Favorite way to sand router profiles?

[Dan Forman]

I just made my first router profiled drawer front (ogee), wonder what is the best method of sanding prior to finishing? Do those formed rubber or plastic thingies work? Fake steel wool stuff?

Dan

[Rob Millard]

Dan,

I bought one of the Porter Cable profile sanders when they first came out. The sander itself wasn't much of a tool, but the little rubber profiles worked great and I use them all the time. They are supposed to be used with adhesive backed sandpaper, but that was expensive and the heat caused the glue to soften and the paper would slide around, exposing the rubber and leaving skid marks on the molding. I now just wrap plain sandpaper around them.
Rob Millard
www.americanfederalperiod.com

[Glenn Clabo]

If you do any remodeling at all...and want to buy an excellant (but a little expensive) tool try the Fein Multimaster. I love the tool...this is just an added use that works great.
http://www.waltertool.com/multimaster_profile.html

[richard poitras]

I got a set of rubber profiles that cost about $10 for a hole set, they work really well, low tec hand sanding but you can always find one of them that fit the contour of the molding. Not sure were I got them but I have seen them in numerous wood catalogs.

[Robert Waddell]

I use a gold colored sanding mop from Klingspor mounted in a small drill press. Much easier than any other method and won't change your profile.
rob

[Tom Jones III]

I cut off a piece of the foam insulation that you put around hot water pipes and then wrap sandpaper around it. It works great.

[glenn bradley]

Syntho steel wool or any other material that is too soft will kill your crisp edges on the profile. The little rubber thingy's (I got mine at Lee Valley, set of 15 for $12 a set I think) are the way to IMHO. Yeah, here it is:
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=20183&cat=1,42500 Looks like they're $15 regular price. Still cheap compared to what they do.

[Dan Forman]

Thanks for all of the responses.

I have the Fein sander, but the few contours that came with it are too big for my piece. I had been looking at that Lee Valley set, but don't want to wait around for a week. Called my local Woodcraft, and they carry a similar set and will mail it out today, so should get here tomorrow, saving me about an hours drive, as I'm on a tight schedule during regular business hours.

Has anyone tried adapting these to the Fein sander? No big deal to do it by hand, but I might give the machine a try, since it is there, you know?

Dan

[Aaron Beaver]

I use a gold colored sanding mop from Klingspor mounted in a small drill press. Much easier than any other method and won't change your profile.
rob

Do those work well? I have been thinking about getting one of the finer grit ones to try. Any scratches or anything from the strips of the "mop" pieces.

[Al Killian]

Heres a trick you can do. Go to the auto supply store and pick up some mud( Bondo) take a small peice of scrap and put a piece of cardboard on the ends to make a box. Aplly wax to all the surfaces, then mix the mud and pour it in. Let it set over nite. The next day peel it out of the mold and you will now have a coustom fit sanding block that fits perfect. Apply spray glue and attach sandpaper and sand away.
Al K.

[Jim Becker]

I use a combination of my fingers holding the papers, small blocks of wood where crisp edges are necessary and other wood objects as needed.

[Neil Lamens]

Rubber thingies, and finish with all the tools Jim mentions and I'll add dowels for the coves.

Neil

[Mike Armstrong]

I first heard those rubber thingies called tadpole sanders, and I've had a set for years. As mentioned above, get the right profile and you won't mess up any sharp edges or small profile details. Go for the whole set (20-ish or so?) and you'll always have the right one available. Everybody has them - Rockler, Woodcraft, Lee Valley, Klingspor, etc.

Mike

[Dan Forman]

A full set of the concave and convex contours should be in my mailbox tomorrow. Thanks also for the Bondo suggestion, may try that in the future.

Dan

[Randy Acton]

How about adjusting router rpm, feed rate and depth of cut to minimize or eliminate the need for sanding?