# Question about table top tip



## aliebling (Nov 6, 2018)

On https://baileylineroad.com/building-a-table-tricks-for-building-a-great-tabletop/ they included a tip:

_"Leave your tabletop longer than necessary until the sanding is done, then cut to final length. Most tabletops are too wide to trim on a tablesaw, even with a crosscut sled, and this is where I use a hand-held circular saw. Clamp a guide strip so it’s square to one edge, then follow it with your saw. Repeat the process on the other end, then carefully use your hand-held belt sander to remove any blade marks on edges. It sounds like a coarse process, but you can get great results this way."
_

What is the advantage of this? Is this out of concern that sanding might deform the clean edge of the table and thus it's better to do most of the sanding then cut the final edge?

Thanks!

Aaron


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## PPBART (Oct 7, 2011)

I'm not claiming to be right, but I've never done it that way. I cut to final dimensions, the sand and finish, always seemed to turn out OK.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

aliebling said:


> On https://baileylineroad.com/building-a-table-tricks-for-building-a-great-tabletop/ they included a tip:
> 
> _"Leave your tabletop longer than necessary until the sanding is done, then cut to final length. Most tabletops are too wide to trim on a tablesaw, even with a crosscut sled, and this is where I use a hand-held circular saw. Clamp a guide strip so it’s square to one edge, then follow it with your saw. Repeat the process on the other end, then carefully use your hand-held belt sander to remove any blade marks on edges. It sounds like a coarse process, but you can get great results this way."
> _
> ...


It doesn't make any difference whether you cut the top to length before or after sanding. I agree with using a belt sander running it cross grain to begin with and then with the grain but you can't call it done with a belt sander. It's too difficult for even an experienced person to sand a table top with a hand held belt sander. A belt sander you have to keep it perfectly flat on the table while using it to have that kind of results but nobody can do that. The slightest tip to one corner or another will make a dent in the wood. The dent is so slight you can't even see it until you get a couple coats of finish on it but it will be there. The solution is to follow belt sanding with a random orbital sander. It will leave swirl marks like the link described if you just sand it with 80x and call it done. The 80x is good to get rid of the dents made by the belt sander but needs further sanding. The swirl marks will go away if you sand it with 120x followed by 180x before you start finishing it.


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