Learned last Tuesday that a sharp block plane beats sandpaper for end grain, and I'm annoyed nobody told me sooner

Nora Park · 2026-09-29T19:10:07.359129+00:00

I was building a small white oak step stool in my garage in Boise last Tuesday when I hit the part I always dread, squaring up the end grain on the legs. Normally I'd sit there with 80 grit on a sanding block for 20 minutes per leg, breathing dust and getting nowhere, and the ends would still look fuzzy under finish. My neighbor Dale, who did trim work for 30 years before he retired, wandered over with a beer and watched me for a minute, then said flat out 'you're polishing a turd with that paper, grab your block plane.' So I did, and I took maybe 6 or 7 light passes on that end grain with a freshly honed iron, and it came out glassy in about 90 seconds. I checked the blade with a straight edge first because I'd always heard end grain tears out, but keeping the cuts thin and going at a slight skew made it clean as could be. Cut my whole sanding routine off that stool and the finish soaked in way more even on the ends too. Now I want to know how many of you actually plane your end grain versus sanding it, and do you do anything special to the blade angle for oak?

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Learned last Tuesday that a sharp block plane beats sandpaper for end grain, and I'm annoyed nobody told me sooner | Carpenters - Rigidtalk