: Hi Guys,
: I have a Porter Cable 343 5" r.o.sander and was hoping someone
: had advice on a soft adaptor pad etc. The stock pad is too hard
: and PC's 13905 contour pad seems not soft enough. There has to
: be a better solution to conforming to the chines and pinched bow
: and stern.
: Any thoughts?
: Thanks, Jim

A smaller diameter sander, or a "mouse" type sander, or an oscillating tool with a sanding "blade" on it might serve you better. But all of these cost some real money. There are several adapeter pads which have a hook surface on one side and a loop surface on the other. Push one on your sander and put your sandpaper on that. Depending on the make and model you may get 1/4" to 1/2" of cushiony padding between the original platten of your sander and your sandpaper.

Below is a picture from Lee Valley's online catalog.

http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=59471&cat=1,42500

This happens to show an adapter which sucks air through the back of porous sandpaper, and the system has a 3/8" foam pad, sold separately for $9.95--check the bottom of the webpage.

if you have some velcro and a sheet of foam, you can make your own. Put the velcro on both sides of the foam first and it will probably be easier to trim the edges down to size. here it is your choice on how thick of foam, and how stiff. Punch holes in it to match the hole pattern on your sander--5 holes or 8 holes, or whatever.

Hope this helps

PGJ