Just wondering if there are better sanding blocks than the three pin per side holding type I've been using all these years?
I worked with this company back in the 80's and developed their line of Sanding Blocks when I had my restoration shop. They still sell them. Available at all P & B sellers; http://www.motorguard.com/sur_1.html Eric
Still hard to beat a wooden stir-stick wrapped with a full sheet of whatever grit paper you're using, in MANY situations. DD
I think much depends upon what type of surface area you're sanding too. I just recently used a jitterbug type sander from HF for sanding my wagon roof w/ 400. I regulated down to about 40 psi and it worked great. Roughly a 4" x 6" paper area. Has a hard rubber pad.
www.jefflilly.com restoration site. Really good information on the blocks they make for all phases of body and paint work. Lot of good building and fab tips too.
Tis what I use....love em! http://www.tcpglobal.com/autobodydepot/durablock.aspx?gclid=COXvvO7u1a8CFQkFnQodM2cb_A
Never used a three pin block for wet sanding, or a paint stick for wet sanding. That big rubber 3 pin block is a lot of heavy mass to be flinging around. As soon as your done with it, or its done wearing you out, you get to play with the buffer. That paint stick is my best friend for blocking though.
Durablocks rock motor guard soft blocks are great 3m squeegees work well just make sure raised side is up. As for wet sanding with paint sticks think about what water does to the grain.
Thanks, guys, glad to know they are still used an appreciated!! The "SB", (the double density block), was my first sanding block and is still selling well after 26 years and well over 1,000,000 units! My favorite wet sanding block of the bunch is still "The Holey Terror", the black & blue one with the holes - Hard enough to flatten most panels, yet flexible enough to conform to curves. Eric PS: In place of the stirring sticks, I have some 3/4" x 1 1/2" x 3 Foot long hard EVA rubber "sticks" that I sell. They can be cut up into different lengths for various applications.
I like a drywall pad, the one about the size of a double deck of cards. Wrapped with paper of coarse.It's the right size for my tired old hands.
I like the Tru-flat blocks for wetsanding, they don't warp like a 3M block. I like the new velcro Dura blocks for dry sanding.
I've been using paint sticks for decades. I've used a lot of blocks for getting there in the multitude of shapes we have to navigate, but when it gets down to that final wet sand the stick rules. You can't use just any old stick these days. The ones I get from the paint supplier aren't even real wood, they're some form of leftover wood product. I do have a fist full of good old school wood sticks that are just right. I prefer to throw them into some water well before so they soak up enough to conform easily and allow flat surfacing of at least 1-2sqft at a time. The old rubber with the teeth? I can't recall the last time I used one. I've used a coworker's "Holy Terror" on prep work and it was handy for what I needed, I also use a Meguires or 3M foam pad when the stick won't do, but the hard truth is that what you see and how you do it is where that surface comes from. 1/2 sheets of paper make a nice wrap over a stick or one of the 3 blocks mentioned. Hookit pads are also handy on a high speed short stroke orbital like a Dynabrade, but again it's the operator control and vision that make the end product. As a slightly humorous aside, I can see when someone has used that old rubber block on a finish, many times from over 30' away. Leaves a perfect measure of itself along reveals when they get sanded straight along vs approached at an angle (the hard way).
I have about 8 different types (long, short, small round, big round, flat pad, soft flat pad) it just depends upon what I am sanding and what the area is like. I have a couple that are concave to use on reveal and belt lines also. My collection has been evolveing for 35 years. Walter
Durablocks are my standard, but will use whatever works. Finished up a small repair spot on clearcoat this morning using a 1" 'block' cut out of a wooden clothes pin!
For a small detail block, a pink eraser from the school supply aisle of your favorite store works good.
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