Help please sanding staircase - sanding disc grades?

Are you removing existing finish? If so, start with some TSP cleaning solution to get the oily crud off and then follow with a chemical finish stripper ... possibly getting into tight spots with a toothbrush (someone elses' ).

Follow label directions (you'll want a paste-type) for clean up and / or neutralizing.

Then 120 grit will be enough if the new finish is going to be paint, but you'll need to start there but go higher if you are applying stain and / or varnish.

Bill

Hi, from one girl to another, we turners call sand paper, grits, and you start with the lower numbers, and work your way up through to the higher number grits. The numbers tell you how many particles there are per square centimetre. (I think that's right). So moving up to a larger number of particles means you remove more of the scratches you made with the last piece of grit, until the scratches are so many and so fine that is feels just like a babies bum. Hope this help make sense of it. Just lately had to do a lot of sanding down and this time used a random orbital sander, of what bliss, my arms and wrists didn't need to spend the next two days recovering. Hotfoot.

The bigger the number, the finer the scratches. Use the grits in sequence except that you might get away with jumping a few (one at a time) in the finer grits.

For a (varnished) railing you probably can stop at 180 or 200. (Fine furniture would go higher ... much higher.) Make the last strokes in the direction of the grain. For paint, most likely 120 grit is more than good enough.

Or if you really want it to shine after taking it to 400 grit and finishing with laquer, use the micro mesh pads on your RO sander. Cuts the need for rooton stone entirely. Great stuff, wash it in the pocket of your jeans and hang it up to dry and it's as good as new.

Dennis

"BillinDetroit"