Finishing
Where best to start, other than at the end. Wood finishing may seem like a trivial final step in a wood working project, but in my experience a smooth and flaw free finish is what makes or breaks a project. There are a litany of finishing prep methods, colorants and types of finish that I have had very little experience with, so I won't pretend to be an expert in the art of finishing. I will, however, share some of the tips and tricks that I've picked up, that would have saved me ample time and frustration early on it my wood working career.
Sanding
You can also spend another 10 minutes sanding. It's true, I never stop sanding because I think part is perfect and doesn't need any more. I stop sanding because my hands are aching from gripping the block, my lungs are burning because my dust mask is clogged and I've inhaled a board foot of hardwood and I'm going mad from the plodding, persistent hum of my orbital disk sander. When sanding you'll have several options available when it comes to grit size and grit material. For the most part I ignore the grit material, although I've had to utilize some more exotic grit material (aluminum oxide) when grinding substrates such as crushed glass. As for grit size, the the lower the number the larger the grit, and the more abrasive the paper. Typically, I start with a 60 grit to for bulk material removal with my hand held belt sander. The belt sander is an especially useful tool when do material removal on dense woods and end grains. From there typically switch over to my random orbital palm sander for a couple minutes having bumped the grit number up by 30-50. Sand until you can no longer see the markings from the coarse grit used right before. Bump the grit up another 30-50 and do it again. Repeat until you achieve the desired smoothness (If you are deposition-type coating the piece (polyurethane, etc.) you can probably call it quits at 320 or 400. Trust me, you don't want to skimp on any grit interval, as it is nearly impossible to get out scaring let by a 60 grit paper with a 320 grit paper. From here, you may want to take out the sand block or even take a loose sheet in hand to blend edges, de-glue internal corners or clean up other hard to reach features. Again, sanding is time consuming yet essential. If you don't feel the carpal tunnel setting in, it's a good sign you still got some more sanding to do.
Colorants
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Penetrative vs Coating
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