Sanding may sound like a simple part of home improvement and craft projects but it does have its challenges. In my opinion, the challenges arrive when you have to sand in awkward, hard-to-reach places. Over the years, I have come up with a few successful ways to deal with some of those challenges. Here they are:
Sanding Spindles
I like to refurbish furniture. As such, I’ll frequently run across chairs and tables with spindle legs. I have found that one of the easiest ways to sand a spindle is to fold the sand paper into a long strip. Then I wrap the sand paper strip around the spindle and move it back and forth as if I were drying my back with a bath towel or shining the heels of my dress shoes. In my opinion, doing so makes it easier to go around curves in general. It also seems to make the job go faster
Sanding in Crevices
Another problem that I often encounter when refurbishing furniture is scroll work and crevices. It can be a real bear to try and sand out some of those grooves. Sometimes I will use a Dremel tip but there are other times when I want to sand delicate areas by hand. I have found that if I wrap the sand paper around a craft stick or the end of a kitchen spatula I can reach deep inside the crevices. I have even been known to use an emery board in certain situations. It may take a bit longer but the results are typically worth it.
Sanding Square Edges
Creating perfectly square edges use to be a problem for me. I’d find myself getting distracted and subsequently sanding off more wood in spots than I had initially intended. Then I came up with a solution. It involves using a C-clamp and two pieces of level wood. Now when I need a perfect edge, I’ll sandwich the table top between the two pieces of wood and C-clamp it all together. The two pieces of wood act as a guide and keep my sanding level.
Sanding Blocks
There are times when a store bought sanding block is the wrong shape or size for the project that I am working on. To get around that problem, I will often make my own sanding blocks out of scrap wood. It is easy to do. I just wrap the sand paper around the block of wood and affix it in place with a few heavy duty staples. Then, when I need to change the sand paper out, I just remove the staples from the wood with a flat head screw driver. Afterward, I’ll discard the old sand paper and attach a new piece of sand paper to the wood with more staples. That’s all there is to it.
Killeen Gonzalez has a history of completing home improvement projects with her family.
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5 tips for Decorating Your Home in an Eclectic Style
How to Make Backyard Fish Pond from Scratch
Skater’s Guide to Cleaning Skatepark Concrete
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