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Sanding canopy plexy edges

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gerf(at)gerf.com
Guest

Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 4:23 pm Post subject: Sanding canopy plexy edges

Got my feet wet with the canopy cutting this weekend.  I'm sure 

my hand will get steadier with the cutoff wheel as I get 

experience, but my edges are quite rough.  Sanding them smooth 

by hand is beyond tedious - it will take me the rest of the year.



Is it OK to use an electrical orbital sander ?  I'm a bit 

worried that the orbital motion might crack or chip the plexy.  

Would it be better to use a belt sander ?  What have others used ?



__g__



========================================================== 

Gerry Filby                                  gerf(at)gerf.com

                   Tel: 415 203 9177

Terry Watson

Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 290
Location: Seattle, WA USA

Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 5:00 pm Post subject: Sanding canopy plexy edges

I did mine with a belt sander. Worked fine.



Terry




Got my feet wet with the canopy cutting this weekend.  I'm sure 

my hand will get steadier with the cutoff wheel as I get 

experience, but my edges are quite rough.  Sanding them smooth 

by hand is beyond tedious - it will take me the rest of the year.



Is it OK to use an electrical orbital sander ?  I'm a bit 

worried that the orbital motion might crack or chip the plexy.  

Would it be better to use a belt sander ?  What have others used ?

alexpeterson(at)earthlink
Guest

Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 5:15 pm Post subject: Sanding canopy plexy edges

 	  Quote: 	
		   

 

 I did mine with a belt sander. Worked fine.

 

 Terry


	


There needs to be a caution here.  If the edge is heated a bit too much, it

will attempt to expand, and since it is now softer, it will relieve itself

to a low stress condition.  As the edge cools, it will be put into tension

as it "hardens" and tries to shrink.  This tension will remain permanently

in the edge, potentially a bad thing.



However you finish the edge, make sure it is not getting warm to the touch.

Plexi has a very large coefficient of thermal expansion.



Alex Peterson

RV6-A N66AP 714 hours

Maple Grove, MN

wdleonard(at)gmail.com
Guest

Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 5:24 pm Post subject: Sanding canopy plexy edges

I used a hand block.  Start with 60 grit and work finer.  Dosent take that

long if your inital was pretty straight.



Dave Leonard

On 2/13/06, Gerry Filby <gerf(at)gerf.com> wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		  

 



 Got my feet wet with the canopy cutting this weekend.  I'm sure

 my hand will get steadier with the cutoff wheel as I get

 experience, but my edges are quite rough.  Sanding them smooth

 by hand is beyond tedious - it will take me the rest of the year.



 Is it OK to use an electrical orbital sander ?  I'm a bit

 worried that the orbital motion might crack or chip the plexy.

 Would it be better to use a belt sander ?  What have others used ?



 __g__



 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

 Gerry Filby                                  gerf(at)gerf.com

                   Tel: 415 203 9177






	




--

Dave Leonard

Turbo Rotary RV-6 N4VY

http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/rotaryroster/index.html

http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/vp4skydoc/index.html

Rick Galati

Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 91
Location: Lake St. Louis MO.

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 5:15 am Post subject: Re: Sanding canopy plexy edges

 	  gerf(at)gerf.com wrote: 	
		   Sanding them smooth 

by hand is beyond tedious - it will take me the rest 

of the year......What have others used ? 	
Gerry,

I used this specially designed hand tool to "scrape" the 

edges of the plexiglass smooth and renders an almost 

polished like quality with not too much effort in a 

relatively short amount of time.  Any remaining 

scratches on the edge surface can then (if required) 

be easily blended out with 600 (or finer) grit paper.  

I think you just may find this tool to be a real timesaver.

http://tinyurl.com/7aozs

Rick Galati  RV-6A  "Darla"

SSoule(at)pfclaw.com
Guest

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 5:53 am Post subject: Sanding canopy plexy edges

For what it's worth I used a Vixen file to smooth away the cutting marks and

then used a sanding block and progressively finer grit sandpaper to finish

the job. 



Steve Soule 

N227RV RV-6A 390 hours



--

elsa-henry(at)darlor-watc
Guest

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 8:48 am Post subject: Sanding canopy plexy edges

I used a standard 1" paint scraper, but with the edge ground flat so the barb formed by the grinding process does a nice job of shaving off the rough edges. Use a scrap piece of plexi to test it. The result I got was that looking straight into the shaved edge, it is nice and translucent. Worked great!



Henry Hore, -6A, C-GELS (Tip-up, Sold)

elsa-henry(at)darlor-watc
Guest

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 9:01 am Post subject: Sanding canopy plexy edges

I used a standard 1" paint scraper, but with the scraping edge ground flat so that a barb is formed that will do the scraping function. Use a piece of scrap plexi to test it. On my Tip-up, all the finished edges were translucent when looking straight into them.-Worked great!



Henry Hore, -6A, C-GELS (Sold, for med. reasons).

Dale Ensing

Joined: 11 Jan 2006
Posts: 571
Location: Aero Plantation Weddington NC

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 9:54 am Post subject: Sanding canopy plexy edges

Gerry,

A process that worked will for me, with out the danger of getting the plexi too warm, was to use a scraper. I made a scraper with a curved working edge from a piece of .040 aluminum. The metal edges in the working area are left rather sharp and the scraper is pulled along the edge of the plexi. Found this to remove material faster than block sanding. Takes a little practice to get the right technique.The curved edge vs. a flat edge was used to give the plexi a more finished edge. Final finish  was with sanding.

Dale Ensing

_________________
Dale Ensing
RV-6A
Aero Plantation
Weddington NC

gerf(at)gerf.com
Guest

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 11:32 am Post subject: Sanding canopy plexy edges

Thanks to everyone for their comments !!



I have several techniques to try out on the scraps.



g



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