In my last blog I mentioned the need in my type of spoon finishing, in where I strive to achieve a “satin smooth” finish, of lots of careful sanding. It is essential to be very careful in sanding with the grain and NOT across the grain for even one stroke. Sanding across the grain will make deep scratches which will then take much sanding with the grain to remove.
A simple tool or tools I always use is from common wine corks – this take the hard work away from your finger pads. The photo below shows what I use, wrapping the sandpaper around the edge and then using it a a hard, yet forgiving surface.
The tool with a wooden handle is just half a cork glued onto a scrap of wood. These work extremely well for me saving my finger-pads especially in the spoon bowl.
Lastly I always keep the “worn smooth” pieces of the higher grit sandpaper (150 and above) and use these as an in-between sandpaper before I transition to a higher number grit. Certainly such worn out paper is what I use as my very final sand and burnish before I finalize with the finishing oil or wax.