What Grit Should You Sand Woodturning Projects To?
There is no single grit that every woodturning project should be sanded to.
For most of my bowl work, I normally power sand through 120, 180, 220 and 320 grit, before doing my final finishing stages with 500 grit wet & dry paper followed by artificial wool.
With spindle work, I will often start at 180 grit if the surface coming off the tools is already good.
The important part is not automatically starting at the coarsest grit you have. You should start with the finest grit capable of removing the remaining tool marks and surface damage.
If the tool finish is good, there may be absolutely no reason to start at 120 grit.
I Didn't Always Understand Sandpaper
I was a carpenter for 11 years, both as an apprentice and later qualified, and for much of that time I didn't really understand what sandpaper was doing.
My idea of sanding was generally 150 grit followed by a fine sanding pad. That was good enough for much of the building-site work I was doing so it was clean for the painter but not for my own finishing.
There was also a certain amount of the old "who cares, it's the painter's job" attitude that you picked up along the way.
Unfortunately, when I started woodturning, that same ignorance followed me into the workshop.
I find it funny now when I tell students that I once had a drawer full of used sandpaper. I thought I was saving perfectly usable abrasive when, in reality, much of what I was doing was simply rubbing and burnishing the wood rather than sanding it effectively.
Nobody taught me any different along the way.
It wasn't until I attended a day's tuition with Glenn Lucas that I really began to understand the purpose of sanding.
Two things Glenn said that day have stayed with me:
"Use sandpaper like someone else is paying for it."
and
"Sandpaper is a cutting tool, not an abrasive. Use it once and discard it."
The important lesson was that sandpaper needs to cut.
The abrasive particles cut away surface fibres and scratches. Once those particles are worn or clogged, continuing to rub the same piece of sandpaper against the wood achieves very little and can generate unnecessary heat.
I have used many different abrasives over the years, and I look at the ones I prefer in more detail in What is the Best Sandpaper for Woodturning?
Each Grit Has a Job
One of the biggest things to understand about sanding woodturning projects is that sandpaper leaves scratches.
That is exactly what it is supposed to do.
The next grit in the sequence removes the scratches left by the previous grit, while leaving finer scratches of its own. You continue that process until the scratches are sufficiently fine for the surface and finish you want.
This is why jumping too far between grits can cause problems.
It is also why starting unnecessarily coarse can actually create more work.
If you attack a piece with 80 grit and push hard into the timber, you can create scratches deep enough that the next grit — perhaps 100 or 120 — struggles to remove them completely.
Those scratches may only become obvious when the finish goes on.
Get the Best Tool Finish You Can First
Before you reach for sandpaper, always try to get the best surface you can straight from the tool.
One thing I regularly point out to students is the appearance of white rings in the end-grain areas of a bowl. These can be a sign of bruising caused by applying too much pressure as the tool passes over the end grain.
Once that bruising is there, sanding it out can take far more work than you expect.
You may need to stay at a lower grit for longer to remove it completely, and that creates another problem: while you are concentrating on one damaged area, it is very easy to oversand the surrounding timber and begin altering the shape of the bowl.
That is why sanding should not be used to correct everything the turning tool leaves behind.
Whenever possible, improve the cut first. A cleaner off-the-tool finish means you can start with a finer abrasive, remove less timber and spend far less time sanding.
Good sanding starts with good tool work. If you are still getting to grips with the basic turning tools, I cover the tools I recommend starting with in Beginner Woodturning Tools: What to Buy First and What to Avoid.
Be Careful With 80 and 100 Grit
I regularly advise my students and customers to be cautious with very coarse abrasives such as 80 and 100 grit.
They certainly have their uses, but they should not become a substitute for good tool work.
Heavy sanding can create several problems.
Deep scratches need even more sanding to remove them. Softer areas of the grain can also sand away faster than harder areas, creating depressions or an uneven surface.
On bowls in particular, excessive sanding and the heat it generates can even begin to distort the piece.
Sometimes a rough area does need aggressive sanding. The trick is to use the coarse grit where it is needed rather than automatically attacking the entire project with it.
What Grit Do I Use on Bowls?
My normal rule of thumb for bowls is:
120 → 180 → 220 → 320 grit
That doesn't mean every bowl gets exactly the same treatment.
If the surface is reasonably good but I have torn grain around the end-grain areas of the bowl, I can concentrate briefly on those areas with the coarser grit and then blend the sanding into the surrounding surface.
There is little benefit in aggressively sanding areas that were already clean from the tool.
Likewise, if my first 120-grit disc has done most of the work but hasn't completely removed a tool mark, I may use another fresh 120-grit disc rather than immediately moving on to 180.
Moving to the next grit before the previous grit has completed its job simply carries the problem further through the sanding process.
I will also sand problem areas with the bowl stationary before beginning normal power sanding. This is particularly useful around end-grain areas where torn fibres can be more difficult to deal with.
After power sanding to 320 grit, I normally continue my finishing process with 500-grit wet-and-dry paper and wool to produce the brighter finish I prefer.
