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8/8/2019 Wood Finish 2
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Suface-Pep
Shtut
one f the happiest mments in any in pject cmes hen yu bein
applyin a finish. Its then that yu see the s final appeaance eepenin
in cl an chaacte befe yu eyes. But the esults nt be satisfyin if yu
havent pepae the s sufaces f the finish, hich tens t hihliht flas instea
f isuisin them. The sufaces must be smth, flat, an fee f millin mas, scatches,teaut, an the impefectins that can etact fm the beauty f yu .
Pepain the sufaces usually means usin ne f t time-hne cuttin technl-
ies: sanpape hanplanes. which is best? T exple the questin, e ecently set up
a fienly cmpetitin in u shp. Each cntestant as iven the pats f a Shae table
ith tapee les. Mille t final imensin an ith the jiney aleay fitte, the pats
ee eay t be sane plane in pepaatin f a finish. we bacast the event
live n Finewin.cm, an invite lcal es t u shp t
atch an jue the esults.
Art director Michael Pekovich demonstrated handplanes and scrap-
es. Eit Asa Chistiana use a anm-bit sane an han-
sanin. Aftea, each cntestant applie a cat f watelx,
a ipin vanish, as a ay t chec the esults.
we put each contestant on the clock to see ho crossed thefinish line fist. But e ee even me inteeste in n-
in hse finish le best at the en.
As it happene, Mie an his hanplanes appeae
t pevail n bth cunts. He finishe his pep
ith a half-hu t spae, an the aui-
ence jue his finish t be supei.
In tuth, if yu fll eithe meth
caefully an thuhly, yull et
eat esults.
A contest in the FWWshop reveals
two great paths to a perfect finish
To see the contest as it happened,
go to FineWoodworking.com/extras.
OnlineExtra
F I N E w o o d w o r k I N g36 Phts: kelly COPYRIGHT 2010 by The Taunton Press, Inc. Copying and distribution of this article is not permitted.
8/8/2019 Wood Finish 2
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B Y M I C H A E L P E K O V I C H
I did a lot of sanding in the 15 years between my first run-in
a dull, rusty handplane and my eye-opening test drive with a
sharp one. Unfortunately, thats not an uncommon experienc
sharp handplane can work wonders, going from machine ma
to a glass-smooth surface in minutes. A dull plane can do a l
damage, both to your lumber and your psyche.
The good news is that its easier than ever to start worki
with your first handplane. Years ago, your choices were to b
inferior new plane that needed a lot of tune-up work or an ol
quality plane that also needed a lot of tune-up work. Today t
market offers many excellent new planes that require little m
than a five-minute sharpening before the shavings start to flI still keep a scraper and fine sandpaper on hand to fix th
occasional tearout, but my smoothing plane has eliminated
dusty hours of sanding that used to accompany every projec
addition to saving time and leaving a smooth surface, the ha
plane excels at creating dead-flat surfaces and crisp chamfe
hallmarks of fine woodworking that are impossible to achiev
sandpaper alone.
B Y A S A C H R I S T I A N A
When I started out as a woodworker, I didnt know much abo
sharpening and therefore couldnt get my hand tools to work
So I used sandpaper to prepare surfaces for finishing. Sandphas a short learning curve, and I picked up most of the tips
ed from a great Taunton Press video on finishing by Frank Kl
Truth be told, Ive since switched to handplanes for a lot o
surface prep. A few passes with my sharp No. 4, and I usuall
a dead-flat surface ready for finish. But the handplane doesn
work with every type of wood and figure, so I still break out
random-orbit sander and trusty sanding blocks quite often.
I dont mean to say that sandpaper works better than ha
planes and scrapers. But sandpaper is a great equalizer: It w
on every wood and in nearly every situation, while handplane
must be perfectly tuned and razor sharp to work at all. With
paper and a few tips, anyone can create flawless surfaces.
My sense is that sanding is slower than planing and scra
even when you factor in sharpening time for the hand tools.
shootout will test that assumption. Maybe sanding is easier
and faster.
N shapenin equie: Sanin is a suan simple ay t et flaless sufaces
Hanplanes flatten an smth quiclyith n ust
M AY / J U N E 2 0 1 0
COPYRIGHT 2010 by The Taunton Press, Inc. Copying and distribution of this article is not permitted.
8/8/2019 Wood Finish 2
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Get sharp first. Using waterstones and a hon-
ing guide, Pekovich polishes a narrow band at
the blades beveled tip (top). He removes the burr
with his finest stone (bottom). For more, see
A Visit to the Sharpening Doctor,FWW #206.
Easier than benchdogs. A simple planing stop
clamped across the benchtop is all you need to
secure the work, and it lets you quickly flip the
piece or change to another.
Dont bother with hidden surfaces. To
time and wear on the blade, plane only th
outside face and bottom edge of each ap
Afterward, chamfer the bottom edges wit
block plane.
Better than a dust mask. Connect a shop
vacuum to the sanders dust port to keep dust
out of the air and avoid clogged sanding pads.
Better vacuums switch on with the sander when
the tool is plugged into an onboard power outlet.
Gang up parts. Start with a coarse grit, P80
or P100, to remove burns and mill marks. Avoid
rounded edges on narrow stock by ganging two
narrow pieces together. Note, this only works if
the surfaces are level.
