I always say, “If you wanna be like the big boys, you gotta use what the big boys use.”
I sanded one board by hand… my first board. So yes, it can be done.
Then I sanded about 20 boards with a random orbital. Better job, and faster.
Then I got my hands on a variable speed grinder/polisher. Totally F’d up my first 3 or 4 boards, then started to learn from my mistakes.
If I had started with a sander on my first board, my 25th board would have come out SWEET. Instead, a lot of work went to waste having to patch, fair, re-hotcoat, and re-sand all my mistakes.
I do all my sanding by hand. I’m not one of the big boys. I work in our condo bedroom so I can’t make clouds of dust or excessive noise. I can still get decent finish. I just have to burn more calories.
I got a cheap ozito ROS for my backyard hacking. Man it makes a difference. The proper sander/polishers are not cheap, even the crap ones, but the ROS goes great for me and my 1 or 2 boards every now and then. Though i dont really sand the deck, it gets covered in wax hehe.
Howzit Jim, When I worked for P.F. I only glassed and didn't have to sand but when I did boards for myself at home I hand sanded them and that was before I learned how to use a grinder. I didn't mind it at all but in the late 60's and 70's weight was not a big factor. Now adays most everyone wants them light and strong and my short boards were just that. For some reason most of my longboards were a little heavier, and I sanded the heck out of them.Aloha,Kokua
a good pad is at least 40 bucks and a cheap sander is not too good to sand a board. i used cheap sanders and they have vibration issues and lousy start up and often speed control is not so good.
yes i use a machine but its a rupes and very high quality . it has lots of torque at very low speed so i can go to 400 dry without clogging. so in this way i rip over the hotcoat with 80 then a finish coat that gets a light 400 grit or 320 if im feeling lazy or the finish isnt perfectly flat.this machine is so good i can use it with wet and dry from stop and spin it very very slow with lots of pressure. it is also superior for polishing
so the board is only sanded twice and it has a good tough finish. combine this with 5oz and top qaulity urethane and i can produce a board that is very tough compared with an industry standard shop board
there is a friend i have that comes and makes boards at my factory and he often lams at night when its to cold and leaves hotcoats for days before sanding them. i think i can sand a board by hand with 60 grit, faster then he can use a machine because i sand it as soon as the board is cured and the the resin is still reasonably soft. this makes a huge difference to sanding times and ease
even when i machine sand a board i stll finish the rails by hand and run over the flats with a long block and check under shapers lights. i think a begginer and even guys that have done a few boards can easily get sandthroughs with a machine especially if there laps are rough or around plugs and tail . this problem could be amplified by using a cheap sander.
a begginer will get a better result sanding with blocks at the right cure time. then even someone with more experience and cheap machine and wrong cure time.
One of the Oceanside Valley glass shops begs me for work, when I have succumb and used them, the sand jobs are never optically flat, just sand until there is no shine, that is the big problem with most production glass shop. I have always run the flats until they are just that, flat and checked the lap line also.
The gloss and polish is only as good as the sanding under it
sand throughs can also result from uneven shaping. But you wouldn’t be getting any though? Looking at the quality of your work and considering that you are doing the sanding by hand.
Two possible motives for building a board are a) Learn the skills of board-building b) get an appreciation of just how good the top industry pros are.
Sanding is a skill worth learning. I got to use the Makita sander-polisher although never owned one. I did some work for a surf shop which was starting up with board building and used the shop tools. Prior to that I lucky enough to be taught by a pro in an established factory. The pro told me that the aim was to get the board back to what the shaper intended after the glassing had softened the rail shape. He described it as “secondary shaping”
My suggestion to the aspiring home sander is to learn how to use the sander-polisher. Start with the sander straight away, patch up the inevitable sand throughs then survey the work and say to oneself: damn those industry pros must be good to make a living from this.
I hate to say this, but I had one wanna be home shaper who’s shapes looked like they were done 6" at a time, they would get sanded through, 6" at a time, but a competent shaper would not get his work sanded through, except in complete error, i:e, tripping over the sander cord, overtly floated laps, etc.
