: I am trying to find a better way to sand the inside of canoe and kayak hulls.
: I am working on a "Rob Roy" right now and sanding the inside by
: hand with a foam block with sand paper wrapped around it. This is very
: effective, however, my arms are sure getting tired!!

: I used a Dewalt Random Orbital on the outside and this worked very well, as
: you can "roll" the flat sander to match the curve of the outer
: hull. This totally does not work on the inside.

: Any suggestions on technique and/or tools would be greatly appreciated.

: Stephan

Hey Stephan

You can still get to a lot of the inside with the Orbital by tilting it up slightly to use the rounded edge of the paper. It wears out the edge faster, and you have to keep moving to prevent cutting into the wood and it's best to do it in a pulling stroke so you don't shovel into the wood with the edge. The scraper is good for some of that work, and if you check out a couple of the bigger hardware stores they have the eliptical( not sure of the actual name ) scrapers that will do about any curve you need. Then up in the bow and stern stems, you can use the shaped scrapers that have handles and interchangable blades. You can find those at Sears, Lee Valley, Home Depot and many other hardware stores. Or, you can use old sanding disk's by hand.

What builder are you using? I'm now in the process of building a Rob-Roy by Glen-L Marine. ( a simple stitch and glue boat ). Are you just fairing the wood or are you working the glass coat already? Would be interested in your progress. Also Pictures if you can get them on here or email them to me.

Hope this helps!!

Rehd