Finishing process

[tjskcnc]

How do you get all the tiny lines sanded out of the routed image? Routed details are usually too small to sand by hand in a reasonable amount of time. What if you are making cabinet faces and need to sand out 10 flourishes? There's got to be a better way. Accents and flourishes I buy from suppliers are highly detailed but no router marks. How is this done?

[swain]

Its done by using a smaller stepover when routing. once you get above 8% or so stepover, it becomes more pronounced. The bigger stepover makes each part take less time to machine, but more time to finish.

I make parts for a local hardware store....and they are happy with a 15% stepover. They are painting them and I guess the paint fills it in. When I do what I call stain grade, I get to under 5% stepover (on a .125 mill this is about .00625) and I get a smooth finish where lines can only be seen under a magnifying glass. On something I want to have absolutely no cleanup, I run
.001 stepover. Comes out slick as glass.