Friday, August 14, 2009

sanding mask

This simple device, a "sanding mask," is to allow sanding to be done with a sanding stick and avoid marking the surrounding wood. It is my simple invention of the day, made using the hollow chisel mortiser and a piece of scrap Formica. The hole had to be cut slightly longer than the original mortises to allow for the wedges used to expand the tenons and lock them in place. You can see the use of the mask and sanding stick in the photo below. I am using the sanding stick to slightly chamfer each edge.

2 comments:

  1. I've used a similar technique to put a chamfer on through tenons that I learned from Michael Fortune (if I remember correctly). It involves a small block of wood with a 45 degree side which I cover with sandpaper. Now when you chamfer the tenons, they will be a uniform 45 degress. This assumes that uniformity is important and worth the extra time to make the block.

    Keep up the good work. I always enjoy seeing different ways to accomplish something and the comments and tips others leave.

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  2. My chamfers on these tenons are so small that the precise angle wasn't a concern. Some larger ones I've chamfered with a block plane or router. If you have a photo of the kind of block you use, I would be pleased to share it with my other readers.

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