ble sided tape is shown also.
Next take some double side tape or carpet tape and attach it to the flat sanded surface of the balsa block. Finally take the desired sandpaper (grit number) and attach it to the tape. Your sanding block is complete.
The sanding mechanics, the motion and pressure used to sand is something that is very hard to describe and really takes practice to master. I don’t worry about going across the grain, so I sand with circular motions. The most important thing is not too hard of pressure. Pressing down hard on the sanding block is easy to do since the harder you press the more material you can remove but pressing hard also cause heat and heat causes the wood to expand. Wood that is locally being heated and material being removed at the same time causes huge waves and warps. Related to this is how "used" the sandpaper is. Sandpaper wears out or dulls and dulled sandpaper make you press harder to remove material. Remember pressing hard is not a good thing so replacing the sandpaper on your sanding block frequently is very important. What I do is replace the paper on all my blocks when I start a new glider.
10 Basic Steps To Making A Glider Wing
- Choose a glider design, get plans and make templates and fixtures.
- Choose the piece of wood. Evaluate for:
- Trace out platform outline of wing
- Cut platform outline of wing
- Glue on Hardwood Leading Edge (optional)
- Sand the bottom of the wing flat
- Sand root to tip taper. See Photo 6.
- Sand highpoint to trailing edge shape. See Photo 7.
- Sand LE to high point shape
- Sand Upsweep