Final sanding before assembly?

[fritz eng]

Does anyone do the final sanding of the pieces before assembly? I almost more often than not wish I had when doing final sanding and can't get into tight spaces or glue joints

[Paul F Franklin]

I not only do as much final sanding as possible, but I pre-finish before assembly where I can.

[Jamie Buxton]

It depends. For instance, I do final sanding on drawer interiors before gluing them up, because sanding those inside corners is difficult. But I do final sanding on the outside after glue-up, because I'm likely to be cleaning off squeeze-out and clamp marks.

[Richard Coers]

Not exactly final sanding, but as close as I can get. Definitely all the flat panels, but always have to bring something flush and break over sharp edges after the full glue up.

[Philipp Jaindl]

Generally speaking yes you try to finish it as far as possible and only do the necessary clean up after assembly to get ready for whatever Finish will be applied. Not using too much glue and masking along glue joints really saves a ton of time on the clean up.

Regards Philipp

[Jim Becker]

Always for certain kinds of projects...and always most of the way for everything else. It's easier to sand components than assemblies sometimes. Folks need to remember that abrasives are not the only material/tool that can be used to bring things to final "goodness" before finishing, too. Don't forget that sharp scrapers can be used to get into places to deal with glue squeeze, etc., where it would be nearly impossible to sand out.

I will add that there are times when I also pre-finish components before assembly. I hate shooting finish into a box, for example, so if the plan is for a finished interior, that gets done before whatever it is gets assembled. Yes, there is work masking off for glue joints, but it's easier to clean glue seep and there's no finish-in-the-face when spraying as there would be by spraying after things become an enclosed space.

[Jim Dwight]

I also sand drawer interiors and also the interior of a chest of drawers. Basically anything that will be a lot more accessable prior to assembly. I generally do not finish before assembly but I do with raised panel doors. I finish the panel and inside edge of the frame before glue up. I hate it when the panel shrinks and shows an unfinished edge.

[glenn bradley]

Always for certain kinds of projects...and always most of the way for everything else.

Jim and I may be twin sons of different mothers. Not only are my parts nearly finish prep'd, I pre-finish any problematic sub-assemblies.

[johnny means]

Like stated above, I sand everything as far as reasonably far as I can before assembly. I use a wide belt sander, I'm trying to get as much sanding done as possible before even cutting things to size. For instance, lumber for drawer boxes will be sanded to 180 before even being ripped to size.

[Warren Lake]

you will dull your tooling in that order.

[Jim Becker]

Jim and I may be twin sons of different mothers. Not only are my parts nearly finish prep'd, I pre-finish any problematic sub-assemblies.

Something I learned to do from folks here a long time ago...why get into difficult situations if you can avoid them.

[jack duren]

Everything is sanded to a finish state , assembled, glue is wiped off and a final hand sanding is done before it goes to finish....

[Bill Carey]

I not only do as much final sanding as possible, but I pre-finish before assembly where I can.


2nd that. Finishing is my least favorite part of woodworking, so I find it much easier to pre-finish everything before assembly. The beam I put in to carry the load of my pool table upstairs turned out to be very handy for this. Large binder clips work great.

428976

[Frank Drackman]

Without quoting the post that you are referring to I have no idea what order will dull my tooling.


you will dull your tooling in that order.

[Ralph Okonieski]

I follow the practices of several of those already mentioned. Drawers are finished inside (normally shellac) before gluing; outside of drawers are sanded and finished after gluing. Normally, most components are sanded to a finish state before gluing with a final touch up sanding after gluing. I work with oak mostly so then dampen it to raise the grain, then another light sanding or smoothing with pads depending on how much the wood raised. I forgot to mention the joints are masked to reduce glue on the surfaces. These are my typical practices but can vary depending on wood and complexity of of project.

[michael dilday]

I sand the hard to get to after assembly pieces before assembly like inside of drawers and drawer bottoms. The rest is sanded after assembly. I always finish after final assembly except maybe drawer faces where the boxes are not stained or finished the same.

[Lee Schierer]

Like others I sand and finish hard to reach areas before assembly. It saves time and avoids aggravation.

