How do you sand assembled drawer boxes?

[Jason White]

I have a bunch of already-assembled drawer boxes and need to sand the insides before spraying. I want to use my triangular-shaped power sander, but don't want that little trench you get on the adjacent surface. Festool now makes plastic edge protectors for these sanders (see photo), but they don't fit mine because it's an older model. Could I use a drywall knife or something similar to protect the surface I'm not sanding?107007290_662750071254088_5617074344826741865_o.jpg

[Dave Sabo]

Sure.

You could also mask off the area you don't want gouged.

Or hand sand them.

Or a card scraper.


I'd just get the new sander and edge guard and sell my old sander.

[Jason White]

Thinking about it. Thanks for the ideas.

[Jim Becker]

In the future, pre-sand the components before you assemble the drawers so you only need a few swipes by hand prior to and during finishing if finishing is going to happen. If you use a light touch with the sander you show (and maybe dial it down if that feature is on your unit) you should be able to avoid damaging adjacent areas if you take your time.

[Bert McMahan]

Know anyone with a 3D printer? They may be able to design up an edge guard for your current sander.

[Jamie Buxton]

Like Jim says, pre-sand. Sanding between coats of waterborne finish I do with a quarter-sheet sander.

[Brad Shipton]

I 3d printed a mount for my ETS-125 for sanding panel edges not long ago. The body of the triangular sander appears to be similar. I did this because I do not have space for a proper edge sander, and had a 90 doors to sand. I would pre-sand in the future as it reduces the time a lot.

ETS125_edge.jpg

[Frank Drackman]

If you need to finish the inside, I am in the prefinish before glue-up team. I also wax any area that doesn't need glue. I find that this helps with squeeze out.

In the future, pre-sand the components before you assemble the drawers so you only need a few swipes by hand prior to and during finishing if finishing is going to happen. If you use a light touch with the sander you show (and maybe dial it down if that feature is on your unit) you should be able to avoid damaging adjacent areas if you take your time.

[Jim Dwight]

I do not normally pre-finish the inside of drawers but I do pre-sand them. It is a LOT easier.

[Kevin Jenness]

It's much easier to finish inside raw drawer boxes if you can do the bottom separately, just as it is easier to do cabinets with the back off.

[Lee Schierer]

I go around the out side surface with my ROS since I already sanded the interior surfaces before assembly. If the finish produces some roughness on the inside, I use my ROS and clean up the corners by hand sanding.

[Derek Cohen]

By way of an alternate method ... it’s always useful to know how the other side does something ...

I do not sand edges as this is a sure way to round them over. (Most of my surfaces are hand planed, and the only time I reach for a sander is when the surface must be absolutely free of any tool marks).

Drawers are always hand planed as part of their construction. Therefore the inside of the drawer never needs any sanding. The outside receives a light planing at the final fit, but usually there is little to do if the drawer front and drawer back are a snug fit, and the dovetailing is a flush fit.

The inside of the drawer is always finished with shellac and wax, never oil (it holds a smells), before the drawer bottom is added. The drawer bottom is finished in the same way, but separately (off the drawer), and then re-assembled.

In the most recently completed piece (a couple of weeks ago), here is a drawer side being tuned ..



Fine tuning the fit - Everything is glued up, but there is no finish yet as the drawer bottom will be removed for this.



Finished, with shellacked and waxed exterior (the table top has a poly finish) ...





Finishing is a final task, and how this will be done needs to be planned for at the start, not the end.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Brian Tymchak]

Derek, the fit on that drawer into the apron is incredible. Almost invisible.

[Dan Friedrichs]

I 3d printed a mount for my ETS-125 for sanding panel edges not long ago. The body of the triangular sander appears to be similar. I did this because I do not have space for a proper edge sander, and had a 90 doors to sand. I would pre-sand in the future as it reduces the time a lot.

ETS125_edge.jpg

That is really cool, Brad! Almost looks official with the "Festool green", too

[Richard Coers]

What's wrong with a block of wood and a piece of sandpaper? 3D printed parts? Why make it difficult?