I’m not exactly sure what compelled me to sand the interior wall planking by hand . . . maybe it’s all the hand work I’m doing in my woodworking class. Maybe I just didn’t want to kick up so much dust into the air that a power tool would do (in a small, enclosed space). Maybe I just wanted to get a bit more personal with the walls. Whatever the reason, after several hours, 11 courses of pine boards is now smooth as a, well, you know…
I’ve used a lot of sanding tools in my day, from wood blocks, rubber blocks, sponges, paddles, orbital and belt pcower tools, to name several. I gotta say, I really like this new paddle I got recently. It’s probably the best sanding block I’ve used so far. The grip was super comfortable, even for hours of continuous use. It was sized perfectly to hold 1/3 a sheet of sandpaper. The large flat face meant it maintained a decent degree of flatness for the thing being sanded. That knobby handle can rotate, too, if you want to hold it one way but use it another way. Simple, yes, but elegant and basically perfect. I don’t generally make specific tool recommendations here, but I’m gonna recommend this one. It made half a day of sanding about as pleasant as half a day of sanding could be.
If it has a specific model number, I didn’t see it. 3M simply calls it “premium sanding tool” on their web site. This is what the retail package looks like, if you’re looking for one.
This particular model came with a single strip of sandpaper pre-loaded. It’ll last you a little while but obviously if you’ve got real work to do, you’ll need a supply to refill. This tool neatly accepts what you get if you cut a full sheet of sandpaper into thirds. 3M’s purple stuff worked well in this tool.
Next up, the shellac. That’ll probably be Saturday morning, weather and wakefulness permitting. Actually, next up the vacuum cleaner and then the shellac. I thought about various other finish materials and settled on this old classic. I wanted a warm, satin glow that seals and protected and was easy. Shellac is all that. And it comes from bugs — how fun!
In other news, I am really appreciating this blog format’s advantages over the former home of this story, a facebook photo album. I’m in a lot more control over layout, it’s far easier to compose and edit the story on a full screen rather than a tiny photo caption edit box. I can flow pictures together in a single post. I can re-use images when I need to, rather than having to re-upload them just so I can add new text.
All this editorial and compositing convenience does mean that I’m somewhat more inclined to write a longer, more engaging story than I had been previously. If you don’t have time to read it all, that’s okay with me. You’re welcome to just look at the pictures 🙂 See you in a few days (hopefully) when there’s some finished walls to admire.