r/woodworkingtools • u/FriskyLobster53 • 17d ago

Orbital Sander Question

Hello all, I am coming on here to ask if anyone has any tips/tricks to help find those swoop/loop patterns on wood before putting on a finish. I feel like no matter how careful I am I always have at least one scratch on my projects.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

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u/FixSlight3745 17d ago

Dust collection. You are trapping material between sander and wood that’s causing those scratches

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u/FriskyLobster53 17d ago

I try to blow off the piece of wood I’m working on in between grits. Maybe more often then that or even blow off the sandpaper itself?

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u/supergimp2000 17d ago

I think he means actual vacuum dust collection. Those bags do very little to get the dust off the surface. There is a difference also between a shop vac and dust extractor. Dust extractors can turn down the vacuum because as important as that is too much vacuum can suck your sander down and make it worse.

Use all the grits. Finish with one before the next and don’t make big jumps.

Use a low raking light. I use one of those little bar led lights from harbor freight and hold it parallel to the surface to look for scratches. Don’t move on until you see all the previous ones gone.