Surface Prep - Page 2 of 12

Hand-sanding, planing, and scraping can be better than power sanding for certain applications.

One reader asks Chris Becksvoort if sanding too fine will interfere with finishing.

Don't let gnarly grain stand in your way. Gary Rogowski outlines his strategies for handplaning woods that are prone to tearout.

Dowels make it easier to line up disks perfectly and quickly.

Gary Rogowski helps you understand every woodworker's enemy, tearout.

Keep bags of dust organized by wood species so you can fill gaps and make repairs.

Regardless of what Adam Godet threw at Festool’s new Granat Net abrasives, they were more durable, cleaner, and clogged less than conventional sanding disks.

Working systematically, Bob Van Dyke demonstrates how to remove mill marks and tearout with a scraper, break sharp edges and corners with a block plane, and sand to an even finish with sandpaper.

For Chris Becksvoort, the belt sander is a workhorse for smoothing drawer sides and for flattening the fronts of drawers to cases

It's noisy and it's dusty, but in a pro shop like Chris Becksvoort's, it's hard to beat the belt sander for producing great results quickly.