Sanding

I was just talking to someone about using my new not-a-Dremel for sanding and it occurred to me how much it won't add to what I already do!  I have managed happily for a long time now with the contents of this box as my total sanding equipment:

something else with a permanent home on my work table - the sanding equipment box

Here are the contents in detail...

guess which is the favourite

The battered old sponge covered in very fine sanding paper is four years old and is used all the time so it has done well to get to this point.  I have been trying to find its replacement without success.  The nearest I can get is the white Polar Block and the flat sanding sponges by Diall.  I suspect neither will replace the old favourite - a painter's smoothing sponge..... I so wish I could find another in this super-fine grit.  (The Diall sponges are actually in a drawer, not in my table top box - which speaks volumes)

sanding 'sticks'

I love all the great cosmetic nail thingies you can buy like this one which has seven (!) grades of surfaces.  They wear out fairly fast but are cheap and easy to replace.  It makes a quick reach and is great for knocking off edges and corners.  

Next to them are little sanding sticks in all grades of paper.  Many people love them and I see droves of people picking them up at shows.  They are OK if its the only way you can get in between something fiddly but, in truth, I hardly ever use them.

sort of Abranet??

I have saved another goody until last.  A while ago I had a little kit from Jane Harrop and with it came a small piece of something called Abranet which was just terrific for that very fine finishing you need to do on pieces. It washed afterwards and it went on and on unlike anything dependent on paper.  It is like an abrasive nylon material?  Sadly the piece I had was very tiny and has gone to live with the Borrowers - left it on my table, there one minute, gone the next!

I spent a while considering replacing it but decided I didn't want the large amounts I seemed to find on line and at the prices they charged... Then.... in B & Q one day I spotted this and I think it is very similar, just not quite as flexy as it has a sift fuzzy backing.  I presume the backing is to grip on a tool of some sort.  It does the best of jobs between coats of paint and has washed and dried just fine.

In addition to these things, in a drawer, which is why I forgot to photograph them, I do have ordinary bits of sanding paper in a 400 grit which also works nicely.

As you can see I do seem to have overkill here but as it all goes in a fairly small plastic box on the table so that's fine by me.