Evening up the edges of a project or sanding the narrow edge of a workpiece can be a challenge. It’s all too easy to tip or roll your sanding block and round over an edge.

To solve this problem, you can use a flat reference surface (or two) to sand some of your projects.

The cast iron top of a table saw is perfect for maintaining a straight, square edge on a project. All you have to do is stick a few pieces of self-adhesive sandpaper to the top and you’re ready to even up the edges of a box or drawer, as in the left photo below.

If you’re working with a thin piece, you can slide the rip fence over and use that as a guide. The fence keeps the workpiece square to the table and prevents it from tipping, as in the right photo below.