Q&A – Preventing scratches on sanded surfaces
When I started this blog my thoughts were to record some of the activity in my shop. To be honest, there wasn’t much thought about that either. It just seemed the thing to do at the time and I had no expectations that anyone would care to read it.
It seems I was wrong. The readership of the blog has grown to the point where I’m exceeding my bandwidth limits and I’m wondering how to pay for more. More important, though, are the email dialogs that have come from the posts. Because (or maybe in spite of) my ramblings, people have taught me things and asked me questions. Hopefully some of my answers have proven useful.
Assuming that occasionally the questions asked and answers given are not unique to the particular person asking the question, I’ve decided to add a new sort of blog post to the Wood’n Bits blog – a Q&A post where I answer some question asked by a reader. I’ve thought about whether or not to include the name of the questioner and have decided against it. Some might like this and some may not and I don’t want to have to go back to each person to gain their approval. Let it suffice to say that questions are the backbone of most useful dialog and I appreciate all that have come my way. I thank you all for the support you’ve shown this blog and hope that you’ll continue asking whatever questions come to mind.
When I’m sanding I often get scratches on the back side of the piece as it rests on the bench. How do you avoid this?
One can buy special sanding mats that help prevent this, but I find them problematic as after they’ve been used a lot they end up with dirt and sawdust imbedded in them and that causes nearly the same problems as the bench itself.
I use semi-disposable rubberized drawer lining material instead. You can buy it in rolls at the dollar store. At a buck a roll it won’t break the bank and will allow you to throw away any pieces that become really dirty.
I don’t want to exaggerate my level of organization with respect to this stuff but I generally have several pieces laying around and these pieces have seen differing amounts of use. The dirtiest pieces get used when I’m rough sanding something or working on it early in the construction/assembly process. The closer I get to a ready-to-finish piece, the more I gravitate towards a clean piece of the stuff.
Here I’m installing a glass panel and the pieces that hold it in place. I’ll be doing a bit more finish sanding to the surface laying on the rubber but it is largely devoid of scratches and thus it sits on very clean material. I apologize for the quality of the image but it was the only one I had of the rubber material in use.
While I’m talking about it I’ll throw in a bit of a rant against fancy hardwood benches that people like to build. They do provide a stage for showing off one’s woodworking expertise but building a bench that is harder than the pieces you’re going to build on it has a couple downsides. The first is that the hard surface is hard on the parts you’re creating. Hardwood surfaces are also more slippery, allowing the parts to move around more and possibly adding to scuffing and scratching problems. Just a thought, though I feel as though I should duck as I say it.
Cheers — Larry
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Nice tip Larry. On the bench front I’m working on a post for my blog called “overkill” which will cover some extremes. It kills me to see power tool guys making 300+ lb benches for glue-ups and trimming with block planes.
Hear here! Full agreement about the fancy benches. Yours (and mine) look like they’re doing their share of work. … Sometimes even to the extent of pinning awkward pieces to the bench with brads. Bet the guys with the maple, rosewood, purpleheart benches would die before letting a nail near the bench.
Great tip on the drawer liner material. It works very well. I haven’t yet found the leather I want to use as jaw liners for my leg vise, so I use the same drawer liner material you suggest. Super stuff.
BTW, those holdfasts look too new. Beat ‘em up some.
Kenneth, good luck with that blog post. For myself I’m a ‘to each his own’ type and this ‘own’ sees little point in a $1000 workbench. I hope to replace mine, though as it’s too small and maple.
Cheers — Larry
Bob,
I LOVE your super-long Nicholson bench. It’s got to be nice to work on that huge pine surface.
Cheers — Larry
Nice blog Larry.
I was recently reading The Worbench Book by Scott Landis, and the section on Makoto Imai describes his preference of Doug Fir worksurface for its weight, stability, hardness, and “leathery” surface texture. He goes on to say that slippery hardwood only makes sense on modern workbenches designed around “intricate workholding systems”. When your bench (or beam) only has a few screws to act as planing stops, and you use your body as a clamp like Imai, the logic makes a lot of sense.
Likewise, as well all know, Chris Schwarz also goes a far way to validate the use of SYP as a worksurface, despite the use of intricate workholding systems.
My Ulmia happens to made from beech because I got it for a steal, but I would not hesitate to make a bench out of DF.
You had me running for my copy of Landis’ book
Shazaam…it’s right there in print just like you said!
That’s a very interesting observation and maybe that’s exactly why I want a softer bench. The more I work with hand tools the less I use vises to hold the work. That same book has a chapter featuring Ian Kirby and his viseless bench and if you follow Chris Schwarz you know that most of his planing is done against stops, not with the wood clamped in vises. It’s just so much nicer to work that way as you can quickly, and easily flip the board in any orientation required. So, for me, a softer bench that can accommodate planing stops, bench hooks, etc. is superior to a hard, fancy one if you’re working wood. I’m glad I’m not alone in this thought.
Cheers — Larry