TIPS

AN INSIDE CONTOUR SANDING BLOCK

by Irv Friedman

I thought that fairing the inboard side of a plank on frame hull would be no more difficult than the outboard side. Just place some sandpaper around a block and sand away. Not so! inside the hull the surface is concave like the inside of a bowl. The contour curves up in all directions, and there are spaces between frames. My sharp edged sanding block kept finding its way into those spaces and banging into frames. I needed something flexible enough to follow the contour, but agile enough to glide over the frame tops.

The sketch below is typical of a block that worked well for me. The body portion can be made of wood, plywood, plastic, just about any material that has some flexibility. I started with a piece of maple a little less than 1/16 inch thick(T), 3/4 inch wide(W) and 7 inches long(L). Add a small block at each end of the body and round up the edges. Tbe round up will keep the ends from dropping between frames. Apply a single wrap of sandpaper with the joint on top. No glue is necessary so changing sandpaper is simple. To sand, apply pressure in the middle of the body with the finger tips. Let the ends float as they may. One other thing needs mentioning. The tool is a little tough on the finger tips so wrap them with one or two turns of masking tape before starting.