I have just taken up French polishing as a hobby and would like to know if it is best to sand down timber with a sander or by hand. If the former, which would be the best type of sander, rotary or belt? Thanks in advance. d0gsb0dy
Assuming you are working with hardwoods such as oak or mahogany, get yourself a set of scrapers and learn how to use them - scraping does not clog up the grain as readily as sanding. Preparing the scrapers for use is good fun as well!!
Whenever I have used a rotary sander to get a fine finish I always found small circular marks caused by the action of the sander and grains of dust treapped on the sanding sheets.