What Grit For Sanding Cabinets

Equipped with 100 grit sandpaper orbital sanders remove surface material from cabinets and doors without going too deep.

What grit for sanding cabinets.

The grit you start with depends on the surface quality of your workpiece. The lower the number the coarser the grit. On a board just milled to thickness with a well tuned planer you can usually start sanding with 150 grit. Orbital sanders are best for bulk sanding.

Belt sanders come in 3 21 and 4 24 models so you can plan accordingly when looking at the best sandpaper. Hand sanding between coats is the best way to ensure a smooth final finish and there really isn t any upper limit to the grit you should use it all depends on your project. Use an orbital sander to sand wood. Lower grit numbers represent coarser abrasives that scrape off materials much quicker.

If the cabinets are stained or coated with a single layer of clear finish you may not need to use paint stripper. Sandpaper is rated numerically according to the size of the grit particles. If you are sanding cabinet doors or drawer fronts then starting at an 80 grit and working to a 120 or 150 grit is a great way to reduce time spent with an orbital sander. Light grit sandpaper such as 120 or 180 grit on an orbital won t remove material fast enough.

Once you have completed smoothing the surface you can paint it to further reduce any evidence that a repair was made. The most efficient method of doing this is to begin sanding with a coarse enough grit of sandpaper to cut through and remove the problems quickly then sand out the coarse grit scratches with finer and finer grits until you reach the smoothness you want usually up to 150 180 or 220 grit. The grit of sandpapers is a rating of the size of abrasive materials on the sandpaper. Sand the finish from the cabinets trim and drawers with 120 grit sandpaper.

If you bought a presurfaced board you might have to start with 120 grit to remove incidental scratches that were on the board when you got it. And the higher the number the finer the sandpaper. 4 for sanding and repainting wood surface wood surfaces such as baseboards can get pretty roughed up over time.