Stumbled across a shop in Portland that does zero sanding on their face frames

I was visiting family in Portland last month and stopped into a little custom cabinet shop off Hawthorne. The owner showed me how they run everything through a wide belt sander before assembly and never touch the face frames with a ROS after glue up. He said they save about 45 minutes per kitchen just on sanding time. I tried it on a small bathroom vanity I'm working on and the joints came out way cleaner. Has anyone else tried skipping the post assembly sanding step?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_ben1mo ago

Have you read that Fine Woodworking article from a few years back where they tested sanding before assembly? I remember them showing how much cleaner the joints look when you skip the final sanding step, especially around cope and stick profiles. I tried it on a set of shaker cabinets last year and the difference around the inside corners was huge. The only thing I had to watch out for was getting the pre finish sanding grit right so I didn't leave scratches under the stain. What grit do you usually stop at before assembly?

michaeljones1mo agoMost Upvoted

Yeah that bit about the inside corners hits on something I've noticed a lot in other trades too. It seems like people always default to sanding after assembly just because that's how they learned it, never really questioning if it makes sense for their specific workflow. It reminds me of how people will wash their car starting with the wheels instead of the roof just because their dad did it that way. There's a lot of stuff we do out of habit that doesn't actually help much once you stop and think about it. Sometimes the smartest move is just questioning the step everyone else takes for granted.