BENCHTIPS

BY BOB RUSH

Ihave been making more cabs lately that have included some features that involve carving techniques. Much of my carving is done with 1” diameter Mizzy silicon carbide wheels which are used dry. The material removal goes rather quickly, but the sanding activity that follows requires quite a bit of tedious work.

Some of the work can be accomplished with rubberized Cratex wheels with various sizes of silicon carbide grit embedded within. The wheels do a good job of smoothing the previously ground surfaces, but there is more precise work that needs to be done. Usually, I use wet or dry silicon carbide sandpaper sheets to finish the sanding job, but as I said, it’s a slow process. The grit on the sandpaper wears down rather quickly, and you need to start with another small piece of sandpaper repeatedly. Overall, it is a slow, tedious process.