Sander advice, please.

[d0gsb0dy]

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

[spaudi]

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.