I have to admit: I’m not one for trying new things. The sanding block in my shop is an old rubber block with tack ends that I inherited from my Dad’s garage. My choice of sandpaper has mostly been whatever is cheapest and simplest and for the most part I’ve been fine with that. To be honest, as I’ve gotten into hand planes and more shearing finishing techniques, sanding just isn’t something I do all that often.
But then enter maladies. I’m still a novice at this. I am by no means a master or an expert at hand tool woodworking and there’s a couple obvious things to cover here. First of all, I still from time to time make rookie mistakes or get confused by a grain switch and suffer borderline catastrophic tear out. Secondly, there’s times, sometimes related to the first, where there’s material that I don’t want anywhere near my finely honed plane blades. CA glue for one is a major culprit there.
When that’s the case, I often reluctantly resort to sanding. And since I loathe sanding what is better than a quality product that allows me to sand less.
I was fortunate enough to be re-selected for the Home Depot PROspective program and have partnered with DIABLO tools to feature a number of their products of my selection. This one was an obvious one. I’ll be featuring a few different products in the future but I’m starting here with the 1/3 Sheet Hand Sanding Block that comes with their SandNET sheets.
To begin, I’ve had mixed experiences with SandNET on random orbital sanders, so to say I was skeptical at first was probably an understatement. This block features a high density foam side and a softer foam side for curves and contours. The high density foam side is indeed dense and stays flat. The softer foam side isn’t exactly for tight radius inside curves but does operate well in dipping into low spots from tear out with a little pressure. The SandNET sheets attach via hook and loop and they stay on very solidly. As far as the quality of the SandNET sheets? I don’t know what DIABLO did in the past three years or so since I originally tried their product but it’s vastly improved.
The obvious statement is that the 80 grit SandNET, even when used by hand, absolutely eats. And as an avid joinery enthusiast, that precious fine dust that is being created is perfect for filling imperfections and it’s definitely of a finer grade than sawdust off your saw plate. The particular kit that was sent to me had 80, 120, and 220 grit and with this product, that appears to be the logical transition through the grits.
I think the most unique thing about this product though, is the reusability of the sheets. Traditional sandpaper clogs often with fine dust and then you can try and vacuum it or use one of those rubber sandpaper cleaners but that’s just a hassle. The SandNET sheets are actually washable. Yes, you read that correctly. You can rinse them under water, vacuum, and otherwise clean it a number of times before you actually need to replace it. That was instantly impressive.
I ended up utilizing it on a mitered dovetail box where I CA glued a void on the inside of the box. I didn’t dare send my timber slick or block plane after it, and card scraper burrs love to fall victim to CA glue after a few passes. Traveling through the grits with this block was exactly what the doctor ordered and gave me a clean surface that actually bore some sheen which is nice.
I’ll have a YouTube video up in the next week or two on the box where you can see the SandNET in action.
For more on the DIABLO 1/3 Sheet Reusable Hand Sanding Block check it out here: http://homedepot.sjv.io/c/2589535/1208502/8154