any tips for detail sanding?

[steveo3002]

ive got a few spots i need to shape up and then sand for paint etc

trouble is theyre tight corners, smaller than were i can poke a finger in etc , is there anything like abrasive sticks that would go in tight corners

[perdu]

I'm sure there are and no doubt Eric, dr_gn or many others will pop along and tell us, but I take a sheet of automobile Silcone carbide finishing paper (P320 I use) and tear off a couple of inches (40/50 mm) off the corner and fold it over rough side out. Then work it into any corners I need to clean out.

Becase it's paper it folds nicely and as it is stiff paper it has a fair amount of mechanical strength to withstand the pushing and prodding.

(now lets sit back and see what the others use )

[steveo3002]

yeah ive kinda been doing that , its just some spots theres no room to rub back n forth enough

i sort of need like a pencil end with abrasive on it

[dr_gn]

steveo3002 said:

yeah ive kinda been doing that , its just some spots theres no room to rub back n forth enough

i sort of need like a pencil end with abrasive on it

Daft as it sounds, have you tried a new scalpel blade? You can abrade plastic very nicely by scraping side to side, and of course it's a sharp point.

Other suggestions:

Fibreglass pencil - surprisingly abrasive

Small "Swiss" files

[steveo3002]

yeah ive been shaving it with a blade , just seems like hard work lol

in trying to shave off a molded on seat belt on some car seats , need to get in the pleats and creases etc , should be nice if i can do it well

[72twink]

In the past I've made my own shaped sanding sticks for awkward corners, glue a piece of the required grade of W&D to a thickish piece of plasticard and then cut to required shape, then glue a rod into the centre on the reverse side as a handle.

[SlipStream77]

If it is only pretty light sanding that is required, I have used a toothpick with some polish on the end.

I used Solvol Autosol but anything like that should work, because of the subtle abrasiveness it can take quite a bit of work to smooth out rough surfaces though.

I'd also test the polish first on an out of sight area just to be sure it doesn't react with the plastic.

[dr_gn]

steveo3002 said:

yeah ive been shaving it with a blade , just seems like hard work lol

in trying to shave off a molded on seat belt on some car seats , need to get in the pleats and creases etc , should be nice if i can do it well

A "bare metal foil" scribing tool would do very nicely for the pleats.