The best thing I have found is the 3M stripping pads (which are green in color) and there is a nice handle that you can get that makes graining by hand a breeze. They are very coarse (60grit is the rating) but it's a soft pad vs. sandpaper so it will cut much more evenly.
I generally don't even use a followup blending pad because I like the finish the stripping pad leaves. I don't know if they are as widely avaliable over there as here. I find them at Lowes and Home Depot and Walmart had them as well.
I have done my whole car with them and it's one of those little quirks of mine that I am always finding little crossgrain areas and touching them up.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/3M-Heavy-Duty- ... ds/3561780Now it's a bit slower than a flapper wheel but the chance for mistakes is all but eliminated. The flapper advantage is it leaves the "stripes" found on the new cars which I never cared for. I can see that being desirable for a concours DeLorean or someone wanting all original, but it doesn't look right to me.
The flapper is also better if you are trying to blend out flaws such as the hood X. Doing it by hand usually accentuates the high spots making any uneven areas look even worse, where the flapper gets highs and lows (to a degree) the same and masks the flaws.
If you are timid like me, those pads with the handle that attaches and maybe some Bar keeper's Friend for the final step and a weekend and you will have one good looking car. Heck just typing this I'm getting excited for it to warm up a bit so I can start the "spring detail" that usually lasts for a good week of late nights in the garage.