This month, Woodworking Network readers commented on sanding consistency from the belt or table, a proposed hardwood checkoff program and Stanley’s new youth furniture.

Savvy Sculpture 
Facebook followers liked AJ Fosik’s amazing wood sculptures, including this one produced for the rock band Mastodon — whose crew includes some woodworkers.

Achieving Sanding Consistency 
One of the most commented articles, Adam West’s “Does Wood Sanding Consistency Come from the Belt or the Table” drew these responses.

Fantastic series! Everything Adam has written about sanding goes well beyond the basic setup info we usually read about the subject online. He has a lot of insight into the process as well as the humans who are trying to make a living using it. I look forward to reading more. — Red

Good column. I was wondering if there is any advantage to using an inline straight stroke sander to finish off, so as to eliminate swirl marks. I have always hand sanded in the past. Would this only serve to close the pores back up? — William H.

William, as with widebelt sanding, less is more. Stroke sanding leaves a very long shallow scratch, but it can also polish wood closed very easily. It is a very viable type of sanding and I admit that I am not as skilled at it as many of my customers. The principles remain the same: less heat and polish are key. I tend to orbital sand as little as possible and then hand block if it must be perfect. — Adam West

The rule of thumb is never to skip more than one abrasive. If you sand with 80 grit, your next sanding should be 100 or 120. If you stain wood, you shouldn’t sand above 120 grit as it tends to burnish the wood surface which can cause poor adhesion. That’s it in a nutshell. Higher quality work uses sanding in the direction of the grain to remove swirls from random orbit sanders, which vary by the sander and paper that you use. If your product goes through a widebelt sander, i.e., a 5-piece cabinet door, then you should remove the cross grain scratches for a cleaner appearance. This was once the standard. Now it’s the exception to the rule. This is woodworking 101. —  Marc F.

Got Wood? 
News that the proposed Hardwood Checkoff program is moving forward was shared on Twitter and Facebook. Among the feedback was this comment:

What a stupid program that would do no more than drive the prices of hard wood higher... go figure — a government program. – Donald K.

Youthful Look 
Stanley Furniture’s news that it is re-entering the youth furniture market got mixed reactions, to say the least.

Shut down yet ANOTHER factory in the US and resume manufacturing in China...imagine that. — Boris D.

Thank god, I was worried about growing unemployment among Chinese woodworkers. Now we can be sure they’ll have jobs and be able to take more American markets overseas. — JW

You might have asked them why raw material cost was the problem with U.S. production and [why] now increased sales of other products makes children’s furniture viable.  — G. Jones

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