Sanding Oval Boxes?

[Derek Arita]

Promise this will be the last oval box question. I'm sure hand sanding is the best way to sand these, but man...it's a pain! Is there an easier way? I know sanding around the fingers should be done by hand, but what about the rest of it? I have a ROS, belt/disc sander and an OSS. I'm planning on putting on some shellac for a finish on these cherry boxes. Thanks for the help.

[Phil Mueller]

Aren’t those made with veneers? When I’m dealing with material that thin, it only gets hand sanded.

[Richard Coers]

You're not talking about something like hand sanding a dining room table, these are small objects. I never considered sanding around the bands being a pain.

[Derek Arita]

John Wilson says he only hand sands the finger area, but doesn’t specify what machines he uses to sand the rest. Rather than bothering him with another call, I thought those who have experience with these boxes might have their own thoughts.

[John M. Smith]

I've taken his class several times. The tops and bottoms were sanded on a belt sander. Sides are all hand sanded.

[Richard Coers]

John Wilson says he only hand sands the finger area, but doesn’t specify what machines he uses to sand the rest. Rather than bothering him with another call, I thought those who have experience with these boxes might have their own thoughts.
If you only hand sand the finger area, then sand the rest of the band with a power sander, you'll get two colors. The pores of the wood are wide open from the hot water bath. It will really soak in the shellac. If the rest of the band is burnished from a ROS and the finger area hand sanded, you'll get two rates of absorption. It would also be extremely hard to balance a ROS on a narrow lid band and not end up tapering it. Especially when you do a 0.

[Derek Arita]

Well, I finally found a good way to do the bulk of the sanding in a quick and easy way. I'm using a Bosch oscillating tool, with the sanding triangle. I'm using 240 grit, on the slow speed and it works great. It's fast and pretty effortless. I sand around the fingers by hand. Saves me a ton of time and effort.1

[Cliff Polubinsky]

I'm about to sand a group of boxes. I'm planning on using a 220 grit sanding mop on the drill press.

Cliff

[Derek Arita]

Cliff, good idea. If I had one, I'd have used it. One thing the oscillating tool does provide is a flat sanding surface, which helps around the fingers. I also hand sand those areas to keep the details as crisp as possible.
I'm about to sand a group of boxes. I'm planning on using a 220 grit sanding mop on the drill press.

Cliff