Need some tips on sanding

[derbykid71]

I just started sanding my BSA PWD car a few days ago. I don`t know that much about it. dose anyone here have any tips that may help me. Please and thank you.

[doct1010]

I just started sanding my BSA PWD car a few days ago. I don`t know that much about it. dose anyone here have any tips that may help me. Please and thank you.

What problems are you having? If you give us a hint maybe we all could help.

[pwdarchitect]

Sanding 101:

To cut the wood down even further than what you have cut with a saw, sand across the grain of the wood with 150 grit and then 220 grit or use a rasp and wood files to fine tune your desired shape. (I personally use both.) Some people like to use a dremel sanding drum to get the shape done quicker but I find it cuts sometimes faster than I want to go to make sure that both side are perfectly even.

To fine tune your shape or "make is smooth", sand with the grain of the wood with 320-400 grit sand paper.

To make sure that evenrything is evenly sanded, before sanding with the 320 grit, mark with a pencil some lines in a cross-hatched pattern and then sand until there are no visible lines on the wood.

Jim

[derbykid71]

Well ok but should I power sand it or sand by hand?

[pwdarchitect]

If you have a lot of material removal, then use a power sander. If you only want to make the car have a smooth finish before primer/paint, sand it by hand.

Jim

[Go Bubba Go]

In our opinion, it depends on how smooth you want the finish to be, how rough your cuts are, and what kind of paint you are using.

1) Smoothness of finish - My boys are much less "wound up" about cuts and gigs in their finish than I am. They are happy to sand by hand until their car is "basically smooth". If they have a little cut mark left in it, they think it lends "character" to the car.

2) Roughness of cuts - Depending on the type of saw and fineness of blade used, some saws will make a pretty smooth cut by themselves. A simple wedge that has been cut carefully (i.e. slowly and using a good jig) on a band saw with a fine blade will pass my boys "smoothness test" with only a little sanding by hand. When they cut this year by hand with a coping saw, the finish was a lot rougher and required more sanding.

3) Kind of paint used - My boys (esp. the younger) still likes to paint by hand with a small brush. These paints are thicker and "smooth out" the finish much more than you would with a spray paint. If you want a nice, smooth finish that you plan to spray paint, sanding by hand might take a while if your cut job is rough.

In summary, to some degree it is a matter of preference.

I have seen some boys with obviously hand cut, hand sanded, hand painted cars who were quite pleased with their creations (some were quite fast, too).

I have seen others who were much more into "looks" and had beautiful, smooth, rich, deep (i.e. many coats) spray paint jobs that looked nearly professional. Unless their initial cut job was very smooth, I suspect they either power sanded or spent a LOT of time sanding by hand.

p.s. Note that we often "labor save" on sanding by filling in the really bad spots with a wood filler prior to sanding smooth. Given your moniker (derbykid71), just check with your folks about whether or not you can do this and which fillers to select. Some fillers are toxic, and the dust that is created is very fine and a little messy. We put a towel (not the good ones!!) down and use our safety glasses and filtration masks when sanding down the filler.

Good luck!