Make: Tips and Tales from the Workshop

14 Sanding and Finishing

Anyone who’s spent a lot of time on a woodworking project knows the thrill of finally sanding it to a glassy smoothness. Then you stain, polish, and seal it, or otherwise put on the finishing touches, to bring out the full beauty of what you’ve created and to protect it. It’s as if those final steps bring all of your labor to life, and seal in all of the time, effort, and pride you put into your work. Certain kinds of finishing processes can be a little scary (if you mess them up, you can ruin all of your hard work), but there is no greater feeling of accomplishment than when you finish these final steps. Here are a few extremely useful tips that will help make your sanding and finishing chores go more smoothly with ...