Deluxe Sewing Center

There is not a lot to watch today; sanding is just about as much fun to watch as drying paint.  However, there is one part of this process that you may find interesting.

I use a quarter sheet of sandpaper, folded in thirds to do hand sanding.  I don't use a sanding block until I'm needing to level a finish.  As I'm sanding, I'm feeling the surface, I'll usually feel any little pits, chips or dings before I see them.  When I find one, I mix some filler to fill it in.  I keep an assortment of the usual colors on hand, but I don't like to use them as they come out of the tub, for "white oak filler' rarely looks like white oak.  This is because wood has a lot of different colors in it, and a monotone filler doesn't blend in very well.  So, I'll mix two or three colors together -- but not blend them thoroughly -- so that the variances in the filler more closely match the variances in the wood.

But the raw filler isn't the color it will be when it's under a finish.  So, after the filler dries, I sand it smooth and wipe it with a rag moistened in clean mineral spirits.  The mineral spirits simulate an oil based finish, but once evaporated away leaves no discoloration or residue behind to interfere with staining.

It's fairly warm today (87° inside the shop) and very humid and sanding can be fairly physical, so working up a sweat is easy to do.  I have to be careful not to drip on the cabinet because the salty perspiration *will* leave stains that must be sanded back out again.  Frequent water breaks are recommended.

But when it's all done, it looks good and feels even better.

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