kwblake

Good Morning. I am moving along on my first kit ( a 4*60) and have almost completed the two wing halves. A few minor goofs, but nothing too drastic. I have the four Great Planes hand sanders ( 5.5" 11" 22" and 44"), plus an assortment of sandpaper. Also I purchased some rubber matting, like you would use in a kitchen cupboard. I figured this would help to keep the wing from moving around on my lap. What I'm after is some advise on how to sand the wing properly. What grit paper do you start with, and how fine do you finish with? Do you start with one of the shorter sanders and take down the slightly raised corners of the spars or start right off with the 44"? Any tips would be greatly appreciated, as I am trying to do this build right. I did do a search of the Forums on this subject, but came up empty.

Thanks very much

FlyingPilgrim

My Feedback: (26)

Kevin,
I generally use six inch sanding bars for most work. I only use 80 grit for removal of alot of material and shaping of wood. For general sanding to obtain smooth surface, I start with 150, then 220, then 320. I have a couple 12" sanding bars and one really long one (24"?) that are good for getting matching height on wing ribs or a long turtle deck where you don't want any dips or waves. For curved surfaces (like the rounded surface of wings) find a flexible pad for your sandpaper or just use a folded piece of sandpaper in your hand to avoid getting flat spots from a rigid sanding bar. Hope this helps.[sm=thumbup.gif][sm=thumbup.gif]

For knocking down the edges on your spars, I would suggest using the short bar with some 80 grit on it, as they are likely hard spruce wood, and the short bar is easier to use for that. When you get the surfaces the same height, then switch to the 150 grit to smooth it out. A tip you can also use is to cover the soft balsa near the high areas with masking tape to protect it. It's easy to accidentally sand into an area you don't want to.

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

I use the 12" GP sanding bars too, but I rarely get too critical with it. I have a rough paper and a fine paper, I couldn't tell you what the numbers are but to me, it's really not that important.

What IS important is getting all of the dust off before you cover! I usually pat it down to knock off the loose stuff and then wipe it good with a tack cloth or a towel sprayed with a spray adhesive. You want the covering to stick to the WOOD, not the DUST!

dash008

My Feedback: (1)

The sanding bars are good for shaping but for sanding surfaces smooth, rounding fuselage sides, sanding wood filler, etc, I like to use these 3M sanding sponges. I use three of them, 80 grit, 180 grit, and 320 grit. They sell them at Walmart.

Bob Yeager

My Feedback: (5)

One small tip for what it is worth. The secret to sharpening a knife is knowing when to quit. The same applies to sanding, don't go overboard. I sanded through all of the cap strips on my first build. []

Fleet

My longest sanding bar is 36 inches. I build very large planes and it helps greatly, notice only after covering and final paint.

My tip is to let the sand paper work. Don't bare down during sanding. Balsa , to some extent, is compressable and you can remove material from the weakest places like between the ribs.

Ray W.

planebuilder66

My Feedback: (8)

A small 5.5 is for most shaping, the 11" is the most used sanding bar I own, and the 22" is only used for sanding ribs even and leading edges. I even have the contour sander, but rarely use it, unless the plane has that exact prfile on the leading edge. Start light and stop frequently, run your hand over the work piece with your eyes closed, you'll feel the imperfections before you see them. It's better to under sand the plane than over sand it, going thru cap strips and making sheeting too thin will cause problems with durability of the model.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

I have bars I made in several lengths, most often used is the 11 inch and the 6 inch. Grit most often used???? Depends on what I'm sanding. I make my bars by running hard wood blocks through a plainer and use contact cement to glue down the sand paper onto the block. Some blocks have different grit on each side. When the paper is dead the bars are a toss and replace.