Total beginner: is my sanding going well?
Hello! I've always been dreaming of woodworking, and finally decided to get some tools and grease my elbows. I decided to get started with a furniture renewal project before I build things from scratch, to get some experience working with tools, stains, etc.
I got a nice old wooden table with a lot of damage and stains to sand and re-stain, and I'm just curious for a more experienced set of eyes to tell me if sanding is going well, or if I'm doing something wrong. I may be getting ahead of myself and just need more patience, and that would be good to confirm as well :)
The picture is the state of the tabletop after about 10 full passes with 80 grit. Does it seem to be a reasonable progress?
In addition, the table's grain is textured, meaning some parts of it are sorta deeper along the grain lines. Would I need to sand it completely flat before refinishing it, or can I keep some of the depth differences to keep a rustic feeling? I mean, the original stain would probably stay inside the deeper parts - would that look awful? And if it would, is there a way to sand inside the grooves completely flattening the tabletop?
Posted Jul 9, 2025, 6:05 PM UTC