Sanding Block

[lowell holmes]

I just saw online where to buy one. Why wouldn't I attach sandpaper to a piece of wood using adhesive tape or wood glue?
Am I missing something?

[Stewart Lang]

You absolutely could. Some people do. The ergonomics on those blocks tend to be a little better. Plus some have velcro or clips for easy changing of sandpaper. If it doesn't seem worth it to you, then don't bother with it though.

[Richard Coers]

You could start a really long list of tools or items that aren't absolutely necessary in the shop, or that you could make something in your shop to get by. It's about some subtle differences or even just convenience that make the purchased item nicer to use. If you do make your own wood sanding blocks, a layer of felt or cork between the wood and abrasive make it much nicer to work with.

[John Jardin]

Lowell,
For years I've made and used wood sanding blocks. When reading about a French Pollishing procedure, the author suggested a cork sanding block. I now have several and I urge you to try one.

https://www.amazon.com/Beveled-Sanding-Block-Guitar-Luthiers/

[Ralph Okonieski]

I use several pieces of wood cutoffs. Each block has a separate grit, so I can easily go from coarser to finer grit as I process the components of my project. A piece of double stick tape is placed on the side of the block to hold the paper in place. This works well for my process.

[Derek Cohen]

It is important to realise that hand sanding creates a significant amount of dust. I'm as guilty as the next for ignoring this - a quick sand with paper over a block. What could it hurt? But the fact is, it creates a dangerous amount of dust.

I've now taken to using Mirka hand sanding blocks with Abranet mesh. The sander is connected to a vacuum cleaner (Festool CT26E) ...

https://i.postimg.cc/j5NSZQCy/FinishingTheDrawers_html_6237eaad.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/Pq0qWFft/FinishingTheDrawers_html_c3d974f.jpg

Some months ago I began using the sanding pads with the appropriate hose. I was using a Festool 27mm and found this too heavy. Now I use a Mirka 20mm, and it hardly feels attached ...

https://i.postimg.cc/QxXVQ7Yq/5.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Larry Frank]

I make some sanding blocks but also buy some. Some of those you buy are MUCH better ergonomically and that is very important to me.

[Eric Arnsdorff]

Derek I like that setup!

I use a few of these sanding blocks that I bought from my local Woodcraft store. They make use of the 5" sanding discs (I've switched to a 6" ROS and abranet). The velcro attachment is very convenient. You could make your own quite easily but at the cost of them it was worth purchasing for me.
440952

[Jim Becker]

Different forms of sanding blocks are all useful. Some of the commercial ones are “handy” in that they incorporate hook and loop and even use/reuse existing media from ROS like Eric shows. Custom blocks with PSA abrasives are often essential. As someone also mentioned, something less than hard (cork or similar) has purpose, too..

[Richard Coers]

It is important to realise that hand sanding creates a significant amount of dust. I'm as guilty as the next for ignoring this - a quick sand with paper over a block. What could it hurt? But the fact is, it creates a dangerous amount of dust.

I've now taken to using Mirka hand sanding blocks with Abranet mesh. The sander is connected to a vacuum cleaner (Festool CT26E) ...

https://i.postimg.cc/j5NSZQCy/FinishingTheDrawers_html_6237eaad.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/Pq0qWFft/FinishingTheDrawers_html_c3d974f.jpg

Some months ago I began using the sanding pads with the appropriate hose. I was using a Festool 27mm and found this too heavy. Now I use a Mirka 20mm, and it hardly feels attached ...

https://i.postimg.cc/QxXVQ7Yq/5.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek
Too tempted to say, "I've seen it all". I know dust is dangerous, but hand sanding? How many hours a day do you hand sand? Do you gear up with a powered hood or something to empty your Festool Dust Extractor? I'm sure I'll get religion if I'm laying on my death bed from lung cancer, but made it so far with 45 years (23 of those professionally) of woodworking without a vacuum on a hand sanding block.

[Derek Cohen]

Too tempted to say, "I've seen it all". I know dust is dangerous, but hand sanding? How many hours a day do you hand sand? Do you gear up with a powered hood or something to empty your Festool Dust Extractor? I'm sure I'll get religion if I'm laying on my death bed from lung cancer, but made it so far with 45 years (23 of those professionally) of woodworking without a vacuum on a hand sanding block.

It has been demonstrated that more dust is created by hand sanding than by the average (not necessarily good) power sander into a vacuum cleaner. The choice is yours.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Stewart Lang]

It has been demonstrated that more dust is created by hand sanding than by the average (not necessarily good) power sander into a vacuum cleaner. The choice is yours.

Regards from Perth

Derek

I'd like to back up Derek on this. If you've ever sanded in the morning, with the sunlight coming through, it's amazing how many fine dust particles you see in the air while hand sanding. They just get everywhere, and if you're sanding for more than 10 seconds you're pretty clearly breathing it all in. The movement of that sanding block back and forth plus your arm really churns the air and dust up quite a bit. ROS with a vacuum produces almost nothing on the other hand.

[Richard Coers]

I'd like to back up Derek on this. If you've ever sanded in the morning, with the sunlight coming through, it's amazing how many fine dust particles you see in the air while hand sanding. They just get everywhere, and if you're sanding for more than 10 seconds you're pretty clearly breathing it all in. The movement of that sanding block back and forth plus your arm really churns the air and dust up quite a bit. ROS with a vacuum produces almost nothing on the other hand.
Do you have a dust extractor hooked up to your hand sanding block?

[Mike Wilkins]

I made several sanding blocks using glue on cork and PSA sandpaper. Scrap wood is plentiful in a wood shop and peel and stick cork can be found at one of the big box stores. I made several and keep different grits on them for a quick touch up when needed.

[andy bessette]

I just use rectangles of plywood scrap with pressure sensitive adhesive backed sandpaper discs trimmed to size.

[Warren Lake]

lowel you can make the blocks up as needed for different purpose no one block works for all. Carpenter asks me to paint a wall unit he built out of plywood, I lay a trace coat and it has ripples in it like in the desert. So a long hard block to flatten it all but hard with no padding till its flat.

cork is good and there are different corks, 1/4 naughahyde upholstery foam is very good and will round radiuses better than cork as it does not compress the same way. There is overlap and lots is to do with feel and how you use it. Probably have 20-30 different sanding blocks. I dont subscribe to the dust thing as much as most. Id have been dead long long ago based on my output over the years. If you have to sand tons put a bench at a window and put a box fan in the window its Mcgiver but it works. Or if you are loaded get a downdraft table.

[Stewart Lang]

Do you have a dust extractor hooked up to your hand sanding block?

Nope, didn't even know they made those haha