Most sanding frustration comes from skipping grits, not from sanding too little. Three steps, no jumping, and the finish takes care of itself.
Step 1 · Flatten with 80 grit
Remove mill marks, glue squeeze-out, and uneven joints. Sand until the surface looks uniformly dull — shiny spots mean low areas you have not touched yet.
Step 2 · Refine with 120 grit
This pass removes the 80-grit scratches. Keep the sander moving at a slow walk; pressing harder does not speed things up, it just digs trenches.
Step 3 · Finish with 180–220 grit
The final pass before finish. Wipe with a damp cloth afterward to raise the grain, let it dry, then give it one last whisper pass. Stain and oil will thank you.
Corners need a different tool
An orbital pad cannot reach into corners without rounding them. That is the whole job of a detail sander — pointed pad, same three-grit logic, edges that stay crisp.
The sanding pair
Smoothpro Finish Orbital Sander ($88.00) for the flats, Edgeline Detail Sander ($59.00) for everything the circle cannot reach.