Match the grit to the surface
- Saw marks, glue lines, dents: 80 grit.
- Planer or jointer marks: 100 to 120 grit; machine ripples are shallow.
- New, clean lumber from the store: 120 grit.
- After a hand plane or card scraper: 150 or 180; the surface is already smooth.
Why starting coarse costs time
A coarser grit cuts faster but leaves deeper scratches. An 80-grit scratch needs 120 and then 150 or 180 to disappear. If the surface only needed 120, the 80 added two full passes and a chance to dish the wood.
Then climb one step at a time
Go 80, 120, 150, 180, skipping one grit at most. Going from 80 straight to 180 leaves scratches that only show once finish goes on. Check between grits by wiping with mineral spirits and looking across a low light.
Where to stop
For most film finishes, 150 to 180 is enough; going much finer can burnish the wood and reduce how well some finishes bond.
On our shelf
Our abrasives shelf covers discs, sheets, pads and cleaning sticks, from 6 in hook-and-loop discs in 60 to 400 grit for the sander to wet-and-dry sheets from P400 to P3000 for finish work.
What comes up most often
Is it wrong to start at 60 or 80 grit?
Only if the surface does not need it. 60 and 80 grit remove saw marks, dents and glue fast, but each scratch they leave takes two or three finer grits to erase. On a planed board, starting at 80 adds work and risk.
How do I know when to move to the next grit?
When the scratches from the current grit have replaced every mark from the step before. Pencil a light scribble over the surface: when it is gone, the surface is evenly sanded at that grit. Wiping with mineral spirits and looking against a low light shows leftover scratches.
Are European P grits the same as US grits?
Close enough at these numbers. European paper is marked with P grades (FEPA), US paper often with CAMI numbers; up to about 220 the two are within a few percent, so P120 and 120 behave alike. They diverge at the very fine end.
Last reviewed October 27, 2026