That is my process rather than a rule that every woodturner has to follow.
This sanding sequence also forms part of the wider process I use when taking timber from its rough state through to a finished piece, which I explain in My Woodturning Process – From Log to Finished Piece.
What Grit Should You Use for Spindle Work?
Spindle work is often different.
A well-cut spindle can come off a skew, spindle gouge or other tool with a much cleaner surface than some areas of a bowl.
If the tool finish is good, I may simply begin at 180 grit.
There is no benefit in automatically sanding the entire piece with 120 grit just because 120 happens to be the first abrasive in the box.
However, I do keep 120-grit Sianet handy for spindle work.
Sometimes there will be a small tool mark that is almost invisible but becomes apparent when I begin sanding. A quick touch with the 120-grit Sianet can remove that mark very efficiently.
I don't then sand the whole spindle with 120.
I use it only on the problem area, remove the mark, blend that area into the surrounding timber and then continue through the normal finer grits.
For example:
Good tool finish: start at 180 grit and continue through the finer grades.
One small tool mark: use 120 grit briefly on that area, blend it in and then continue from 180.
Several obvious tool marks: it may be better to start the sanding sequence at 120 — or, if possible, improve the surface with the turning tool first.
That judgement is one of the things experience teaches you.
The abrasives, sanding discs and mandrels I use for this type of work are also covered in my Sanding Essentials for Woodturning section.
So, What Grit Should You Start Sanding With?
Start with the finest grit that will efficiently remove the defects that are actually present.
Don't start at 80 or 120 grit simply because you think every sanding sequence has to begin there.
If 180 grit removes the remaining marks, start at 180. You can always use a fresh sandpaper of the same grit, going back over the same work if the first one didn't do the job fully.
If a bowl has torn grain around its end-grain zones, use a harsher grit where it is needed and then blend the area before moving through the finer grits.
If the whole surface genuinely needs 120 grit, use it — but let the abrasive do the cutting rather than forcing it into the timber.
What Grit Should You Finish Woodturning At?
For my own work, 320 grit is normally the final stage of power sanding, followed by my additional finishing process.
Another woodturner may stop earlier or continue finer depending on the timber, the project and the finish being applied.
The final grit is therefore only part of the answer.
Good sanding is really about using each grit to remove the marks left by the previous stage while avoiding unnecessary sanding of timber that was already clean.
The better your tool finish becomes, the less sanding you should need.
And that is ultimately the goal: sand only as aggressively as the piece actually requires.
If you are learning woodturning, you can find more practical advice on tools, techniques, sharpening, timber and finishing in my Woodturning Guides & Articles.
Thanks for Reading,
David
P.S. If you found this article useful and you're a member of a woodturning forum, club or discussion group, you're very welcome to share it there if it's relevant to a conversation. It may help another turner too. You can share this post using the three dots at the top of the page, or directly from the Blog list page.
──────────── ✿ ────────────
If you’d like to support what I do here, there’s a small “buy me a coffee” option below.
──────────── ✿ ────────────
☕ Buy Me a Coffee?
I used to run ads on my website to generate a small income, but they slowed things down and didn’t fit the feel of what I’m building here. So, I’ve removed them in favor of something simpler and more personal—a “Buy Me a Coffee” button.
If you found this post interesting, helpful, or simply enjoyable, feel free to use the link below to show your support. No pressure at all—but every little bit helps, and it’s always genuinely appreciated. As a small independent maker, I rely on a mix of teaching, crafting, and sharing to keep things going. This is just one way to help keep the shavings flying. Thanks so much!
About the Author
I’m David Condon, a woodturner and small business owner based in Tralee, Co. Kerry. I’ve been working with wood for most of my life at this stage — 11 years as a carpenter and over a decade running my own woodturning business.
Over the years, I’ve learned that woodturning is as much about patience and problem-solving as it is about tools and technique. I work mainly with Irish hardwoods, teach woodturning full-time, and spend most days learning something new in the workshop myself. On this site, I share the same practical knowledge I pass on to my students, shaped by experience, mistakes, and time spent at the lathe. If you’re interested in learning in person, I offer woodturning lessons in Tralee, with details available on my Woodturning Tuition page.
© David Condon Woodcraft – All Rights Reserved.
More Woodturning Pages to Explore
● Hampshire Sheen - Fine Finishing products that will highlight your project pieces
● Hamlet Tools - Fantastic Woodturning Tools from a well trusted brand
● Woodcraft Hub - View my woodcraft creations for inspiration of gift buying.
● Sanding Essentials - Essential sanding products for Woodturners & Woodworkers.
● Woodturning Blanks - A fine range of Hardwood Spindle Blanks & a few Bowl Blanks too!
● Woodturning Pen Blanks - A huge assortment of Acrylic & Irish Hardwood Pen Blanks.
● Crafter's Haven – A vast range of craft supplies for crafters and gift givers!
Original content © David Condon Woodcraft — Written by David Condon. Please credit and link if shared.
Comments