In the scheme of things, there are not many actual "tools" when it comes to finishing of wood projects. Sure there are paint brushes of various types and sizes and large selection of spray type tools and attachments but other than that, there is not a lot avalable.
One of the challenges of so many of who use paint brushes to apply stains and final coats is trying to finish an entire project in one session. That often means having to finish all the sides that "show" without having to worry about the finish being marred. In most cases we have to do the finishing in 2 sessions, which contributes to making the finishing process long and tedious.
Thankfully someone has addressed some of the finishing challenges that woodworkers encounter while finishing and have invented some products to help meet these challenges.
The first product is the Veraspin 360. Nothing particularly high tech about this unit, it is basically a plastic turn table that comes in 2 sizes, 11" and 16". True, it spins around in a 360 degree circle nicely, but the real benefit to the Veraspins' are the built in little "nubs" on the top surface. These little nubs are used to help hold 2 other products that attach on top of them to make a great finishing platform.
One of parts that fit on top of the Veraspins is something called a Painter Pyramid. This is a specially designed plastic pyramid shell that "clips" into the nubs on the Veraspin 360s. This feature lifts the project off the turntable to make it easier to get a good finish. Along with the Painters Pyramid (which of coruse can also be VERY hand with out the Veraspins) is another product called the "Grabber". Like the Painters Pyramids they can also be used stand alone or with Veraspins, and they also have recessions to allow them to "grip" onto the turntables. The grabbers are very nice for standalone work, particularly for things like sanding things like smaller boxes. Often when sanding items like this when one side is sanded, we simply keep rotating it until it is all sanded, unfortunately, often the first sides we sanded get marred when doing this so they have to be re-done. The Grabbers can solve this problem and the problem of having things moving around when sanding, as the Grabbers are designed to help "grab" surfaces, thus making them more stationary.
For more information on the Veraspin 360s, the Painters Pryamids and the Grabbers, click here to visit their website.
Copyright Colin Knecht
Woodworkweb.com