On most raw woods, start sanding in the direction of the grain using a #120-150 grit paper before staining and work up to #220 grit paper. Soft woods such as pine and alder: start with #120 and finish with no finer than #220 (for water base stains) and 180 grit for
Begin with medium-grit sandpaper (#120). Work your way to a final sanding with fine-grit sandpaper (#220). Always sand in the direction of the grain to avoid leaving unsightly scratches. Stain can be applied with a bristle brush, a foam brush, or a cloth.
When preparing wood for stain, you'll need to sand its surface. Use a sanding sponge or orbital sander. Sandpaper with a lower grit number will make wood rougher, allowing more stain to absorb and creating a darker color. Start with 120-grit sandpaper for pieces that already have a finish.
Be sure to progress up through every grit level; 60, 80, 100, 120, 150, 180, 220 and on. Typically you will want to stop at 180 or 220 if you are planning to stain the wood. Higher grits will close the pores of the wood and make it difficult for stain to penetrate. Go with the grain.
Begin sanding the entire wood surface with coarse-grit sandpaper (80 grit), then progress to medium-grit sandpaper (150 grit), and then to a fine-grit sandpaper (220 grit) before you stain. When sanding, sand the entire table with each grit before moving on to the next grit.
Do not over sand or you may seal the wood so much that it will not take a finish. End-grains (areas where the wood has been cut against the grain), such as the front side of a table, tend to soak up more stain than other surfaces. Give end-grain areas an additional sanding to control the absorption of stain.
Unquestionably, the most efficient progression is to sand through every grit – #80, #100, #120, #150, #180 – sanding just enough with each to remove the scratches of the previous grit. But most of us sand more than we need to, so it's often more efficient to skip grits.
It's best to use a backing pad when wet sanding to achieve a uniform finish. Instead of using small circles as you would with dry sanding, wet sand in a straight line, first horizontally and then vertically.
Isolated sanding marks can be addressed by repairing/resanding individual areas. Resanding the affected areas may require the first cut with the big machine to be on a steep angle, followed up with straight cuts. Use of a hard plate, multi-disc or planetary sander also will help alleviate some sanding marks.
Wood staining involves applying a coat of stain to a freshly sanded wood surface to transform the color of the wood or emphasize the wood grain.
You may need to apply several coats of finish to your wood. Allow the first coat to completely dry before you add the second coat. If needed, lightly sand between coats to eliminate bumps and other imperfections before adding more coats. Always sand between coats with 320 grit sandpaper to get a smooth finish.
Do You Have to Sand Before Staining Wood? Wood needs to be sanded well before it can be stained. The process opens up the wood's pores to better absorb the stain. It also smoothes away scratches in the surface which will only be enhanced by stain.
Sanding motion: Pure linear motion. Application: Linear motion is ideal for sanding wood material along the grain. Note: Sanding with a linear motion along the grain does not damage wood fibres (important if the surface is to be oiled, waxed or coated with a thin layer of varnish afterwards, for example).
With a staining brush, work both with the grain and against it. Don't worry about being neat; all that matters is getting a nice, even, liberal coat over the wood. Wipe the stain off immediately if you'd like a lighter tone. But for a deeper tone, leave the stain on the wood for 5 to 10 minutes before wiping it off.
The primary function of staining is to provide color to a wood piece. If you sand in between coats of stain, you risk breaking the color and damaging the stain. Instead, you should sand the raw wood before applying a stain.
One common mistake is not replacing the sandpaper frequently enough, especially when it becomes clogged. This often happens due to a lack of experience or the desire to save money by using fewer sandpaper sheets. However, continuing to sand with worn or clogged sandpaper is a big mistake.
Don't push down, even the slightest bit. The weight of the tool and your hand is enough to get the results you want. In fact, pressing down can bog the motor, slowing down the process and harming the surface. Let the sandpaper do the work.
Dealing with Over-Sanded Wood
One of the most common mistakes is over-sanding, which can lead to an uneven, distorted floor surface.
USE THE PENCIL TRICK
This method provides a measurable way to know when your board is flat and you're ready to move on to the next grit. Here's how it works: Scribble light pencil lines all over the surface you're sanding. Use a light touch — you don't want to jam pieces of graphite into the grain.
Insufficient or poor sanding is a classic mistake common to a lot of beginning woodworkers. The wood is either given a quick, insufficient sanding; or else, if it is sanded to a finer grit, it is done haphazardly, and while skipping grits.
The Golden Rule of Sanding
The golden rule for choosing your sequence is to never skip more than 1 grit. For example, if you start with P80, and need to finish at P240, rather than using every grit from P80 – P220, you can do P80 – P120 – P180 – P240. This sequence cuts out P100, P150 and P220.
With enough time and energy spent sanding, you can still end up with the same result. However, because we skipped so many grits, it is going to take much more time and effort to lower the 80-grit peaks and establish the 180-grit scratch pattern that we need for a high-level finish.
For closed-grain woods (such as Cherry, Pine, Maple, Birch or Alder) that will be stained with water-based products use 150-grit followed by 220-grit. For open-grain woods (such as Oak, Ash, Mahogany, Parawood) that will be stained with water-based products use 120-grit, followed by 150-grit, then 180-grit.