: I posted a message a few months ago advising my good luck using a belt sander
: to rough out items which would take long time to shape with a plane. I
: smoothed the inside of my coaming in a few minutes, and recently relieved
: the sharp inside lower aft edge of my deck beam where I kept barking my
: knee. Turned out other people use power tools in the same way.

: Now I want to know what is the smallest belt sander out there, I see 3x18
: paper on the shelf, and also 1" finger sander belts, is there
: anything in between?

: Does anyone else have suggested tools to take off lots of material fast,
: especially on an inside? Other adaptations of power to plywood
: boatbuilding?

Hey John

My strips are up and down abt 1/16in plus on the flattish bottom, so I grabbed the 4x24 belt sander. Put 36grit on it, fired it up, and started out. YEEEOOOWWW!!!! A quarter of a nanosecond later, I was down and easy 1/16" and screamin and hopping. Phewww! - still some wood left, but a little more precious than before.

Put 100 grit on it and worked great, inches of sawdust in a few minutes, but way way more predictable. But these were flat areas and I just don't know how the heck you control it in difficult parts.

So John, what do you do to control it? Variable speed? Fine Grit? Lots of experience? Fencing of some sort so no overkill like I just abt did? Do you use the curved front, Do you custom change the bed?

Like I wouldn't even bring it near any curved surface - it'd be through in less than a heartbeat.

And I apologize, I couldn't find your last post.

-mick