Woodworking Noob, Small Reshaping Project. Which type of sander?

[thetragichero]

i would listen to the advice already given, but i'm the kind of maniac who likes using one of those handheld belt sanders for removing a bunch of wood (i do switch to sandpaper by hand when it comes to the finer stuff/roundovers)

 

[cmcbass]

I have a little porter cable mini belt sander that I use at work pretty much every day. I brought it home last week to strip the finish off and reshape a cheap bass. Took most of it down with the belt sander and smoothed everything out with an orbital.

 

[singlemalt]

If you aren’t fairly router savvy, learning with a big router and a large radius roundover bit could get ugly real quick.

Your random orbital and heavy grit sandpaper will get it done.

 

[micguy]

A Router is absolutely the tool for this job. It'll be much quicker, less prone to errors, and you have much more consistency.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Hey All,

I am going to try my hand at reshaping a bass that has more of a slab body. Thought this was the right forum for it. The goal is to round over the edges to get a more modern look and feel.

That said, I have been messing around in photoshop and may even get more aggressive on the shape changes. In which case I may need to invest

If I am just rounding edges...I have an orbital sander, but wonder if its the right tool. For a newbie who's not done this before...am I on the right path? How about a 1/4 palm sander? Or perhaps some sort of oscillating sander?

Thanks for any input.

Peanut grinder with a flap disc. Then, use an orbital sander.

 

[KayXero]

Wood rasps. Good place to start and you can go slow. Sanding last to smooth everything out. They are available at most any hardware store.

Thanks, I believe this is the way Ill go. I'll find a good rasp set and be very careful, and then finish up with some sanding by hand.

I've been watching a bunch of videos today, and this seems the easiest way for me to avoid mistakes as a noobie.

Ill make sure to practice on some scrap wood first.

 

[dwizum]

Practice with the rasps on some scrap wood - especially if they're just generic hardware store wood rasps. It's really easy to end up leaving deep tool marks in wood if you're using a rasp wrong. The rasp will generally need to be slid across the wood at a certain slip angle to cut cleanly vs just dig in and scar the wood. You want the teeth to each find their own path in the wood, vs all the teeth following the same set of grooves across the wood.

If you think you'll want to be doing more woodworking, it might be worth getting one or two nice rasps. The shinto rasps are popular among instrument builders - they're basically a bunch of hacksaw blades bent and welded into an open criss cross shape. They remove wood quickly and leave a fairly fine surface regardless of your technique, it would be reasonable to use one and then go straight to hand sanding:

https://www.amazon.com/Shinto-HC-TL-SSR200-9-Saw-Rasp/dp/B004DIHDU0

Shintos only come in flat shapes, which can make them challenging on concave curves. But the shinto's teeth are so fine you don't really run the same risk of gouging as you do with other rasps.

Iwasaki rasps, sometimes sold as carving files or planemaking floats, are the next step up the ladder from that:

Highland Woodworking Tools

Iwasaki rasps can cut extremely cleanly, and very fast for their size. They come in a bunch of sizes and shapes for different applications. The 8" half round medium cut would be a good place to start, the round shape lets it work on concave curves. A flat rasp is better on convex curves, but won't work at all on concave curves, so if you're looking for a single rasp, start with the half round. Three or four Iwasaki rasps will be the best $100 you ever spend on carving tools if you're going to be making lots of instruments.

Iwasaki rasps are also sold by a couple guitar vendors with specific branding, but they're almost always more expensive that way.

 

[lark_z]

I used an orbital on my first build to do the belly and forearm cut. I started with 80 grit paper. WEAR DUST PROTECTION.

 

[Slidlow]

Here's all you need. The two wood files (rasps) are Nicholson brand, the half round longer one which has curved face and a flat face and the shorter one has coarse and fine flat and half round faces. The long large rat tail is a black diamond and is actually a coarse metal file. I also use some smaller metal files for smoothing and detail. No need to invest big $$$.

 

[RichterScale]

I shaped a walnut and mahogany body with all hand tools. PVC pipe with sand paper glued to it, sanding blocks and 18" sanding belts slipped over 3/4" MDF. Or, any perfectly flat piece of 3/4" wood. The Shinto rasp is invaluable and worth every penny (I think I paid $25).
Another thing I did was to build a mock body out of pine 2x4 scraps to practice on. If you can learn on a softer wood to control the angles and material being removed, it will be that much easier on the harder materials.

 

[RichterScale]

Also, the only Shinto available locally for me was the the one with the planing handle. Completely useless for body shaping. I ended up using just the blade and it was a little uncomfy (but still worked great).
I suggest getting the version with the standard handle.

 

[rwkeating]

I hesitated before buying a Shinto rasp because I questioned how much use I'd get out of it. I've since used it on many things (some which probably would make you cringe, but it got the job done.) When you have a Shinto rasp, everything starts looking like ... uh ... uh .... something to use a Shinto rasp on (I shouldn't have started typing that phrase without knowing how to end it )