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Unpopular opinion: I've gone back to using a hand plane for final smoothing on solid wood doors

For years I used a random orbit sander, convinced it was faster and just as good. That changed after a big maple kitchen job where the sander left a slight haze I couldn't get rid of. Now I take the extra ten minutes per door to use a sharp No. 4 plane for the final pass. The surface is clearer and the glue-up lines practically vanish. Anyone else find power sanding can sometimes leave a less-than-perfect finish on certain woods?
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3 Comments
kelly_rivera
I've had the same thing happen with cherry.
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hernandez.gavin
My neighbor's cherry tree dropped a ton of fruit last year and it stained her concrete patio. What kind of mess did the cherry make for you?
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fionanguyen
fionanguyen6d agoMost Upvoted
What grit do you stop at before you switch to the plane?
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