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Radius Block Screwing With My Sanding


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Hey, need some help before I ruin my fretboard lol

My stew mac 12" radius block seems to be f**king up my sanding, I'm not sure why, but I think its because its dirty (spray on adhesive + ebony dust = a lot of manky crap on the surface) and when I use it to radius, small holes seem to ware through the sand paper, but only at the ends of the block not in the middle... :D

What ever it is, its putting marks on my inlays in my fret board, like red inlay and then some ones pulling something sharp like small stone over it when I'm trying to sand. The marks buff out if I just use the sand paper in my hand, but not with the block, and its really anoying because its screwing up my inlays and I dont want to permantly mark my fretboard beyond repair.

So how can I clean the block? Is this the problem?

Is the sand paper clogging and thats the problem?

at what grit is it safe to sand by hand with out a radius block and not have to worry about putting the radius out of shape?

I think sanding by hand is probably the best solution, but I dont want to ruin the shape of the fretboard.

Cheers

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If clogging is the issue and the surface isn't going to be adversely affected by water (contamination, delamination, unseating etc) then I would wet sand it with soap and water anything finer than 240 grit. Dust builds up on paper more when wood is oily or if paper is "non-premium" (can I say cheap?).

If the radius block isn't a consistent radius along it's length then yeah, that'll be an issue :-\ I would strip it of paper, then take a straightedge and trace across the radius to figure out where the unevenness lays. I use DST instead of spray adhesive on the basis that tapes have consistent thickness and don't turn into lumps of gunk in places!

I suspect the adhesive. Even a small wood chip under the abrasive will magnify itself hugely onto the workpiece. The paper wearing through suggests a localised problem.

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Its silverline paper, pretty cheap, but seems to have worked well untill now...

and its ebony, can that be wet sanded?

The radius on the fret board is fine because Ive checked it against a 12" fretting caul.

I didnt want to use sticky tape as what I have is quite tacky and I didnt want it to leave residue on the radius block, and I didnt think spray adhesive would (ooops) lol...

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I'm not to sure what silverline paper is like, but I do use some of there router bits and they are at the budget end of the market.

Clean the radius block, get some decent paper, stick it on with double sided sticky tape and go from there.

This is the business end of guitar making, use the best finishing materials you can afford for a good looking job.

Edited by jaycee
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I prefer to use sanding pads and foams instead of higher grit papers on the basis that you don't need to worry about the slightest bit of paper loading ruining your polishing work. Use the radius block up till 1200 and then move through Micromesh pads as far as you can manage without you arm dropping off!

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Is the radius block true? No warp? Straight? Use QUALITY paper (yes, pay for the 3M, worth every penny, and it's cheaper than the Silverline because it lasts longer)? After rough-routing the radius, I do a quick sand at 80 grit, then 120 grit, 220, 320, 400, 600. At the end you're just polishing.

Also: keep the block LEVEL, apply EVEN pressure, and sand in ONE DIRECTION. Not back and forth, even unidirectional strokes are the key. If you're just levelling inlays, start with finer grit paper (220), and/or file them flat first; MOP files very nicely, better than it sands.

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what i do is this

i dont even stick the sandpaper to the block. i cut a longer piece than what i need, and wrap it over the edges of the sanding block. this helps so the edges dont get caught on stuff and make it rip. also, if it starts to clog, you can just move the sandpaper up and have a clean spot.

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