Serious question, what's your take on the whole 'no sanding between coats' thing?

I was at a big woodworking show in Atlanta last year and watched a demo by a guy who builds high-end furniture. He said he never sands between coats of finish, just applies three thin coats of a specific oil-based varnish, then does one final light sanding. He claimed it saves about 2 hours on an average cabinet and makes a stronger bond. I've always been taught to sand lightly between every single coat. Now I'm torn. Has anyone else tried skipping the between-coat sanding on a real project, and how did it turn out?

3 comments

3 Comments

paige_owens516d ago

Read an article from a boat builder who said the same thing. His point was that modern finishes are made to stick to themselves, and sanding just makes more dust to clean up. Tried it on a maple table with water based poly, just three coats back to back. The finish came out totally smooth, no dust nibs or anything. It felt weird not sanding, like I was breaking a rule. But it saved a ton of time and I can't tell the difference looking at it now.

smith.nancy16d ago

Wait, you didn't sand at all between coats? That goes against everything I've ever done. @paige_owens5, I'm honestly shocked it worked with water based poly, that stuff usually dries so fast it seems like it would need the scratch from sanding to grab. The idea of skipping all that dust is really tempting, though. It just feels so wrong to break a rule that's been drilled into my head for years. Maybe the boat builder is onto something with modern finishes.

xena_bailey1816d ago

My uncle's old shop teacher swore by that method, like @paige_owens5 said, and his stuff looked amazing.