive clogged up quickly. Then I ordered Bristle Discs from 3M and my job would forever be changed for the better.
Since that day, I use 3M Bristle Discs somewhat regularly. This bed came into our shop for refinishing, and I knew immediately how I was going to sand it. It looked like a nightmare, but I had a quiet confidence knowing I had an ace in the hole. Here is a link to Amazon for the discs I use.
Look at the insane carved detail on the headboard. Gorgeous, but If I had to sand that by hand, I'm pretty sure I'd have a melt down. It would be a horrible experience, but thankfully that never happened. In this pic, the bed is stripped of it's original finish and ready for sanding.
In this pic, I have my 3" Discs out to display for a nice group photo op. I should mention that a Mandrel is also required with these sanding discs, and I had to purchase that separately. I will Include a link here for the Mandrel from Amazon so you get the right one.
If you haven't done so yet, you should watch the video at the top of this page. This is a clip from the vid showing the Scotch Brite Bristle Disk at work. I use both Green and Yellow, but I use Green the most often. I explain both, the difference between them and when I use which in in the movie.
In the image to the right, we completed the footboard shown in the background. You can see how perfect it turned out, which I doubt would have been possible for me had I not discovered these sanding discs a couple years prior. My only complaint was the cost, but unlike sandpaper they last a long time, so I get many jobs out of a set of 3. That, coupled with the huge amount of time they save me makes 3M sanding discs one of the best values in my shop !!
