Sanding on a Shelf Liner to keep wood from moving

I don’t like my workpiece moving around while I’m sanding it or having to clamp it down to the table; moving the clamps to access and sand the area that had the clamp.  I’ve been using a tool box liner for quite a few months as a base for my sanding projects and it works great so I wanted to share my little tip.

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Use a Tool Box liner as a sanding base

Either a shelf liner or a tool box liner will do the job though I prefer the latter because of the extra 6″ in width.  It’s perfect for keeping even my largest projects in place while I sand them.  The grippy  material pulls double duty sandwiched between a workpiece and a worktable.  It doesn’t slide on the worktable and the workpiece doesn’t slide on it!

I haven’t built mine yet, but I think this would be perfect to put on top of a downdraft table.  The waffle pattern would allow the sawdust to be suctioned right down through the holes.

This 18″ x 72″ tool box liner is $8 so it’s a really inexpensive and very useful addition to the workshop!

Another useful sanding tool is/are Bench Cookies.  They are great for elevating a workpiece off the table when painting too.  I have two sets but use them more for painting than sanding now that I use my shelf/ tool box liner.