How To Sand Hard To Reach Holes With A Drill And Wooden Dowel

If you have ever built a peg-board shelf wall, a coat rack, or any project with a lot of small holes, you know how annoying it is to sand the inside of each one by hand. A simple project can turn into an hour of folding sandpaper, rubbing your fingertips raw, and still ending up with fuzzy, uneven edges.

On one recent build, a peg-board style shelf wall with roughly 80 holes, sanding each opening by hand was not realistic. The solution was a quick jig: a short wooden dowel with a strip of sandpaper glued around it, chucked into a regular cordless drill. It turns the drill you already own into a fast, controllable hole-sanding tool.

This project walks you through:

• What you need to build the sanding dowel.
• How to glue and size the sandpaper so it fits your holes.
• Drill speed and technique so you sand cleanly instead of burning the wood.
• When to still reach for a random orbital sander for the rest of the project.

If you have not chosen a drill or sander yet, pair this with our other content:

• Learn the basics in our cordless drill buying guide.
• Understand drills vs drivers in what is an impact driver and how is it different from a drill.
• Go deeper into speed and finish with how orbital sanders work and why OPM really matters.

You only need a few basic items, most of which you probably already own:

• Cordless or corded drill with a regular chuck.
• Wooden dowel slightly smaller than the hole you want to sand.
• Sandpaper strip, usually 80–150 grit for interior hole sanding.
• Wood glue or contact adhesive that bonds paper to wood.
• Utility knife and scissors for cutting the paper.

For small peg-board holes, a dowel in the 6–10 mm (roughly 1/4–3/8 inch) range works well. The key is that the dowel plus sandpaper must still be slightly smaller than the finished hole size, so it spins freely without grabbing.

If you are using this trick alongside a random orbital sander for the faces and edges, our reviews of the Bosch ROS20VSC and Ryobi RROS18-0 show how those tools handle the flat work that surrounds the holes.

1. Cut a short length of dowel. Something in the 75–100 mm (3–4 inch) range is easy to control in a drill and gives you enough reach.
2. Measure your hole size. You can use the same drill bit you used to make the holes as a reference.
3. Cut a strip of sandpaper slightly longer than the dowel and wide enough to wrap at least once around it.
4. Test-wrap the paper dry around the dowel.
   • The wrapped diameter should still slide into your test hole with a little clearance.
   • If it is too tight, trim the width until it just fits.

For rough edges or plywood tear-out, start with 80–120 grit. For cleaner hardwood holes that just need a quick pass, 150–180 grit is usually enough.

The goal is a tight, even sleeve of sandpaper that will not unwind inside the hole.

1. Apply a thin coat of glue to the dowel where the paper will sit.
2. Press one end of the sandpaper strip onto the dowel, square to the end.
3. Wrap the paper firmly around the dowel, keeping tension so there are no bubbles.
4. Clamp the end with a piece of tape or a spring clamp while the glue sets.
5. Wipe away any squeeze-out so glue does not harden on the abrasive face.

Wood glue, CA glue, or contact adhesive all work here. The important part is that the paper is fully bonded so it spins with the dowel instead of slipping.

Once the glue is dry:

1. Insert the bare dowel end (not the sandpaper covered part) into your drill chuck.
2. Tighten the chuck fully so the dowel will not spin independently.
3. Set the drill to low or medium speed. You do not need high RPM for this; control matters more than raw speed.

If you are not sure your drill is the right fit for this sort of work, our cordless drill buying guide walks through clutch settings, speed ranges, and when to use a drill vs an impact driver.

Now for the satisfying part.

1. Start the drill before entering the hole, at a low speed.
2. Ease the spinning sandpaper into the hole and move it in and out with light pressure.
3. Rotate your wrist slightly as you go so the abrasive contacts the full circumference.
4. Do not stay in one spot. Let the dowel travel through the hole so you do not create a ridge.

On a peg-board shelf wall with around 80 holes, this approach can turn a tedious hour of hand sanding into a fast, repeatable process. Each hole only needs a few seconds to knock down sharp edges and clean up tear-out.

When you are done, lightly break the edges of the board with your orbital sander. For help choosing one, our best orbital sander guide and individual reviews give you tested picks for different budgets.

After a test batch of holes:

• Run your fingers around the inside and the entry edge.
• Look for fuzz, torn fibers, or burn marks.

If you see issues:

• Burn marks usually mean your speed is too high or you are pressing too hard.
• Fuzzy fibers mean you may need one more pass or a slightly finer grit.
• Deep scratches mean you started too coarse for the material.

The nice part is that you can make multiple sanding dowels with different grits and swap them in and out of the chuck as needed.

This trick is simple, but keep a few basics in mind:

• Wear eye protection. Abrasive dust and fibers can still kick out of the hole.

• Use dust collection or a mask, especially on plywood or MDF.

• Do not overspeed the drill. High RPM makes it easier to burn the wood and wear out the paper quickly.

• Keep fingers clear of the spinning paper. Treat it like any other power sanding operation.

  
  

For larger flat areas around your peg-board or shelf project, a random orbital sander is safer, faster, and leaves a more consistent finish. Our guide on how orbital sanders work and why OPM really matters explains how to match speed and grit to the job.

This drill-and-dowel sanding setup is ideal when you are working on:

• Peg-board walls with dozens of evenly spaced holes.
• Shelves with dowel pins or adjustable shelf support holes.
• Jigs and templates with repetitive holes that need a clean edge.
• Kids furniture or toys, where you want every opening smooth to the touch.

It is not a replacement for a proper spindle sander or drum sander when you are working at production scale. But for a small shop or DIY garage, it offers a huge step up from hand sanding with almost no extra cost.

When you combine this trick with a well chosen orbital sander and the right drill, you can move quickly from rough construction to a clean, splinter free finish that is ready for paint, stain, or clear coat.