I was looking for some info on a Boat Building and repair site and came across an ad for an interesting tool That could be useful to the hand shaper It’s called a Flexisander. It isa long sanding board like those that are used in auto body work but can be formed into concave and convex shapes They cme in a power and manual models. For the pros that are very good with the Planer trueing outline isn’t much of a problem to the rest of us it can be a vexing problem. a Long sanding surface gives a better over all line with less dips. Might also be used in getting the hull bottom just right. I have no conection to the people who make thses tools and they are not cheap. Of course the tool justy once he sees something he has to have then money will never get in the way check out www.Flexisander.com If I was still in the Yatch restoration Business I would be havea full set of thoses tools. Fairing out a boat is a very time consuming and difficult job I have done Boats from 8 foot dingys to 100+ foot mega Yatchs.
Artz, those are pretty cool. They look like great fairing blocks. I always thought there was potential for the in-line sanders the auto- body guys use in shaping. The bottoms could be modified for concaves and convex arcs. Seems they would be easier to use than the rolling pin contraptions. Speed could be controlled with air flow. The dual piston sanders work quite well on car bodies, why not on blanks? Thanks for posting.
When i was fairing Yachts we made alot of our own tools. For knocking down high spots we came up with the squair back sanding pad. this was a hard rubber ound pad with an aluminum squar plate srewed on the it was driven by a high speed grinder. It worked great on getting the basic fairing done in a very timly manner. It was hell to use and it would also chew up barrings in the grinder.
Wideawke, Yes it does look like what was posted up might have to ask about the make and cost of that board.
I worked in a boatyard, until the day a bunch of workers called in sick and I was to fair the hull of a one-off, using vinylester with a thickener, and a longboard.
Did not need the overall toxic job that much, certainly not for the renumeration offered.
Was dreaming of such a powertool, but the boss would never have paid for it. he was in full cost cutting mode by then anyway, cutting corners everywhere.
Spent ten years working in a boatyard, not surprisingly I don’t do my own glass work, had enough of that mess/toxicity.
Neat looking fairing boards there. Especially being able to set the curve. I only quickly glanced through the fish shaping video, but immediately recognized what he was using on the concave:
These flexible boards would work well on truing outlines, like mentioned. Looks like the fella making the fish put a bit of cable around the two handles connected to turnbuckle that he can tighten or loosen to pull the handles together to control the amount of bend in the sanding board, clever idea.
Seems like the formica sheets and door skin combined would be a bit stiff.
Why not just one sheet of door skin with 2 attachment plates on top, at the ends, to hold the sandpaper on the bottom in place – more flex?
I guess three layers (1 doorskin + 2 formica) with a cable and turnbuckle between the hand knobs would work better for shaping convex curves rather than concave.
