Hey all.
So I’ve gotten my 4th board finished and glassed it myself. This time, as apposed to getting the hotcoat done by professionals, I decided to do it myself. I’ve got a high RPM sander but no sanding pad so I’m wondering if i can just use a sanding block and alot of elbow grease for it? If so what grits should I start with and work my way up to? Also how long will it take to do a 5’10 by hand. Thanks
Hey
I've only built two boards to date...did glassing adn hotcoating myself! I can tell you straght of....you'll need a new elbow by the time you have the board sanded. I'd advise using the sander, maybe start with 150 grit for safety see how it goes. It'll take longer but at least you'll have less chance sanding through the glass. If you start feeling comfy with the sander use rougher abraisive to speed things up, and then all the way up to 320-400 grit.
You really need a low rpm grinder/polisher. See if you can rent or borrow one if you don’t want to drop the coin and buy one. Your other option is an orbital sander, which will take you a lot longer, and won’t give you a scratch free final result, but will get the job done.
Anything can be done by hand, if you have the patients, determination, and physical endurance. Be prepared for a very long day of knuckle busting, and don’t expect to have any skin left on your fingers when you’re done.
I’ll second the use of a low rpm machine or random orbital with variable speed. Hand sanding is too tedious. A high rpm tool is a recipe for disaster in the hands of an inexperienced person.
A 5.10 should go pretty quick by hand
and youll get a nice flat (less wavey) bottom and deck if your inexperianced with the sander
block it with a 8" block 2x4
go easy on the rails and nose and tail corners by hand just folded paper
100 or 120 on the flats if your nervous use higher grit on the rails and corners
keep the dust off the board as you sand so you can see the shiny spots fade out as you go
before all the shiny spots dissapear go the the next finer grit
step through the grits ahead of time
as you get to the finer grits use a foam padded block
thats the way I go at it
your results may vary on your skill level and abilities
watch the sales, you can get a Horrible Freight variable speed sander for about $30. They actually work pretty good once you have a softpad mounted. Start slow and build up some skills…
HTH…
Thanks for the input everyone. Where is the best place and cheapest place to buy a soft pad? I’m on quite a budget.
Hi seagypsy dude,
there's a cheap way to easily convert your high-rpm grinder to a low rpm , speed controlled one.
just use a light dimmer .
go get a dimmer that holds the wattage you need , build a control box and you're done.
it's not the perfect substitute for the real thing but it works well with 5" pads.
just my 2 cents.
Lee