Because the chair sports round surfaces and wavy lines, hitting it with the orbital sander wasn't an option---unless you enjoy playing with power tools for seven hours without actually having tooled anything successfully. The sanding block worked wonders in navigating the un-straightness of the chair. Also, notice how the existing version had no cushion? Well, I certainly don't want people getting backbone bruises in my eating space; therefore, I dropped the country girl off with my upholsterer who outfitted her with a taut, fully upholstered seat.