Begin Finishing

Today I start the finishing process. The first step is to very carefully inspect each table and the stand. I’m looking for anything that might have gotten past me before, but will be paying special attention to any nicks or dings that are too large to be sanded out without significantly changing the part’s shape. The will need to be filled in with wood filler, allowed to dry hard and sanded flush with the surrounding wood. Then the finish sanding can begin. In our shop finish sanding is always done by hand. Even large pieces with expanses of flat areas that lend themselves to being sanded more quickly with a power sander will have the final grit of sanding done by hand; with the grain, to be sure the sander left no swirls; as random orbit sanders are prone to do. This process is not especially exciting or interesting to watch, so I’ll post the days notes now and focus on getting the work done without interruptions from the shutter bug. My plan for the day is to get the finish sanding done and the pieces vacuumed and tacked off ready to finish tomorrow. If anything significantly different happens, I’ll post an update. Otherwise… See you tomorrow, Doug