What size/density does everyone use for what? I’ve been using medium for everything, fiberglass, foam, fins. I’ve been thinking of picking up a few different densities and sizes and was just wondering which are the most useful. Would an 8" medium and 8" soft pretty much cover everything? Do you find the 6" ones useful? Thanks.
I don’t make fins or use sanding pads for shaping, but currently I have:
*6" medium powerpad which I use for fin box and leash plug grinding and lap sanding. I probably could go with a hard one here, but 6" is definitely big enough. 8" would probably be awkward.
*8" soft powerpad for sanding the flats and slight curves on a hot/gloss coat.
*I just got an 8" super-soft Ferro pad for rails and other tight curves. Works well but is not fool-proof. Still need to be careful and use slow speeds/light touch to avoid burn throughs.
FYI I found a great deal on adhesive backed 8" sandpaper discs on e-bay through Keen Abrasives. Free shipping from Canada to US. All relevant grits.
CALLING PROBOX LARRY ! ! !
hard to break in the paper on the flats and then the deck…soft for the rails and all other fairing. no medium for me.
got a super-hard from larrrr…going to see how it goes on this HWS fish.
rdj, 8" med Power Pad is the pad that most people use if you only have one option. But if you have more options then, 8" Hard Power Pad to knock down heavy over laps or hard surfaces to make flat. 8" med Power Pad to sand the board before gloss or to wet sand first stage for sand only boards. 8" soft Power Pad for wet sanding gloss before polish or 2nd stage with fine sand paper wet and dry for sand finsihes. Or 8" super soft Power Pad for wet sand the crown area on the deck of long boards and shaping a Blank, always be aware of the rpm's on each pad before using. 6" power pads are for small areas and hard to get areas. All of our Power Pad info can be found on our Cyper Catalog 1st page at www.ProBox-Larry.Blogspot.com. Thanks for your support rdj and thanks for the shout out Bill. Hope this info helps you out my friend. Mahalo, Larry
I think your choice would be a good one. Medium pad for the flats and soft pad for the curvier parts of the board. 8" seems to be the industry standard for sanding surfboards. I would recommend Larrys Powerpads for sanding surfboards.
I keep some little discs (3" & 5") on a right angle drill for glass-on fins on narrow tails. A big powerpad just won't fit.
I’m dealing with that right now…on a tail that I dammed up a bit too much…so there’s material to take down…between glass on keels.
I have just !barely! enough room between the fins to get the tool in there.
Welcome to the “%£^¨µ*§!? , I just ripped another fin off” club…
Do the 6" pads work well for sanding around those pesky bonzer side runners?
…hello Larry,
I checked by no info at all…
I didnt found nothing about pads
so, I use your yellow (White now?) in 8" and the Reds in 6"
but now you say that you have a super soft too
the Yellow is soft not supersoft and don t work properly for gloss polishes
I always used the supersoft by Ferro for that task
thanks
RDJ,
for the bonzers you can use the 6" pads
I also use the supersoft by Ferro in 4"
then by hand between the fins
always the channels are done by hand only 30% of the sanding is done with the power tool
Yeah actually same here. Couldn’t find a catalog on Larry’s page. But he gave me all the info I need. I’ll probably order two more pads. Already have a medium. So maybe a 6" soft (rails/nose/concaves/bonzer fins) and 8" hard (flats and laps). Then I can use my medium for everything else. An 8" soft would be nice too if I could afford it.
You’re welcome. I ordered an 8" hard and 8" soft Power Pad. Great Price at Fiberglass Florida if anyone else wants one.
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...hello Larry,
I checked by no info at all...
I didnt found nothing about pads
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Yeah actually same here. Couldn't find a catalog on Larry's page. But he gave me all the info I need. I'll probably order two more pads. Already have a medium. So maybe a 6" soft (rails/nose/concaves/bonzer fins) and 8" hard (flats and laps). Then I can use my medium for everything else. An 8" soft would be nice too if I could afford it.
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Sorry guys, Go to the bottom of the posts until you reach where it states "older posts" click there and the blog will go to earlier posts. Here's the link on that blog with basic Power Pad information. http://probox-larry.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-02-22T13%3A29%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=7
Mahalo, Larry
Hey Larry, who carries the super soft? Of the three dealers I checked, none of them carried it. I'm thinking I'm good with the soft I ordered for now, but might grab a super soft in the future.
RDJ,
I got my supersoft Ferro here: http://www.boatingonly.com/product/MP81111343.htm
It was recommended by several more experienced glassers (Kokua et al) on this board.
Hopefully Larry won't get too mad at me for this, but it's really easy to make your own supersoft/squishy for cleanup shaping. Just take an old PowerPad (even the best pads get gouged and chunked eventually) and glue a 2'' or 3'' thick piece of upholstery foam to it, then glue the paper to that. This is how we used to do it before they became commercially available. Good paper can last for 1000s of boards if just used on foam.
Don't ''shape'' with it, just for taking out scratches. Jim Phillips would crawl through my computer screen to kick my arse if I ever told anyone to use a softpad sander to cut contours.
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Hey Larry, who carries the super soft? Of the three dealers I checked, none of them carried it. I'm thinking I'm good with the soft I ordered for now, but might grab a super soft in the future.
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Hi rdj, Where are you located and what supplier do you usally deal with? I will be more than happy to help you out my friend. Mahalo,Larry
Mike, do you not shape EPS at all with a pad or just not with a super soft? Feel free to PM me if you don't want JP to disown you :o)
Hey Larry. I'm in New Jersey. I checked Greenlight, Foam Ez and Fiberglass Florida. None of them had the super soft. I didn't think it was too critical though. I ordered the 8" soft and hard from Fiberglass Florida. With the medium I already have I think I'm mostly covered. Be nice to grab a 6" though for glass-ons, but I rarely do those. Thanks, Rick.