It's a state of mind. Sanding. The buzz of the orbital starts off as just some intrusive noise, but after a day or so becomes an exact pitch you can hum for days afterwards, giving a precise and exact indication of the amount of pressure you are applying to the work. The swirls left by the sanding disc start off as random C shaped scratches and end up as a roadmap, a handwriting sample, a graphic equaliser showing the sharpness of the grit left on the disc. You get in tune with the job - it comes from hours of standing, sanding, thinking of little more than how the boat will look when you're finished, how smooth the surface is, how the paint tastes, why is orange jam called marmalade, where does all the dust go, will Ipswich ever win a game of football again, what colour shall we paint it.
A great boat builder once gave me a truly top tip about sanding. Sanding is boring but has to be done - the trick is to sand until you are really bored - until you can't think of anything to distract you any more and are just totally at your wits end with it - then do another half an hour....
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