Caught myself sanding end grain in the wrong direction for years

I mean maybe it's just me but I watched a guy at a shop in Nashville breeze through end grain smoothing while I was still fighting tearout. He just started with 80 grit going diagonal, not straight across like I always did. Switched to that method on my current walnut desk project and it cut my sanding time by maybe 40 percent. Anyone else have a basic technique they overlooked for way too long?

2 comments

2 Comments

bailey.xena16d ago

I started with 80 grit going diagonal" this is the exact tip I read about in some woodworking blog like 6 months ago. I'd been fighting with end grain for years thinking I just needed more elbow grease or better paper. Tried it on a cherry table top I was finishing and my god what a difference. The diagonal approach catches the fibers from multiple angles instead of just pushing them around. I think the trick is it breaks up the grain pattern gradually instead of trying to slam through it all at once. Still can't believe I spent so much time sanding the wrong way like a total goofball.

adamcoleman15d ago

I've actually had the opposite experience with diagonal sanding on end grain. Tried it on a walnut cutting board last year and ended up with visible swirls that wouldn't come out no matter how many grits I went through. In my experience, sticking with straight back-and-forth motions along the grain has been way more predictable for end grain work. The diagonal method seems to work best on face grain or softwoods where the fibers are more forgiving. For dense hardwoods like cherry or maple, any cross-grain sanding just creates chatter marks that show up after the first coat of finish. Your mileage may vary of course, but I've seen too many projects ruined by people going diagonal without testing on scrap first.