I’m not sure which Flexpad to get for shaping–the hard, med, or soft? Mainly for the nose area. I have a red Powerpad now I use to sand down the hotcoat and have a soft Ferro on order for the rails. Also, would you use a hard sanding pad for taking down the laps or stick with the hard rubber backing that came with my 5540? I did a search but only found info on sanding, not shaping. Thanks for any help.
Hi Glider,
Ideally you’d want to use the FlexPad
Softie 8" XS8C it is best for all around shaping. It’s super soft making it adapt to the curves of the blank. For the laps it’s best to use a grinding disk with the backer but a hard pad will suffice. Hope this helps.
Brad
Thanks Brad. I’ll add one to my next order from you guys.
Those squishy pads on speed-control machines are great for clearing deck and bottom (that used to be a big secret and we made our own), but for up in the nose a hard disk is the call, just a straight-up 36 grit grinder disk. Cuts very true once you get the touch. Not easy to master, but very efficient. If you take down the stringer with anything that flexes, the wood will stay proud.
Only works on PU though - melts PS even at low rpms. (I used an 1800 rpm Milwaukee polish machine when I did it on PU back in the old days)
You know those small super fast grinders with a 3 - 4" disk.
well they have a metal centre on the grinding wheel/pad, you know, that screw on bit that attaches the disk with the hole in it to the grinder…well with the aid of the metal centre you can never cut too deep into the nose because the metal centre won’t let you.
Keep it flat and angle it ever so slightly and pivit off the metal center. No stress-can’t go wrong.
also it spins so fast that you can use any grade/rough disk and will hardly ever have to replace it.
As Mike said, Grinder Disk, 
Thanks! I never would have thought to use a grinder disk to shape the nose area. So I guess I should stick to the grinder disk to take down my laps and any bumps before the hotcoat.
The grinder spins so fast it might put tiny shatters in the laps/bumps before your hot coat (as you can see them after your hot coat)…It happened to me a few times before I clicked… slow/med speed for laps (There are pros out there better suited about glassing teck then me). Just my experiances.
For the laps, I plan to use my Milwaulkee 5540 with the black hard disk that came with it, 50 grit, and put it on the lowest setting. The only other option I have is to attach something to my drill but I have found the drill attachments to sand uneven…unlike the 5540 which has been great.
What size air compressor do you need to run the small air grinders?
? a small one ?