New Sander

Some guys at work recommended these little mouse sanders that look like a tiny iron. I was skeptical. They were small, light, and cheap feeling. None of the cool power tool companies made them. I thought they wouldn't have the power to sand epoxy.

Then I was faced with sanding all the nooks and cranies of the boat. As I started sanding the interior with tiny sanding blocks and my bare hands, the gravity of the situation became apparent. I needed to pursue whatever help technology had to offer. I needed to try one of those little plasticy sanders.

They're cheap, about $40, which made me all the more suspicious of them. The triangular pads aren't cheap at all though. Home deport has them for $4.77 for a pack of 5 which is almost $1 per pad. I already went through over 75 sanding disks for my random orbital sander, but those are available in bulk online. I bought the Black and Decker "Mouse" sander and one pack each of 120 and 220 grit pads. The box looked like a box for a toy. I wish I had taken a picture of it.

I got it home, took it out of the toy box, plugged it in, and shockingly, it works pretty darn well. I'm actually incredibly impressed. It will never have the special place in my heart that my that my DeWalt 5" orbiting sander has, but it will really help out.

I also found 10 yard rolls of sandpaper with velcro on the back at my favorite Internet sandpaper supply company for only $17 from which I can probably cut my own little triangular pads. I ordered a couple rolls. Hopefully they will arrive in time for me to use them.