Scratches

Hey all. I'm back. My new daughter is about 5 months old and sleeping through the night with some regularity now, and my laptop is fixed and I can actually up and download pictures to the web. Surprisingly, that was very hard to fix. I appear to be back in the saddle again after the roller coaster that was the last 6 months.

OK, on topic. Wide belt sanding on wood.

How does this look to you?

Of course everyone wants the best finish scratch they can get, and while many things can affect the aesthetics of the scratch, the scratch pattern is only changed when sanded by a physically different head, such as a drum head or a pad head. The depth of scratch on a steel drum head will be deeper than a soft rubber one, but the pattern will be the same.

Ok. Now that I've lost everybody, including myself....

As I've said before, one of the biggest reasons sanding wood well is so difficult, is something I like to call "subjective quality". What I mean by this is that the surface finish I like may be absolutely terrible to a coworker of mine, and vice versa. "How does this look?", is a question that I avoid when I can while discussing sanding and finishing with customers and clients of mine, not because I don't want to answer it, it is because I can't.

Why, you ask? It seems like a pretty innocuous point. "Do you like this finish?" Simple yes or simple no would do. It's not that I don't have an opinion. Opinions flow from me like......well I don't know, everything I can think of is gross, but trust me, 99% of the time, I have absolutely no problem expressing my opinion to anyone that will listen. Grrrrr....back on topic. Simple question, right?

Not so much. I can only answer this question if I am either a person about to buy this product, whatever it may be, or I am the manager or owner in charge of making these products for myself or to sell to others.

Not Quality, Quantity!

What I strive to do for my customers is to help them achieve the finish they want but even more importantly, I help them maintain that desired finish on every part, every day.

I cannot stress more the importance of the sentence above. It is relatively easy to get one of your cabinet doors, or conference tables, or office desks, or modesty panels perfect. The key is to be able to maintain that finish and color with perfect consistency, regardless of who is running the machines that produce that finish. Consistent quality is the goal.

2 Kinds of Manufacturers in the Wood Industry 1. Manufacturers that Make but don't Finish

One crucial factor of the subjective quality to the finish that is often overlooked on your product should be profitability. Many of the shops and factories I consult with strive valiantly to get the smoothest, glossiest, most perfect finish they can achieve. These perfect finishes, whiles very aesthetically pleasing, may not be the most profitable to the company, especially if you are a company that doesn't put the stain and lacquer on that fantastic finish. A great example of this occurring is in the engineered wood industry, at the the veneered particle board, MDF, or plywood manufacturer. Most of these factories are either buying or making their own veneer faces, pressing them onto the substrate, sanding the panels to a P150, P180 or P220 grit finish, and packaging them for transport to many, many distributors and manufacturers of fine furniture, cabinets, architectural millwork, etc. Here they are routed or cut to proper size and then sanded again prior to finishing. (See my "pre-sanded wood" blog entry.)

While it is understood that the panel manufacturer strives to sell the best quality panel they can, and that part of that process is removing layers of veneer tape, minor handling damage, and many other things, do they really need to sand to such a fine finish? Wouldn't a P80 or P100 finish work just as well as, if not better than the grit sequence normally used? The goal for the panel manufacturing industry shouldn't be the finish quality of the veneer face. These resources would be better utilized concentrating on substrate thickness tolerances, proper substrate densities, proper veneer face adhesion, etc.

I shouldn't pick on the panel plants specifically, because everything I mentioned above is applicable to any manufacturer of any component made from wood that sands their product but doesn't apply the final finish to it themselves. Scratch pattern shouldn't really be all that important to your final product.

I have two quick questions for you:

1. Wouldn't your customers choose to have thicker veneer/wood than a better finish from your industry? (not that your customers ever have to do rework!)

2. How much money could you save on abrasives if you only sanded to P120 instead of P220?

2. Manufacturers that Finish what they Make

I guess I'd like to start out with a quick question. What is the first thing your customer looks at?

Normally the answer to this is either design, or finish.

Design? Can't help you there. I have about as much imagination as does my new daughter, and she drools.

Finish. Here is where I might be able to find a couple pennies here and there. I'll be back next week with the conclusion to this post. (I've determined that if I want to carry on with this, it has to be when the wife is at the store AND the baby is sleeping, or at 3:00 in the morning.)

I think I just heard the garage door.........Hi honey..........of course, I'd LOVE to see your new nail polish........