Learn Basic Safety Instructions for a Finishing Sander

Series Summary

Woodworking is an incredibly rewarding hobby that allows you to refine your creativity as you cut, saw, glue, and sand. Regardless of what point you are in your construction process, good tools are a necessity and power tools are a great luxury. A finishing sander is one such nice power tool; it cuts down on the need for copious amounts of elbow grease, while at the same time increasing the efficiency of your woodworking project. Using this tool well allows you to refine and finish the surface of your woodworking project. Knowing how to effectively use a finishing sander is as important as possessing one; to wit, learning how to use a finishing sander should follow the purchase of such a great power tool. If you would like to learn how to use a finishing sander, you can learn for free, online, from one of our experts.

In this free online video series, learn how to use a finishing sander and how to maintain it, from woodworking instructor Jon Olson. He will teach you the parts of a finishing sander, and general safety and electrical safety for using a finishing sander. Jon will demonstrate how to replace the sandpaper of your finishing sander, how to hold your finishing sander, how to use proper sanding technique with a finishing sander, how to sand edges of wood using a finishing sander, how to use the power switch, and how to clean and store a finishing sander.

Video Transcript

"Hi, this is Jon on behalf of ExpertVillage. In this video clip, I'll be talking about general safety. First off, you want to make sure that your work area is kept clean. Any type of sawdust or chunks of scrap lumber could be a slip or a trip hazard. Next, you want to make sure that you are working in a well lit environment. It is very difficult to work in the dark. If you're sanding on your work piece and you accidently hit a nail, you could cause sparks to fly. So, you want to make sure you're not working in a dusty or any type of environment where there is explosives. Lastly, you want to make sure that anyone watching is at a safe distance. Any distractions from them could cause you to lose control, or if any type of material or debris kicked up it could potentially injure them."