Sanding Hull Planks

[Ted Robinson]

I seem to recall reading that hull planks should be sanded longitudinaly. Fire to aft as opposed to up and down.
A 45 degree angle seems more natural.
Is their a best practice on this
Thank you
Happy modeling

 

[Bobby K.]

Does longitudinally mean with the grain then yes. Sand with the grain of the wood, you can sand at a 45 if you want to take lots off but then back to with the grain , sand till your happy with it. Hope it helps.
Bobby K

 

[Ted Robinson]

Yes, that makes sense,

Does longitudinally mean with the grain then yes. Sand with the grain of the wood, you can sand at a 45 if you want to take lots off but then back to with the grain , sand till your happy with it. Hope it helps.
Bobby K

Thanks for your information

 

[Corsair]

Sand across the grain if you are shaping.
Sand with the grain for finish sanding.
If you do a finish sand across the grain, the finish of the wood will look like it has lots of scratches in it.
This is even if you are planning on painting the wood (although to a lesser extent and if you are painting, the scratches can be covered with a sandable primer).

 

[Ted Robinson]

Sand across the grain if you are shaping.
Sand with the grain for finish sanding.
If you do a finish sand across the grain, the finish of the wood will look like it has lots of scratches in it.
This is even if you are planning on painting the wood (although to a lesser extent and if you are painting, the scratches can be covered with a sandable primer).

Thank you

 

[Steef66]

Scraping gives a better finish then sanding. I use a small scraper to finish the wood. The rest like Corsair said.

 

[bill36]

I seem to recall reading that hull planks should be sanded longitudinaly. Fire to aft as opposed to up and down.
A 45 degree angle seems more natural.
Is their a best practice on this
Thank you
Happy modeling

1. Sanding, in general, is a BAD idea.
2. Scraping is a GOOD idea. By all means, scrape WITH the grain. cross grain will destroy the wood.
3. The theory behind sanding is to TEAR the wood fibers to level the wood surface. You keep reducing the size of the crystals glued to the paper surface in order to get a smoother wood surface.
4. Scraping, on the other hand, CUTS the wood fibers. Cutting produces a much smoother surface right from the "git-go". Almost any piece of steel can be sharpened into a scraper. Examples are - razor blades, X-Acto blades, broken blades shaped and sharpened into shapes for special curves,
#10 scalpel blades on a handle (actually, all scalpel blades), small special made chisels (my smallest chisels are of the order of 0.01" in width, the largest are about 1/4" width). The trick is to acquire a collection of sharpening stones from really fine grain to coarse grain (200 to 2000). A good magnifier is also a REAL BENEFIT. I use a Bosch and Lomb 7x to 30x stereo microscope available used on Amazon.
5. Finish with a highly diluted mix of 1 part lacquer and 4 parts alcohol (Lowes, Home Depot, ---)..
6. Do sand (finally), with the grain, with 1000 to 2000 grit black wet sandpaper (Harbor Freight).
Using more than 2 coats of lacquer is counterproductive. You do not want a buildup. You want to only to fill the pores; this is where your choice of wood becomes very important.
7. With a little practice and the right wood (box, lemon, ---), you can produce a mirror on every hull (if that is what you want). Usually, I strive for a filled wood surface that is a dull linoleum floor.

 

[Ted Robinson]

1. Sanding, in general, is a BAD idea.
2. Scraping is a GOOD idea. By all means, scrape WITH the grain. cross grain will destroy the wood.
3. The theory behind sanding is to TEAR the wood fibers to level the wood surface. You keep reducing the size of the crystals glued to the paper surface in order to get a smoother wood surface.
4. Scraping, on the other hand, CUTS the wood fibers. Cutting produces a much smoother surface right from the "git-go". Almost any piece of steel can be sharpened into a scraper. Examples are - razor blades, X-Acto blades, broken blades shaped and sharpened into shapes for special curves,
#10 scalpel blades on a handle (actually, all scalpel blades), small special made chisels (my smallest chisels are of the order of 0.01" in width, the largest are about 1/4" width). The trick is to acquire a collection of sharpening stones from really fine grain to coarse grain (200 to 2000). A good magnifier is also a REAL BENEFIT. I use a Bosch and Lomb 7x to 30x stereo microscope available used on Amazon.
5. Finish with a highly diluted mix of 1 part lacquer and 4 parts alcohol (Lowes, Home Depot, ---)..
6. Do sand (finally), with the grain, with 1000 to 2000 grit black wet sandpaper (Harbor Freight).
Using more than 2 coats of lacquer is counterproductive. You do not want a buildup. You want to only to fill the pores; this is where your choice of wood becomes very important.
7. With a little practice and the right wood (box, lemon, ---), you can produce a mirror on every hull (if that is what you want). Usually, I strive for a filled wood surface that is a dull linoleum floor.

Im going to attempt this finish in the second layer of planking.
Thank you

 

[bill36]

I seem to recall reading that hull planks should be sanded longitudinaly. Fire to aft as opposed to up and down.
A 45 degree angle seems more natural.
Is their a best practice on this
Thank you
Happy modeling

1. Additional addendum
2. After the final scraping and shaping, you can use FILES to smooth the wood into final form, along with discrete sanding.
3. Use ONLY needle type files for this final smoothing: all of the usual wood workers type files are FAR TO COARSE. I have collected quite a few of these files over the years: you will find that no needle files are manufactured identical no matter what the manufacturers say in their ads. I usually buy them 5 or 10 packs at a time. I do not throw away older/worn files, these older/worn files are equivalent to 2000 to 3000 grit sandpaper and really produce a fantastic surface.
4. The coarse wood workers files are good for rough shaping, but not for working on a final smooth finish.
5. I guess the final "tool kit" contains - Lacquer and thinner, files - the absolute smallest files super fine to medium fine, wood workers files - fine to medium (coarse wood workers files are useless), sandpaper - about 200 to 2000 grit wet, scrapers - any piece of steel sharpened as sharp as you can possibly get them, magnifiers of some sort - you want to examine your surfaces in as much detail as possible, whatever else that works for you and finally a good collection of really small paint brushes from really small (size 000) up to about 1/4" flat (buy quality - cheap does not last and does not produce smoothness) and finally, you really do need magnification in order to get really sharp fine edged cutting surfaces.
6. I'm quitting before I write a book.

 

[Ted Robinson]

I'm excited to try your finish technique on the hull of m building

1. Additional addendum
2. After the final scraping and shaping, you can use FILES to smooth the wood into final form, along with discrete sanding.
3. Use ONLY needle type files for this final smoothing: all of the usual wood workers type files are FAR TO COARSE. I have collected quite a few of these files over the years: you will find that no needle files are manufactured identical no matter what the manufacturers say in their ads. I usually buy them 5 or 10 packs at a time. I do not throw away older/worn files, these older/worn files are equivalent to 2000 to 3000 grit sandpaper and really produce a fantastic surface.
4. The coarse wood workers files are good for rough shaping, but not for working on a final smooth finish.
5. I guess the final "tool kit" contains - Lacquer and thinner, files - the absolute smallest files super fine to medium fine, wood workers files - fine to medium (coarse wood workers files are useless), sandpaper - about 200 to 2000 grit wet, scrapers - any piece of steel sharpened as sharp as you can possibly get them, magnifiers of some sort - you want to examine your surfaces in as much detail as possible, whatever else that works for you and finally a good collection of really small paint brushes from really small (size 000) up to about 1/4" flat (buy quality - cheap does not last and does not produce smoothness) and finally, you really do need magnification in order to get really sharp fine edged cutting surfaces.
6. I'm quitting before I write a book.