BYYB Forums

I received an email from a lurker, who suggested that I use a long board for prep sanding the hull for tape and glass. I have used a long board before, which I have known as a "fairing" board, on my kayaks, but only on bare wood. I had thought that the hardness of the epoxy, which is more than a fair match for my belt sander, would be too much for the fairing board. Boy, was I wrong. The fairing board made short work of knocking down the high spots where I covered screw holes and such. It was also VERY effective at cleaing up the epoxy runs on the hull sides after I epoxied the hull for glass. Needless to say, I will be using it to smooth the hull after glass.

A long board, or fairing board is a piece of 1/4" plywood, 4" wide X 12" to 18" long, with two handles on one side, and PSA sandpaper on the other.




Thanks for the tip!

lurkers can be so helpful -

long boards are good - and so are scrapers...


a.

Indeed... I've also found it helpful to get sanding strip on a self-adhesive roll, like tape. Then you can make boards as long as you need. Found for long, gradual curves like soft-chined boats (or cambered decks), a 30" board works for me, with handles at 8"in from each end. Also, if you angle the "forward" handle 10 degrees or so, it eliminates the wrist soreness after sanding for day after day after day.....that and rounding the corners on the handles !

We call those "boogie" boards where I come from, possibly because of the motion your body goes through doing the deed. I don't like PSA backed papers, they cost too much and I've had gum issues occasionally. I buy large rolls and have a simple slot and clamp handle on each end, which is little more then a saw kerf and a dry wall screw or two to clamp it closed (and flush).

well, I'm about ready to glass now that the weather is back above 50. And I've been planning to make a longboard. Paul, you mentioned that you like cubic zirc sandpaper. Where did you buy it again? All I can get around here is alum oxide. You have any pictures of this clamp setup of yours?

The paper I use comes in a roll, though is available in sheets and for different sanders (belt, orbital, etc.) I use "Norton" (it's blue) and use to get it a Home Depot, but now have my local Ace guy get it. I glue up my own belt sander paper and cut any I need for other sanders. It's a lot cheaper if you go through paper like I do. 3M also sells a similar paper.

The drawing shown is simplified a bit. Just blocks of wood glued to a backer (different thicknesses and lengths to suit flexibility and surface) which is typically plywood. I use 1/8" for curvy areas and 1/4" flatter places. The handle blocks (pine) have a saw cut at about a 10 degree angle in their outboard face. The two deck screws clamp the paper down when inserted. I usually shape the handles a little to make them more comfortable to work the board and I round over the leading and trailing edges to keep the paper from ripping and the board from "digging" when pushed hard.

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