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Brian Barbata in Hawaii is building a Glen-L Monte Carlo and shares with us today some modifications he made to his sanding board that he thinks make it more useful for getting into those pesky concave curves on classic runabouts.

Adhesive paper of the size needed for these boards only comes in rolls, and not a large selection of grits. But belt sandpaper is much easier to come by and 3 x 18 or 21 is a perfect fit. Below is a picture of how to use a sander belt on this board. Screws into the plastic hold fine. This allowed me to use 50 grit, which is unavailable in a roll (and in any case, who needs a huge roll of 50 grit?).

I think a difference between this and what others have used is the loop over the handles. Although the board is flexible, if you use it as-is and just let it bend, it’s harder to push and you get heavier sanding at the ends. The loop pre-flexes it. In addition, it’s fairly easy to pinch the loop with your fingers, adding more of a curve when needed. I wasn’t thinking of it being a flexible board as much as a curved board with a variable curve.

Another thing that is needed is a really long board for the flatter areas. I made a board about 4’ long, and use the adhesive roll 80 grit on it, but it would be better made of plastic or aluminum with a proper pad and end clips.

Also, I’ve not had success with straight line air sanders. I’ve tried two of them and you need a really big compressor to keep up with the air demand. The orange hand board is the same size and works better (without the curve). Also quieter 😉

–Thanks for the tips, Brian!