Wicked Wednesday: Sandpaper

For today’s group post on grit, Wickeds, let’s talk sandpaper. Like, real sandpaper. (I know it’s silly. Bear with me…) It’s sold by grit size, which has many categories and two different standards by which it’s measured. (See? You didn’t know this level of detail either, did you?) You got your micro grit sandpaper and your macro grit sandpaper, both of which have ratings from CAMI (Coated Abrasives Manufacturing Institute) and FEPA (Federation of European Producers of Abrasives). Read all about it here!

Yeah, it’s mid-July, a pandemic has been raging for months, and the world isn’t safe yet. We’re allowed to get punchy (figuratively). I do have one protagonist, Robbie Jordan, who knows way more about sandpaper than I do.

Tell our readers, Wickeds, how have you experienced sandpaper? Do you love to use three grades to sand a piece of wood ever smoother or have you never touched a piece in your life? Do you wish you could sand off the abrasive edges of someone in your life (whether personal or otherwise)? How about your protagonist(s)? Are any of them good with sanding wood – or people?

Julie: Edith/Maddie, I love the way your brain works. I have used sandpaper. My father was a woodworker, and he showed me how. I’ve also had more than one piece of unfinished furniture in my life. I’m also enjoying the metaphor of sandpaper, especially since I’m polishing the manuscript of Book #4 in the Garden Squad series. I’m in the fine grit phase of sanding off the edges and making it smooth.

Jessie: I love the notion of the fine grit phase, Julie! I don’t use a lot of sandpaper at this point in my life but I did love shop class as a middle schooler and used it there. I think my dual protagonists in the Beryl and Edwina series function a bit like sandpaper for each other. They are very different sorts of women but they each want the other to be seen in the best light and to develop their potential. Without the friction in their points of view neither would likely reach the heights of their capabilities.

Barb: I have definitely used sandpaper, though the last home project I did last summer was a metal bistro set, so that required a metal brush instead.

Sherry: There was always sandpaper in our garage growing up. I always loved to run my fingers across it, but I’ve always been very tactile. I do my own nails and emery boards are really small sanders so I used them every couple of weeks.

Liz: I’ve never been much into home improvements…but like Sherry I have been doing my own nails, so I guess that counts!

Edith/Maddie: Emery boards count, of course! I have refinished furniture, built a cedar blanket chest, and sanded down spackling before painting a wall. I think I am becoming less refined in sanding down edges between people. These days I’d rather walk away from a rough-edged attitude than focus on how to smooth things out between us. Midwife Rose Carroll is a lot better at it than I am…

Readers: What’s your experience with sandpaper, actual or virtual? Which of our protagonists is better at smoothing rough edges, and do you like that in a character? Or should they have more abrasion?