[Warren Lake]

Like stated above, I sand everything as far as reasonably far as I can before assembly. I use a wide belt sander, I'm trying to get as much sanding done as possible before even cutting things to size. For instance, lumber for drawer boxes will be sanded to 180 before even being ripped to size



sanding stuff before cutting to size or other machining dulls your tooling.

As far as sanding we all sand what we can before assembly. There are gizmo sanders that might allow some decent sanding after the fact say the Fein Multimaster attachments, have them all never tried them as stuff say a drawers is stroke sanded inside, glued then sanded outside on the stroke sander once out of the clamps. Cant put your drawers through a wide belt.

There is no need to sand the outside of your drawers before assembly as you will be leveling the dovetails after its glued. Or you could do the mickey mouse pre finish and glue your drawers and your dovetails are not flush and never will be. First saw that as the china kitchens started to show up at the home show. Are we really in that much of a hurry?

[johnny means]

sanding stuff before cutting to size or other machining dulls your tooling.



What's your rationale for this? I know it's not true but I'd like to hear a rationale anyway .

[Warren Lake]

sanding grit gets in the wood.

I stroke sanded something when I started that was still to be machined and got told why not to do that. Its nothing new. Guy ran a shop with 425 people and very well respected in the industry. I asked him questions for over 35 years.

[Matthew Curtis]

sanding stuff before cutting to size or other machining dulls your tooling.

This does not make sense. Please explain to me why this is so.

[johnny means]

sanding grit gets in the wood.

I stroke sanded something when I started that was still to be machined and got told why not to do that. Its nothing new. Guy ran a shop with 425 people and very well respected in the industry. I asked him questions for over 35 years.
That's incorrect, plain and simple, that's wrong. Maybe our was true a hundred years ago, though I doubt it. I'm pretty sure we'd all notice if abrasive grit was embedded onto our freshly sanded surfaces.

[Warren Lake]

What I told you is both good info and accurate.

Your first clue should have been he ran a shop with 425 people. At that level you have all your ducks in a row or you are not running that shop. He was highly respected in industry as one of the top guys in Toronto. They were doing million dollar jobs in the 50's' The shop ran 12 molders a day, they owned the sawmills that supplied their shop with the materials that was only one aspect of that company as they owned retail outlets as well as running the main cabinet shop with the 425 employees.

When you are at the level of running 12 moulders a day you are in the big leagues and there is no room for not knowing stuff that will affect the bottom line.

[Mel Fulks]

It's a pretty standard thing to avoid sanding before machining. Certainly there are some occasional practical reasons that
merit exceptions. To test just run some light cuts on an unsanded board with a sharp pocket knife,then sand and test again.

[Matthew Curtis]

What I told you is both good info and accurate.

Your first clue should have been he ran a shop with 425 people. At that level you have all your ducks in a row or you are not running that shop. He was highly respected in industry as one of the top guys in Toronto. They were doing million dollar jobs in the 50's' The shop ran 12 molders a day, they owned the sawmills that supplied their shop with the materials that was only one aspect of that company as they owned retail outlets as well as running the main cabinet shop with the 425 employees.

When you are at the level of running 12 moulders a day you are in the big leagues and there is no room for not knowing stuff that will affect the bottom line.

No one is disagreeing that this person wasn't successful. We are questioning whether sanding before cutting the wood dulls your blade. Without any side by side comparison in this, logic has me questioning your statement.
Looking at this from a hobbyist using a standard kerf blade, the blade would come in contact with this " sanding grit" for such a small time and small volume of grit. I am pretty sure that my blades come in contact with more debris when cutting rough sawn lumber than pre-sanded wood.
In the end I will do what works for me, as I hope everyone does for themselves.

[Warren Lake]

Run teak through your planer and its hard on your tooling there is some amount of sand in the wood sucked up by the roots.

run barn board through your planer and its hard on your tooling, there is some amount of sand blown there in the wind, trashed my knives totally the only time I did that. He told me both those things and was accurate.

run your wood through your wide belt then go and profile it and its hard on your tooling. There are tiny grit particles (same culprit sand} only time this is serious sand, sharp and it cuts. As some one who has sandblasted with different mediums there is a huge difference between the different sands. Have you ever noticed sand paper get dull, there is stuff breaking off all the time. Your wide belt has pushed some of it into the wood. That very sharp grit that remains acts on the tooling.

What I told you is accurate.