I re-did my WFL's with this:http://www.sears.com/craftsman-5-in-random-orbit-sander/p-00911218000P?prdNo=3&blockNo=3&blockType=G3It's the greatest $50 I've ever spent. -Beau
Now were talking! But even thre ros can take too much off, be careful.
Jeff C
Tey can also leave curly-Q patterns across the grain...
Fine for roughing-in but final sanding is always by hand for me...
The way I was taught to sand drum shells is; sand-paper held in your hand, (no sanding blocks or machines) and going with the grain, you make the longest strokes around the shell that you can. The key is l-o-n-g strokes. Don't sand back and forth in one little area. Make the strokes as long as your arm will reach around the shell. It'll keep the surface even/round with no flat spots.
You don't need -any- tools, just the meat-hook at the end of your arm. Your hand will shape the paper to the curvature of the shell better than any flat sanding block or the flat base of a sanding machine ever will.
The rest is elbow-grease.
John
The way I was taught to sand drum shells is; sand-paper held in your hand, (no sanding blocks or machines) and going with the grain, you make the longest strokes around the shell that you can. The key is l-o-n-g strokes. Don't sand back and forth in one little area. Make the strokes as long as your arm will reach around the shell. It'll keep the surface even/round with no flat spots.You don't need -any- tools, just the meat-hook at the end of your arm. Your hand will shape the paper to the curvature of the shell better than any flat sanding block or the flat base of a sanding machine ever will.The rest is elbow-grease.John
John, I disagree and agree. If you have a shell that is nice and smooth and no holes have been filled then holding the paper in your hand is good. Its when you have gouges that have been filled with filler and they need to be flatened out is where the block comes in. If you were filling a dent in a car fender with bondo you wouldnt use your hand to straighten it out, you would use a block or straight line sander. The flat, straight surface of the sander is needed to level out the plane, same thing on a drum. Havent you ever been sanding with the paper in your hand and felt a bump or low spot? You cant sand that bumb out very well with you fingers you need to plane it down with a tool first to get it flat. Once its all flat, then yes hand sand so you can feel for bumps and low spots.
Jeff - Point taken. I -am- talking about a normal shell, not one that has been buried in Bondo.
The main point I wanted to make had to do with the length of the sanding strokes. Most guys have a tendency to sand back and forth in small areas. You know what that ends up looking like.
John
And that`s why you spin the drum !! Use something like that circle wedge JC made to re-round his drum. A few datto chanels, some slide`n locks and you could tighten from the outside or inside and spin it on any shaft motor !!
Sand by hand and ALWAYS with the grain.
I used an orbital palm sander to go from this:
[IMG]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8184/8103076424_e4527a2516_c.jpg[/IMG]
to this:
[IMG]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8330/8105838551_1ba3facbf2_c.jpg[/IMG]
Hand sanded before I applied the stain.
