Don't be afraid to use some coarser grit paper in your RO sander and fairing board. I've successfully used 60 grit on some boats and didn't feel the need to use anything finer afterwards. Find a grit that cuts the hard stuff and then do as little sanding as possible with finer stuf to get rid of the scratches. Keep the the stiff sanding pad on until the last light sanding. Move the sander quickly.

> I've run into a bit of a snag on the Wee Lassie II and could use some
> suggestions from the group. I'm using redwood I milled from mostly
> flat-sawn lumber, some quarter-sawn. I would have bought all flat sawn,
> but my selection was limited. I was careful to keep all the strips from
> the same planks together as I milled them so I could balance the strips on
> either side of the boat. I started at the sheer laying the
> now-quarter-sawn strips (I will refer to these as 'good' strips) which
> carried me up to the bilge. From there to the centerline, I layed the
> now-flat-sawn strips (I will refer to these as 'evil' strips). Now, some
> of the evil strips are more evil than others, but there's a band about
> 4-5" wide that really has a lot of hard growth rings running parallel
> to the surface, and I'm having a heck of a time trying to fair the boat in
> this area.

> Here's what I've done so far: I started by planing the whole boat (where
> practical) with a block plane and then moved on to the ROS with 80 grit,
> and I was careful to change the disk every few feet. By touch, I could
> feel that I was still generating undulations between the rings. I gave the
> fairing board a shot. With fresh sandpaper on, I ran it over the good
> strips and got the satifying sound of a good cut. I ran it over the evil
> strips and got virtually nothing. I could tell it was just gliding over
> the top of the waves. I switched to a cabinet scraper, and by touch, this
> was giving me pretty good results. I thought I would be able to scrape the
> whole boat, and then go over it with a light sanding (ligthly enough to
> not generate more hills and valleys) with the fairing board. Last night
> for the first time, I turned the lights out and raked a flashlight over
> the scraped surface, and I was stunned by what I saw. Although I was able
> to make localized faired surfaces, the overall surface was pretty
> disappointing with waves and ripples. I'm looking for some suggestions on
> what to try next. At this point, the only thing I have planned is to get
> some different (sharper) sandpaper, and put the hard sanding pad back on
> the ROS sander (it's got a medium stiffness pad now).

> I would be greatful for any suggestions on how to fair evil strips.

> Thanks,

> Ross