And you thought I was going to make a Wilbur Pan joke. Shame on you. I’m going to unsubscribe to your comments.
If you don’t use sanding sponges while finishing, you might want to give them a try. When I started at Popular Woodworking, we used stearated (lubricated) sandpaper (which is expensive) between coats of film finishes.
Ten years ago, contributor Troy Sexton showed me how he used sanding sponges with great results. And they cost much less money. I still have the first one I bought on the way home from Troy’s. It doesn’t cut as well as it used to, but it’s still got some life left in it.
I’ve also bought a couple new ones (spendthrift, I know), including this #320-grit 3M sponge, which I quite like. It is firm enough to handle flat surfaces. And it is thick enough and pliable enough to handle turnings (except the really tight areas).
Armed with these sponges, I can ignore the oft-repeated advice to work in a dust-proof and CDC microbe-free clean area.
— Christopher Schwarz
Why does your “little buddy” have his back to the camera and what is he doing to that piece of mahogany?
I’ve had good luck with these sand blocks from Tools For Working Wood. They are easy to grip and have just enough cushion. It also lets you hold multiple sheets of paper. Good all-around solution:
http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/store/dept/TFA/item/MS-PREPWEA.XX
You are going to unsubscribe to my comments? Oh yeah? Well I am going to unsubscribe to your unsubscribing to my comments times infinity. So take that!
I had always assumed that sanding sponges were just sandpaper + glue + sponge. Are they actually abrasive filled sponges like the sanding eraser things (rubber + abrasive)? Or how do you get such life out of them. Or is it like me and my collection of used but not used up bits of sandpaper for when you need kind of but not super warn out paper.
At least the ones I have are a layer of abrasive on a firm sponge block. I’ve had them for a few years and in some places they have worn through. So it’s not like a waterstone or grinding wheel. But I’ve used them for some pretty aggressive sanding at times; for just smoothing finish coats I imagine they last even longer.
There is a layer of glue&abrasive about 1/16″thick on these sponges. However, even when completely worn out, they make a great sanding block when wrapped in the paper of your choice for moldings, curved surfaces, easing hard edges, etc. and have enough give to use for de-nibbing between coats of lacquer/conversion varnish without generating “pills” on overly fresh material. (of course, everyone has enough time to simply wait until it is cured before sanding, right?). They conform nicely to crown moldings curves, and the corners are firm enough to work out mill marks in the fillets without destroying the corners. Yeah, I know, I should probably use molding planes for the next run of 800 feet of crown to avoid this issue…
Oh Boy. Whatever you do, please don’t post about “Old Brown Glue”!
Why are you rubbing Wilbur up and down your wood in effigy?
Pervert…
Unsubscribe.
Or something.
I think Chris is running a string of “Shiny Woodworking Tools” posts to deflect readers from the “Raney is Dead, Paul is Alive” debacle.
Whew. I thought I was ‘low rent’ for using these. I was never going to admit it. Nice to see someone high up on the food chain likes these.
I returned to this blog after unsubscribing to see if I could remove the posts that I had made; thinking them a bit harsh, but now that I have seen this one, I am both glad that I unsubscribed and glad that I cannot remove my posts. As Mr. Schwarz ties the phrase, “Abrasive yellow buddy” to a Taiwanese celebrity, it is obvious that he has no sense of tact or respect for others whatsoever. It is as if he is intentionally posting something overtly racist just to see if he can offend even more of his audience.
I have purchased many LAP publishings for myself and for friends and family and was eagerly awaiting the release of his book on campaign furniture; and had intentions of purchasing four or five copies for the people that I had been telling about it. Now, not only have I settled comfortably into my decision to unsubscribe from this blog, I have also resolved to never purchase anything else from LAP again. What really upsets me is that I don’t feel that I can enjoy the other LAP books I have purchased anymore. I will keep them for reference purposes only, but I know that every time I refer to them, I will now be reminded of Mr. Schwarz as not only juvenile, but as an uncaring bigot.
For the record, I’ve been on the receiving end of many a racist, uncaring, and/or bigoted comment, both in person, and online. This post is not one of them.
Also for the record, I’m looking forward to the campaign furniture book from my round-eyed friend.
Youse guys crack me up! 🙂 (Says the Dego Guinea Jersey guy…)
Oh, I get it… this is one of those, “It’s okay, one of my best friends is asian/white, so I can say as many racist remarks as I please” king of things, right?
