Although commercially produced sanding sticks are readily available, it is both cheaper and more flexible to make them at home. Any fine-grained hardwood is suitable, even a wooden ruler can be cut down to make a few sanding sticks.
A sanding stick can be made in any size or grit to suit specific circumstances, although a good average size is 12" by 7/8" by 3/8". As Emery paper typically comes in sheets that measure 11" by 9", or A4 (11.7" by 8.3"), this size will use a sheet without any wastage.
Rather than just rolling the paper around the stick, take the time to lightly score the paper as each corner is reached. This will result in crisp, neat corners. Use a couple of drawing pins or pieces of masking tape to secure the paper in place, one at each end. Once the top layer of emery paper has been worn out it can be easily torn away, exposing a fresh layer beneath.Drawing pins are more convenient when tearing away worn out paper, but be careful that they don't scratch the work piece.
