Basic Finish Sanding Question - Random Orbital or Block?

[monty1975]

Finsihing some birch doors and rough sanded with a random orbital sander and 100 grit paper. The plan is to stain these and then top coat with various shades of shellac to match the existing doors in my house.

I think I'll take it to 150 or 180 grit but want to know if I'll get better stain results if I block sand (vs. random orbital power) in the direction of the grain. The grain isn't very directional (I think one is white birch and one is red birch):



This one's been sanded quite a bit more since the pic has been taken.



What do you think?

Thanks,
Brian

[Harry]

Can't say if you'll get better results, but my sanding routine is to switch to a finishing sander at the same grit I last used with the ROS, then go one grit finer. Seems to get rid of swirl patterns, but I may be sanding too much. Most things don't get sanded beyond 220 grit in my shop.