: Thanks Dave. Really all I'm doing is taking the sharp edge off the
: frame edges and stringers right?..... I have no interest in
: extensive sanding on Lynn's Kayak as it will be painted anyway.
: I'll spend a bit more time on mine since I plan on doing the
: clear vinyl covering.

You need three tools and one of them you probably already have: an electric drill.

Second: get a 2x4 block about 6 inches long and at least 4 thumbtacks. Wrap a piece of 120 grit sandpaper around the block and hold it in place with the thumbtacks. Now you have a sanding block for the flat surfaces of the frames, and stringers, and for knocking the edges off of the stringers.

Third: head to the hardware store and pice up a cheap expandable drum sanding bit for your electric drill. Something in the realm of 3/4" diameter to 1 1/2". Get a sanding cylinder of the same diameter in 150 or 200 grit, slide it on the drum and tighten it up before chucking the thing in your drill. Your drill runs at a pretty good RPM, so a finer grit on the sandpaper keeps this from cutting too deep. Go with a light touch anyhow. The picture of the sanding drum below is from the woodworkingshop.com.

Don't go any bigger than 1 1/2" on the drum. A smaller diameter drum will get into tighter areas, but you use up the sand paper faster. It is a good choice if you don't mind the dollar or so extra cost for another snadpaper cylinder. A larger drum puts more strain on the drills bearings, and is harder to control. Once it gets going you 'll be fighting a gyroscopic effect. Really big sanding drums (4" and up) are more expensive, and the surface speed of the abrasive is so fast it is scary. In a pinch you could chuck a 3/8" dowel into the drill, and glue on a small piece of sandpaper to make a small diameter sanding drum for almost no cost. If you want it ot have any cutting action, you'd probably want to use 80 to 100 grit sandpaper. Money saving tip: parts of the sandpaper near the thumbtacks will never get used on your sanding block. When you chane the paper on the sanding block save those unused areas to glue onto dowels for your rod sanding tools.

It doesn't take a lot of sanding for these parts. Just remove the rough edges. They will look beautiful inder the clear vinyl.

Hope this helps.

PGJ