Monday, January 17, 2011

Sanding Sticks

When I have finished with one of my carvings, I sometimes like to sand the surfaces to relieve the marks made by my tools.  The carving invariably has areas where it is difficult to sand.  The usual practice is to rip up pieces of sandpaper and by folding them in a certain way, it is possible to sand those areas.

I do something different. I take a piece of scrap wood and split it into lengths that are about 3/8 of an inch wide.  I then shape the end of the stick with my carving knife appropriately.  I cut up pieces of sandpaper and using super-glue, glue the sandpaper to the end of the stick that I just carved.  I use various grades of sandpaper to get the finish I want.

The sanding sticks are easy to make and require only a few minutes of work.  They are quite effective in getting into those areas missed by regular sanding.