On Jan 11, 1:32*am, "m. scott veach" wrote:
I'm a stone-cold amateur at woodworking. *Doing my very first project
of any kind: *making a simple desk out of some plywood and electrical
conduits for legs.

I am sanding the plywood (birch) and I realized that I don't know when
I am done... I know that I am going to add polyurethane after this,
but am unclear whether that is *only* for keeping moisture out... or
if that is also the final stage of "smoothing."

Do I sand until the surface of the desk is perfectly smooth and then
add the polyurethane? * Or is mostly smooth okay and then the
polyurethane makes it smoother?

In general, how smooth can I expect to make the surface of my desk?
Can I get it as smooth as the ones in Home Depot? *Or are they that
smooth because of some other material/procedure?

thanks for any help!
scott.

To add to Swingman's advice you can get it as smooth or smother than
the Borg stuff. Between each coat of Poly or after the first couple
hit the surface with #00 steel wool (Only if using oil-based poly).
Then a few weeks after the finish has cured you can buff it out with
#0000 steel wool.

I would also rig up a way for the top to be vertical while applying
the finish. This will decrease the amount of dust that settles on the
surface. Simply hanging it by the conduit brackets is OK but it will
be tough to apply finish on a swinging target, BTDT.

Forget the brushes foam or otherwise, use old t-shirts or buy a bag of
cut-offs.

Welcome aboard!

Start saving for your next tool.