Change disks frequently. Dont be shy
using more than one disk of the same gr
before moving to a finer abrasive. A worn
clogged disk will slow down the work.
power sanding: deal with dust and dont skip a grit
handplaning: start sharp and use simple stops
F I N E w o o d w o r k I N g38
COPYRIGHT 2010 by The Taunton Press, Inc. Copying and distribution of this article is not permitted.
8/8/2019 Wood Finish 2
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Holding narrow work. A simple L-shaped jig
mounts in the vise and holds the leg securely
during planing.
Mark the top end
taper. Planing too
on the tapered are
cause the intersec
with the flat area t
move. To avoid this
a few pencil lines j
below the intersec
as a guide.
A piece of scrap k
the workpiece lev
plane the outside f
insert the tapers m
ing cutoff underne
support the leg alo
length.
Scrape away the glue first. Christiana starts
work on the tabletop by using a sharp paint
scraper to remove the glueline in the middle
of the panel.
Sand evenly. It is critical to work the surface
evenly and systematically to guarantee it will
end up flat. Its easy to linger in one area and
create a hollow, which you may not notice until
finish is applied.
Work in stages. Use each successive gr
remove the scratches left by the last one
the abrasive is so fine (P220 or more) th
human eye cant see the scratches under
finish.
www.finewoodworking.com M AY / J U N E 2 0 1 0
COPYRIGHT 2010 by The Taunton Press, Inc. Copying and distribution of this article is not permitted.
8/8/2019 Wood Finish 2
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Plane in two stages. First, level any high
spots until the top is flat on both sides. After
resharpening the iron, set the plane for a light
cut and take a series of smoothing passes over
the entire surface of the show side only.
Sandpaper?Beca
the scraped areas
different scratch p
than the planed ar
its good to blend t
by following any sc
with P320- through
grit sandpaper ove
entire top.
Shopmade paper cutter. Christianas cutting
jig uses an old hacksaw blade to trim sand-
paper sheets squarely to fit on padded sanding
blocks. The blocks hold the paper flat, ensuring
that it will leave a flat surface.
Finish by hand. Begin hand-sanding with the
last grit you used on the random-orbit sander,
usually P220. Work the sanding block in the
direction of the grain to remove the last swirl
marks from the sander.
How to keep edges flat. Hold the workp
in a vise, with the narrow edge horizontal
the sanding pad like a block plane, runni
your fingertips along the workpiece to ke
block flat and the edge square.
Finish by hand-sanding
the top ge ts extra ca re
Treatment for tea
Pekovich typically
card scraper to rem
any tearout.
F I N E w o o d w o r k I N g40
COPYRIGHT 2010 by The Taunton Press, Inc. Copying and distribution of this article is not permitted.
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Dead flat and smooth. Careful surface prep-
aration pays off, especially on your projects
broadest, most visible surfaces.
How to tackle end
grain. Start by lightlylubricating the planes
sole with paste wax.
To avoid chipout at the
far edge, take a few
short passes from that
end first. Then rotate
the piece and work
normally, stopping short
of the far edge.
Sanding block breaks edges, too. Easing the
sharp edges makes them friendlier to fingers
and more resistant to damage. Turn the block
45 for a few passes with P150-grit paper to
create a light bevel.
MIKE: YES, PLANES ARE FASTER
BUT DONT RUSH
Ive always contended that handpla
was faster than sanding, so its nice
know that I havent been laboring u
false assumption. That said, I plann
half an hour to prepare these parts
took twice as long. As always, the
was in the details. With perfectly st
grained lumber, planing is a breeze,
in the real world, thats rarely the c
The quartersawn grain on the legs w
especially tricky and prone to tearo
spent extra time scraping those pa
and would have done even more if I
been keeping an eye on the game c
During the contest, I used just o
bench plane and a block plane to sh
that you dont need to buy a lot of hplanes to get started. But I wound
doing a lot of adjusting for heavy an
cuts. Normally, Id have set up a No
plane for flattening parts quickly an
No. 4 for final smoothing. That wou
saved some time and effort.
ASA: SANDING IS STILL
A SAFE FALLBACK
Mike beat me comfortably, but not
much as I expected. He ran into so
tearout, and that took some fussing
overcome. I had no such problem. S
paper handles the toughest grain w
a hitch. But now Im sure that it tak
longer. A few online comments sug
using a belt sander for speed, but t
random-orbit sander is easier to con
Under a coat of oil, my tabletop h
a tiny bit more blotching, but that m
be due to the different boards we st
with. And Id say my legs and apron
better, as his still had some tearout
On future projects, Ill stick to m
approach: When the wood allows, I
use handplanes. But trusty sandpap
always my backup plan. Also, I thin
ing is easier for beginners. Just wor
surface evenly, move patiently throu
grits, and use a block for hand-sand
What they learn
When to stop. The final grit depends on the
type of finish: P220 for shellac or polyure-
thane, or as high as P600 for an oil finish,
especially on blotch-prone woods like cherry.
www.finewoodworking.com M AY / J U N E 2 0 1 0
COPYRIGHT 2010 by The Taunton Press, Inc. Copying and distribution of this article is not permitted.
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