How much sanding before applying oil?

[Aaron Buys]

What grit should one sand to before applying a finishing oil? Will the piece absorb more oil if left with a rougher finish and then sanded with a finer grit afterwards or should the oil be applied after all sanding is completed?

[Jim Becker]

Some folks will sand with the oil on species that have a more open pore pattern...this provides a bit of filling. Personally, I apply after finish sanding...at a minimum to P400, but often higher on turnings.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Aaron - I finish sand - then apply the oil. If needed I can always wet-sand with the oil. (Sometimes light sanding marks appear after the oil is applied even though it looked perfect when finished sanding) As far as grit - for bowls I sand to 220, other items I take up to 600.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Aaron I sand bowls to 320 and HF's (vases) to 400 to 600. Then I apply finish. If I need to I will wet sand with oil at 660 to 800.

[Marvin Hasenak]

I do a lot of game calls with walnut, I wet sand with BLO to 320 grit, then let sit for 24 hours and wet sand to 600 with teak oil. 2 or more coats of teak oil and then let that cure and then a buff job for the fancier ones, the field grade get less attention.

Marvin

[Malcolm Tibbetts]

Aaron, before any sanding, I try to achieve about a 180 to 220 grit surface with a hand held cabinet scraper. I then apply sanding sealer and after it dries, I scrape it off with the same type of scraper (I use both straight and French curve scrapers). After several (sometimes 3 or 4 applications), I then sand starting with 220, going to 600, before applying several coats of final finish. For my segmented work, it works for me. My goal with the multiple sealer/scrape steps is to fill the pores.

[Dean Thomas]

I like Malcolm's philosophy on this thing. Similar to mine with flat and round work both.

Most things simply DO NOT NEED 12,000 GRIT before they get the finish on!

Most finishes will tell you how far to sand and offer practical limits that should be observed. If one sands beyond the stated limits, one stands the chance of having their surface finishes simply fall off! Not all finishes penetrate the wood. Many oil finishes do indeed penetrate, but if the surface is polished sufficiently to close of the pores (burnished to shiny smooth) many penetrating finishes can't penetrate well enough to afford the kind of finish that you're really looking for.

Something my dear and departed dad taught me (by his steadfast refusal to do it!!!) was to read the instructions FIRST, and not wait until after the product failed. It's amazing what one can learn ready that teeny-tiny print! :o

[Dean Matthews]

Wow... I was actually worried about reading this one... I figured people would be screaming that you need to go 32,000,000 grit before you can do ANYTHING to the wood. =)

The "lowest" I typically use is 150.. 80 if I did something dumb with a tool.

then 240, 320, and 400.

I take a damp microfibre towel, hold it to the moving item, and then use the black wet/dry 600 sand paper.

Typically 600 is where I have stopped. The only oil I have used on my stuff so far is Tung. Aside from my recent Sycamore bowl I have not needed to do any sanding after applying the oil.