Sanding

[mikestenger]

I am sanding the outer hull (15' Bob's Special) and so far have done it all by hand with paint scraper and sanding block...80 grit first and then 100 grit. How much sanding is 'enough'? Do you sand until there is no trace of the little ridges between strips? Seems to me if you remove that much wood in the area of the sharp turn of the chine, the wood is getting pretty thin. I used 1/4" Northern red cedar mostly with a little Alaskan yellow cedar for accents.

Does the fiberglass 'hide' minor imperfections like chips in the wood that are not sanded flush? I have almost no gaps between strips but had to fill a couple of areas with thickened epoxy (mainly at the stems). Do I need to sand away all surface traces of the epoxy or will the fiberglass/epoxy blend that in?

I would appreciate any comments you might have. Thanks.

[Glen Smith]

I sand with 80 grit then 120 grit and when I have finished I can run my hand up & down the hull and not feel any irregularities in the wood surface. Also, there should be no sanding "scratches" left in the wood from the 80 grit.

If I have any gaps (who doesn't) or chips pulled out, I fill with a mix of epoxy and wood sanding dust and might throw in some kitchen flour to make the color lighter or some West fairing filler to make it darker. When the patches are a bit darker than the surrounding wood, they are less obtrusive.

I normally patch between the two sanding grits. Sand with 80 grit and do any patching then sand with 120 grit. Then I wet the wood to raise the grain and see if there are any patch spots that stick out like a sore thumb. Then I resand (if necessary) the patched areas to eliminate any excessive epoxy or bleeding into the adjacent wood. Then I lightly resand the entire hull with 120 grit to get rid of the fuzzies from the grain raising step.

There are a lot of ways of going about the sanding/patching/sanding procedures and each builder usually finds a method which suits him best.

[joatmon]

Just getting ready to do this step myself. There are some other posts about filling and sanding, if you do a search for "gaps" they come up. Or just use Glen's advice. He's very quick to respond with good answers. Thanks, Glen

[Juneaudave]

I make a series of random pencil marks all over the hull, then go at it with a fairing board. When the marks are gone, I'm done for the most part. Then I wet the hull, raise the grain, and look for any leftover glue. The final pass over to remove the raised grain will take care of the glue but you need to check. IMHO...the small gaps and tears at the edges of strips do not show up so much as glue lines. Focus your efforts at the glue!!!

[reinbilt]

I'll second what Dave just said. Glue lines will show up more often than small gaps. Wetting the wood down will show any left over glue lines.

[Its Me]

Just part of the choir.

Glue lines and excess epoxy fill will show through the glass and epxoy and should be sanded to a minimum.