before sanding & polishing
Pay $1200 or sand for more than 16 hours. That is our choice. Our new parachute anchor chain plates need to be sanded and polished. The professional said it would take him a minimum of 8 hours per plate, and they charge $75 per hour. Ouch! and no thank you.
Well, “ouch!“ is what I was saying this morning after almost 4 hours of sanding yesterday afternoon. I began the sanding process with 80 grit on a 4-inch angle grinder, and worked on both plates. For about the last half hour, I switched to 120 grit on an orbital sander, but some of the scratches made by the 80 grit were too deep. Today, I switched to sanding with an 8-inch grinder using 100 grit, followed by 120 grit, and it made huge a difference. The bigger grinder takes a little more man-handling, so my muscles are really going to feel the difference in the morning!
beginning of the first hour
using 80 grit on the angle grinder
Sanding steel is a new ball game to us, so we’re feeling our way through the process. We didn’t know what to expect when I first touched the 80 grit to the metal. A small bit of shine was almost instantaneous! As I get further into this project, the shine becomes even more beautiful. Now I’m striving for perfection!
the space Wil has to fit through
In the meantime, while I was covered in metal dust at the work table, Wil was creating the fiberglass reinforcement inside the bows. Completely garbed in a jumpsuit, gloves, and a respirator, he had to fit through a space narrower than his shoulders in order to apply resin and fiberglass over his head. Poor guy.
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