Well, don’t let me stop you. Feel free to fight for your right to be juvenile and offensive all in the name of friendly humor.
Unbelievable.
I am still confused. Who are these “cool” woodworkers people keep talking about? Chris, is cool? I have met the man, and cool is not one of the adjectives I would use to describe him. I like him, but cool he is not.
Again, for the record:
I am the “Wilbur Pan” referred to in this post.
I am of Chinese descent.
I have had plenty of experience in my life fielding racist comments.
I do not find this post to be racist in any way.
I think that the conclusion I have reached about whether this post contains a racist joke made at my expense is entirely my call.
Brian,
I think you are getting yourself worked up. I see you are a religious man. Consider these versus.
James 3:2 “…if any man does not stumble in word he is perfect…”
Mattew 7:5 “…first extract the rafter from you own eye…”
1 Peter 4:8 “…love covers a multitude of sins.”
1 John 4:8 “…God is love.”
Ephesians 4:31,32 “…Put away…anger, wrath,…abusive speech, as well as everything injurious…freely forgiving one another just as…Christ freely forgave you”
You’ll feel better if you let it go. I think deep down you know that too. Take care.
Sort of Brian, it goes back to what I said earlier, it is okay if you are in the inner circle of cool guy woodworkers, or wannabes, then you can insult, or crack humorless jokes, and everybody yuck yucks. Time to move on and read blogs I can learn something from, and there are many.
Just so you are clear, and in one place – as the “victim” of the other post you un subscribed from, I’m also singularly unoffended.
As a person who is completely unharmed by this, and has vowed to never return only to return twice to add more commentary explicating exactly why you’re so disgusted, I have to ask myself If perhaps you aren’t “getting something” out of your self righteous anger.
I was going to post about this on my own blog, but decided to let it just drift away. What I was going to say, though, was that while I understand how some might find these things not very funny, or childish (most certainly) or even in poor taste… The level of “offense” taken by some is a bit strange to me. I do feel bad for the people who took the obituary of me seriously. I know that was not at all the intent.
Ask yourself this: have you ever looked at someone and thought: “you know – that guy really needs to be a lot more easily offended”.
How about “that guy really shouldn’t take himself so seriously”
If your religion is separating you from your fellow man, perhaps you aren’t doing it right. The root of the word is, after all, about the ties that bind us.
Though I have unsubscribed from this blog, I am still trying to figure out how to stop replies from coming into my email and notification section, but since I am here, I will comment on how typical it is that, as a last resort, people will start commenting on the faith of someone.
I have not once mentioned my personal faith in any of this, yet when people go outside of this blog to my personal blog and discover my faith, they find it necessary to appeal to my faith by either misusing scripture or to think that they know how my faith is supposed to work and then tell me that i am doing it wrong.
By all means, all of you are free to fight to the death for your right to be juvenile and offensive and make light of these things. It is obvious that tasteless, childish and offensive humor is more important to the people here than simply sharing knowledge, skill and information.
Brian – you mention having your church pray for my family in your first reply.
I’m not attacking anyone’s faith. But it’s hard not to notice that certain brands of faith and self-righteousness have a tendency to go together. Not sure it’s the case with yours (don’t know or care what it is) but I made a calculated guess.
Brian, all of us non-white people thank you for being offended on our behalf. Not only do we love it when white people tell us what we should find offensive, we break out the sparklers and vuvuzelas when white people are offended for us. Bonus points for defining good taste, humor, and the role of a blog (that isn’t yours) for everyone. SUPER MEGA BONUS SCORE for the blanket judgements of people who don’t share your definition. Yours is a completely unoffensive way to throw a tantrum. Way to go!
Raney, you type real good for a dead guy. Can you help me write a petition for 3M to manufacture some brown sanding sponges? While my Filipino half is thrilled to be getting the smooth on, the other half of me feels unrepresented.
Hate to see people always hassling you over inconsequential crap but I have to say I was kind of put off by the asian guy reference just to support the title gag. This blog is one of the first places I direct people when they ask me about woodworking, so it’s unsettling to be greeted by a weird joke like that.
I mean, it’s funny when Inspector Clouseau calls Cato his “little yellow friend” but Clouseau is an idiot fictional character and you aren’t.
“but Clouseau is an idiot fictional character and you aren’t.” Don’t be too sure about that. Chris has been called the Stephen Colbert of woodworking.
Haha! Looks like someone “got Panned” 😉
You know, It is Friday the 13th. 🙁