Wood-working for Beginners: A Manual for Amateurs

by Charles G. Wheeler

Sandpaper.—The fineness of sandpaper is indicated by numbers—00 (the finest), 0, ½, 1, 1½, 2, 2½ and 3 (the coarsest). You will use the fine and medium numbers more than the very coarse ones, and will seldom require coarser than 1½. Test sandpaper, when buying, by rubbing the sand a little with your hand to see if it is securely stuck on, and tear the paper a little to see if it is strong.

Never use sandpaper until all the cutting with the tools is done. Sandpaper with the grain, except for work which is to be painted.

The proper use of sandpaper, as a rule, for such work as you will do, is merely to give a little extra smoothness, to take out little scratches, to round edges, and the like, but not to cut away the wood and scrub it into the shape you wish. To use it much, except to skim over your work, is apt to get you into a slovenly style of working, and the result will lack the sharp accuracy of good work. Do not rely on the sandpaper to remove the defects in your work. Do the work right and you will need but little sandpaper, except in a few operations which will be specified when there is occasion.

Fig. 651.

For flat surfaces it is well to fold the sandpaper over a flat block of cork or wood (Fig. 651), the edges of which have been slightly rounded. If the surface is curved, the block should be curved correspondingly. A piece of thick rubber or leather which can be bent to fit the surface is excellent. Care should be taken not to round the corners and edges of the work when sandpapering.

In sandpapering any very delicate piece of work, when the edge might get rounded or the surface scratched by the stiffness of even the finest sandpaper, as in rubbing down finished work, split the paper, which you can easily do by removing the outer layer of paper from the back, when the remaining part to which the sand adheres will be much softer and more flexible.

Saw.—Saws are used for cutting across the grain and with the grain and there are various kinds for special purposes.

The cross-cutting saw is used, as the name indicates, for cutting across the grain of wood and for ordinary work. The blade is usually thicker at the teeth than at the back, to stiffen it and to enable it to pass through the wood more freely. From 18" to 24" is a good length for a cross-cutting saw (or more commonly called panel-saw) for your work, with about eight to ten teeth to the inch.