Sandman abrasive products: Foam-backed sanding pads

Model Airplane News, Jun 2002 by Bell, Rick

Flexible finishing tools

Whether you are applying an iron-on film or a painted finish, to achieve a great-looking model, you need to have a smooth surface under it. To get that perfect surface, you have to do a lot of sanding, and Sandman Abrasive Products' foam-backed sanding pads are the right tools for the job. These abrasive-coated pads come in various shapes, can be used wet or dry and come in grits from 80 to 600. They can be used to sand balsa, fiberglass and plastic surfaces, and finer grits can be special ordered. The pads fit comfortably in your hand, and they conform easily to contours such as wing leading edges, fuselage turtle decks and wing fillets. They are also great for sanding fiberglassed wing surfaces and for smoothing primer to obtain a very smooth paint surface. The differently shaped pads, such as the radius block or the slanted block, are ideal for sanding hard-to-reach edges and surfaces. I like the fact that the pads are washable and can be used for many years. I found the finer 2,000 and 4,000 grits ideal for removing scratches from clear plastic canopies. The Sandman foam pads are great companions to the traditional hardwood-sanding block on your workbench. -Rick Bell

Sandman Abrasive Products, 12676 Pierce St., Unit 6, Pacoima, CA 91331; (818) 834-8851; (888) 954-1800; fax (818) 834-8850; www.sandmanabrasives.com.