Thread: Steel Wool / Scouring Pads between coats of lacquer

Its not necessary to sand with the grain between coats, a quick light circular motion is fast and easy and will denib the finish quite well.

If you use steel wool be sure to use stainless steel wool as little bits of ordinary steel
wool get caught in the finish and can turn black spoiling an otherwise good finish

You can use either or, But in my opinion sanding with abrasive paper is the better option by far, again it depends on the finish quality you want. But to confuse things, I use both. However, I only used steelwool / scouring pads on the turned sections and also the complex routed edges etc and also any square cornors.

As for sanding with the grain, Echidna is on the ball...However if your hand sanding it still is great practice to go with the grain especially if you are heavy handed. But if your using a high quality ROsander then its quick and painless with great results.

I actually find sanding AC lacquer rahter easy compared to some lacquers etc, but you need to get your mix acurate to help with the curing.