• LUCZORAMA SHIPWRECK SCAVENGER HUNT GIVEAWAY. 4 Weeks of Fun • 1 Legendary Prize ((OcCre’s Fram Ship)) • Global Crew Welcome!
    **VIEW THREAD HERE**

Char removal, keeping it square

  • Thread starter Thread starter Krul1
  • Start date Start date
  • Watchers Watchers 8
Joined
Feb 10, 2024
Messages
35
Points
58

Hello All
Practicing char removal on scraps. What is your preferred method or tool to remove char evenly without rounding the edges or sanding unevenly. I find it especially difficult on the longer thin pieces I have been practicing on.
Thanks for your knowledgeable replies
J

 
I don't know any great method to do this. What I do is try not to remove all the char. That lets me know the surface is not too unevenly sanded.

Rob
 
Greeting all, indeed charr removal is quite a pain. Here what I do now... With harder wood, such as boxwood (maybe pear, walnut and cherry), you may have to use harder particles (aluminum oxide). A little expensive, but what is not in this craft? Link below provided alternative from recent posts.

 
Don't use your hand to support the sandpaper, or a soft block. Make sure you use sandpaper backed by a hard block. Some of the area where the char is you will not be sanding square anyway, such as where you have to bevel the edge of the bulkheads for the hull planking. Some of the char, you can leave on.
 
The only thing I use loose sandpaper for is getting into tough spots. I have different grits of paper rubber cemented to blocks, strips, dowels of every size, and 8x10 sheets of MDF I clamp to the table to sand frames.
Cut it, glue it, sand it. I heard from a very experienced modeller, it's always best to bring your work to the block than the other way around, when you can.
 
I use a true sander for straight pieces and a spindle sander for curved pieces. both help keep the edges square
 
So, I do not generally remove char. Only on edges that will be very visible and carry a natural finish. Otherwise I leave the char alone and carry on. What I do is wipe the char edge with a cloth (can be dabbed in thinner as a cleaner) just to make sure there are no powdery remains. I have not had any difficulty gluing charred edges in place. Thus, I have not sanded down char for several model assemblies now…
 
Back
Top