Post-Processing, Quality Control & Client Deliverables (sanding, oil finishes, anodizing/plating)

The machine stops cutting, but the job is not done. A client pays for a finished object, not for a toolpath. This episode is the last mile: sanding, finishing, quality control, and handing over something you can be proud of.

Start with sanding. The router leaves a clean surface, but it also leaves faint tool marks. Work up through the grits - start coarse enough to level the surface, finish fine enough that the wood feels smooth under your hand. Sand with the grain, and let each grit do its job before you move on.

Then the finish. For the wood side, oil finishes like Danish oil or a shellac-lacquer system soak in and protect the grain without hiding it. For heritage work, a beeswax finish gives a warm, honest hand. Decide before you start, because the choice changes how the color reads.

Quality control. Measure every critical dimension with a caliper against the drawing, and record the numbers. Tolerances are not about being perfect - they are about being truthful. If a panel is meant to be four hundred millimetres and it is four hundred and two, you catch it here, not on the client's wall.

For the metal side, deburr every edge, then consider the finish. Aluminum can be anodized or sealed with a chemical conversion coating for corrosion resistance. Brass can be polished and lacquered or plated. In Nepal, anodizing and plating are often sent to a trusted finisher, so your job is to deliver a part that is ready for that step - clean, deburred, and dimensionally correct.

Finally, the deliverable. Photograph the finished piece, document the measurements, and prepare a simple invoice and care note. A client who gets a measured, documented, finished object becomes a client who comes back. That repeat business is how the shop grows.

That closes the series. From a bare desktop machine to a finished panel you can hold, it is all one repeatable chain - and you now have every link. Thank you for watching.