Caught an old timer in Stockton sanding with the grain backwards

I was at a shop in Stockton watching a guy sand a face frame and he was going cross-grain on the end panels. Told me he'd been doing it that way for 30 years. Has anyone else run into old habits like that at a supplier's shop?

2 comments

2 Comments

oscarthompson15d ago

I read a piece in Fine Woodworking a few years back where a guy argued that sanding cross-grain actually scratches the fibers in a way that shows up under stain later. It stuck with me because I never would have thought about it that way. Thirty years is a long time to do something a certain way, but I wonder if that fellow has ever had a job come back with the finish looking uneven or splotchy. Maybe he gets away with it on certain woods, but on something like oak or walnut, that cross-grain sanding can leave a mess once the finish hits it.

reese_fox15d ago

@oscarthompson yeah that scratches fibers thing stuck with me too. Saw a guys dresser get blotchy from that once.