Roller Coaster Sanding Sequence

I usually start with 120 or even 160 depending on the wood and go from there...

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Dean Bielanowski Editor, Online Tool Reviews

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On Wed, 23 Jul 2003 15:56:02 +1000, "Woody" Crawled out of the shop and said. . .:

Belt sanders heat and harden the surface of the wood. Also, by their design, they lay all uncut fibers down in the same direction. Use of a cabinet scraper or plane is best, though scrapers don't work well on stringy softer woods, followed by sanding with a Random Orbital Sander or an orbital.

For now, I would recommend you break the surface hardening by wiping with a damp rag. Allow to dry, then use your finishing sander.

See what I told you about pressing the uncut fibers down?

You will keep chasing your tail until hell freezes over.

Find a commercial sander in your area and have them run it thru their 48" wide sander.

$20-$30 and it will be flat, smooth and ready for finishing.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I usually try to start with just inside the station, then move up to the lift/launch, and then tackle the rest afterward. Only takes a few days on a smaller one, but up to a week on the really big ones. Slap on a fresh coat of paint, and the rails are usually good to go for another season.

Oh...wait a minute! This is the woodworking newsgroup, not rec.roller-coaster! My bad :)

Chris Mo>This is probably a simple question, but I've been sanding a table top