Chat with a finish carpenter made me rethink sanding grit progression

He told me he jumps from 80 to 150 grit on cherry and skips 120 every time, and after trying it on a walnut desk last Tuesday I can't argue with the results, anyone else ditch the standard steps?

2 comments

2 Comments

tara_palmer22d ago

Look, I tried skipping 120 on a pine bookshelf last month and got tearout so bad I had to start over from 60 grit. I'm genuinely happy it worked for you on that walnut desk but I don't think one success story means we should all throw out the standard steps. That finish carpenter probably has years of muscle memory and specific sanding technique that most of us just don't have. I'll stick with 80 then 120 then 150 on hardwoods like cherry or walnut because it gives me a consistent scratch pattern I can actually see before moving up. Maybe I'm just being stubborn but I don't trust a shortcut that relies on one guy's personal preference.

iris_mason8822d ago

And here's something nobody's brought up yet @tara_palmer - that finish carpenter might be factoring in the humidity or season, because I've noticed cherry and walnut respond completely different to grit skips in winter vs summer.