Had a moment yesterday where I realized I've been sanding wrong for 20 years

I was at my bench working on a maple door panel, and a guy I sometimes swap tips with came by to grab some offcuts. He watched me sand for like 30 seconds and goes 'you're going against the grain there man.' I looked down and yeah, I was doing cross-grain swirls with 120 grit like some rookie. All these years I just grabbed the paper and went back and forth without paying attention to the wood direction. Now I gotta redo that whole panel. Anyone else ever get a basic thing pointed out that you just never noticed?

3 comments

3 Comments

sean_green441mo ago

Read somewhere that most people sand wrong for years before someone calls them out on it. At least you caught it on a maple panel instead of some expensive figured walnut.

blairc901mo ago

Man I've been gripping my chef's knife like a caveman for 15 years, probably looked like I was trying to choke it out. Now I gotta go watch a YouTube video just to unlearn my whole technique.

hannah3201mo ago

Jump over to auto repair forums and you'll see the same thing. Guys who've been changing their own oil for a decade still put the wrong weight in or forget to check the crush washer. My dad taught me to cook and it took me until I was 30 to realize he never actually showed me how to properly hold a chef's knife. It's wild how we pick up habits fast and just run with them for years without ever stopping to question if they're right. Makes you wonder what other stuff we're all doing slightly wrong without knowing it.