Trick of the Trade: Stop Scratching Baseboards

Feb 14, 2012

photo of a sander If you have an edger that tends to scratch baseboards, you can make a "base saver" out of scrap wood. Take a piece of ³/₄-inch-thick wood about 3 feet long and cut off a ¹/₈-inch-thick strip (a piece of cabinet scribe would also work). Glue a small block of wood to one end so the strip will stand up on edge. Place this on the floor between the edger and baseboard with the block to the right. You can push this along the base with the edger as you sand. If you get the thickness of the strip just right, you can sand right up to the base without ever touching it.

Thanks to Keith Baier at Sonora, Calif.-based Custom Hardwood Floors for his tip. Do you have a Trick of the Trade to share? Email it to WFB.

A Key to Better Sanding: Know Your Scratch

January 17, 2025

Photos courtesy of (clockwise from top left): Aaron Hall, Ash Stuart Smith, Danny Caffo, Pietro Corrao Parquet, Pat Goodman, Nicole Stanfield, Joe Smith; (center): Sarunas Gintvainis.

Planetary and Multi-Disc Sanders 101: A Technical Primer

Tell Us About the Most Difficult Wood Floor Job You Ever Did

How We Did This Floor: Edge-Grain in the Portland International Airport

Learn How To Refinish Hardwood, Engineered & Aluminum Oxide Finished Floors (Sponsored)

See why The RASP by WerkMaster is the floor sander of choice for so many hardwood refinishers and flooring installers! The RASP is an all-in-one floor sanding solution, combining the power of 5 machines in 1.

Techniques

Rhythmic Sanding: Better Results by Planetary Sanding to the Beat

In my job helping contractors learn to work with the latest products in the industry, I have seen that there can sometimes be a substantial learning curve when they are working with planetary sanders for the first time, so I came up with this technique.

I’ve found that people have a hard time knowing the correct pace to use when planetary sanding, so I started using a metronome.

Wood Floor Rescue

Wood Floor Rescue: A Heart Attack of a Heart Pine Job

Lorie Davidson bid this heart pine job off of real estate photos. When he actually arrived at the farmhouse and saw its original floors, circa 1873, “I had to go back out to the truck and say the Lord’s Prayer," he says.

Contracting

Readers Respond: Pics of Readers' Favorite Spring Wood Flooring Projects

Wood Floor Business asked followers on Facebook what their favorite wood flooring projects from this spring were, and there were many responses, with many beautiful wood floors.

Tales From the Front

Tales From the Front: Heavy Metal Scares Everyone Involved

Tom Hanson at Warwick, R.I.-based Thomas Hanson Hardwood Flooring says he gets startled on jobs all the time when someone’s trying to get his attention while he’s deeply engrossed in sanding, but one scare really stuck with him.

Techniques

WTF Moments in Sanding: Dealing with Aluminum Oxide

Some of us remember the first time we had to “try” sanding off a finish with aluminum oxide (AO) or ceramic finish—fortunately we have better options when it comes to abrasives today. Here's some advice.

For this aluminum oxide floor, Joshua Feck of Traverse Woodworks in Traverse City, Mich., started with diamond plates on his Bona Power Drive “to scratch up the surface. I’d let the plates cool while removing what’s left of the finish with 36-grit with the big machine.”

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