I just finished doing tinted cutlaps on the top and bottom of a piece of board I had…It’s small, about 23" wide and 1 foot in length. I’m going to do the hotcoat here pretty soon and was wondering how I should sand this by hand. I’ll also be putting a gloss coat on afterwards just to make sure I can do it and get what I’m after before I ruin a totally good blank. So after the hotcoat, just sand with a block from about 120 down to 220?? Thanks.
Hey Tenover
I sanded my first 100 boards by hand, no power sander.
I start with 50-60, working mainly on the lap bulge and the flat surfaces of the botttom, then change to 80, and 150 for the finish. If I plan on pinstripes, I sand that area with 220 and very little pressure, along the direction of the proposed pinstripe. A shortboard takes 2 pieces of 50-60, two of 80, two of 150, and one of 220 if you should choose to use that.
A flat wooden block, with all four corners rounded off, works fine.
Thanks Lee…
That’s exactly the straight-forward “LeeD” kind of answer I was looking for!
Well…After the bottom lam cured, I looked at it and it looks like I either used too little resin or squeegeed it out too much because it looks loke colored glass on top of colored foam…There’s no real “puddled” resin in between the weave. On the deck layer I did both layers of cloth at the same time, and I think it looks more “full” than the bottom. Will the hotcoat fill that in on the bottom or am I screwed…?
Tenover,
Sometimes you can pull too much resin out of the weave. Next time if you notice that it looks a little dry just rub it with a little more resin before it dries completely. It still should be okay when you hotcoat it
Weird…TSaunders is answering my post and his son is answering my questions in real time using AIM…This is awesome.
I hope we said the same thing 
Listen to him. He is much better than I am!!! Except for airbrushing!
Hotcoat seemed to go real good…I did get quite a few tiny tiny pinoles on the bottom, but maybe they’ll sand out. Is there a way to tell when you’ve sanded the hotcoat “enough”?? I’m going to take Lees advice and start with 60, then 80, then 150, but I’m worried I’ll sand into the weave on the rails or in any thin spots…Once that’s done, I can do the gloss coat the same as I did the hotcoat, correct? Then once THAT’S cured, sand it down to what, 320, then polish? Oh, and this may be a dumb question, but should you actually be able to SEE the wax in the hotcoat after it is risen to the top? Just curious because after 2 hours my hotcoat is still nice and shiny and crystal clear…
Wax rises when resin cures.
You will have some sand thru, somewhere, unless your glass job is perfect. Hotcoat covers it, and it’s cool.
Pinbubbles are not good. Then usually go all the way to the foam. Only possible cure is to sqeegee some thin gloss resin in, or some guys say styrene gets in there, I didn’t know that.
You should squeegee till the weave is showing, but that’s all. Oversaturation is better than dry and pinbubbled.
Hey tenover, A good visual guide while sanding is the shiny spots. Try and work through your grits so that the final fine grit takes off the last shiny spots. And if you’re not used to it, don’t try and machine too much. An orbital virating sander with 120-150 does wonders towards the end. Hope this helps.
If I’m hand sanding it, does it make any difference if I’m sanding in a circular motion or striaght up and down? Seems like circular motion would be the call…
Hey Tenover, it really depends on your sanding block size and shape, and of course your board surface shape. In the case of a flat bottom, I would use a large block, at least 300mm plus (too much larger and you will need hulk arms to get anything out of it!), held on an angle to the stringer (30-45 degrees) and use straight strokes lengthways up and down the board. Change the angle about 90 degrees every now and again to give your block the crossover effect, eliminating any block induced flat spots (and to give your arms a break!). I wouldn’t sand across the board, only up and down, you can angle a bit. Circular strokes would be okay for finer sanding, but for the initial sanding use the above. For the rails use the shape of your flat hand, careful of the heel of your hand and your fingertips.
A lot of my sanding experience came from repairing and refinishing exotic cars, and we had very high standards. My first few boards were hand sanded so I don’t really envy you, but I know you will learn a lot from the experience. Have fun and get a lady friend to massage your arms afterwards.
I also have a fairly new Crafstman Orbital 5" sander…Think I’ll try that . It has hard and soft pads and I have tons of different adhesive grits for it…
Hey
If you want to use a power sander, go for it.
Remember, I sanded the first 100 + boards by hand, and I’m 5’11, 155 lbs.
It’s a fun workout, but I never sanded more than two boards at a time in one day.
Hey, we surf for exercise, so what if we gotta sand a board non stop for 1/2 hour, it’s good for you, makes you strong, and if you do it at a secluded beach like I did, makes for easy cleanup and then jump into the water to body surf a few, ending up dust free, itch free.
Thanks Lee…
The orbital worked EXCELLENT on my scrpa piece…I just lam’d up t he bottom of my first board. Everything seemed to go good so fay except some of the tape at the cut laps peeled up, taking sone glass with is before it cured…Hopefully I can just sand it clean or re-cut the line or something…