Difficulty sanding small parts flat

[deadedith]

When I try to sand small pieces flat, they aren't. Take for example the heel cap area. I have cut the heel to a slight angle on my bandsaw, keeping everything level and all, but when I place a small piece of stock on it, it rocks back and forth. So I took a flat sanding stick to it, but that only changed the difficult spot elsewhere.
I can build a guitar - but sanding small pieces flat - not so much.
Any suggestions?
Thanks
DaveB

[kencierp]

I wrap a loop of tape around a couple of fingers with the sticky side out. press the part into the adhesive and rub the part on a sanding block.

[tippie53]

Yes you need sanding blocks and good technique

[deadedith]

I thinned the actual heel cap by placing it between two sanding sticks - came out nice and flat and thinned just right.
The area that the heel cap is glued to is another matter. I guess a block is the answer.
Thanks guys
DaveB

[Ken C]

Yeah Dave, that is a tricky area. I am pretty anal around that area as I usually run purflings around the rim that I want to match perfectly with identical purflings that run around the neck heel. Here is my trick:

I make sure the neck heel is shaped just the way I want it, the neck joint is 99.9% of the way there, and the heel sanded to 220g. I install the neck on the guitar and scribe a line around the heel where the purflings or end cap will go. I then remove the neck and cut the heel just a tad long, maybe 1/32 or so. Now comes the unique part. I take my carving knife or chisel and remove a slight depression from the heel area. If it is a v shaped heel, I will end up with a hollowed out v, maybe 1/16th deep. I remove that area that sits against the rim as well. When done the only area that touches the end cap its the outer v area. Then a sanding block with 220g paper allows me to easily and carefully remove only enough material around that outer edge so my puflings and cap line up and fit perfectly! It ends being like a 3 legged stool that sits flat on any surface.

For glue up, I install the neck again, but put clear plastic wrap on the rim around the heel cap area. I shape the rim side of the cap so it fits perfectly against the rim. The cap is slightly oversized elsewhere. I then mix up some 30 minute epoxy and glue the cap on.

When dry, I remove the neck and final shape the heel cap. The end result is a cap that fits perfectly against the neck heel and rim and is precisely where I want it.

This approach works great for me. Surely others do it differently, but it gives another perspective.

Ken

I thinned the actual heel cap by placing it between two sanding sticks - came out nice and flat and thinned just right.
The area that the heel cap is glued to is another matter. I guess a block is the answer.
Thanks guys
DaveB

I thinned the actual heel cap by placing it between two sanding sticks - came out nice and flat and thinned just right.
The area that the heel cap is glued to is another matter. I guess a block is the answer.
Thanks guys
DaveB

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Ken,
I do the same as you, EXCEPT hollow out the interior area of the heel. That is a great idea. It could also be done with a dremel and grinding bit. I'm going to try that on this next build.
It is really a great way to fit the cap. I've been using super glue, but with a slight void to fill, expoxy is a good way to fill it.
Thanks for the great tip. It is tough to keep a small area flat when sanding.

Kevin

[naccoachbob]

After putting on 2 heel caps that didn't match for nothing, I'm glad you guys replied on this.
Excellent advice. Much thanks.
Bob

[Ken C]

After putting on 2 heel caps that didn't match for nothing, I'm glad you guys replied on this.
Excellent advice. Much thanks.
Bob

Sometimes I can help :)

Ken

[Darryl Young]

My experience has been I have a difficult time keeping a small area (like the heel cap) flat if I am using a relatively large sanding block. Once I switched to using a something small for the sanding block, it turned out much better. I ended up using a pink, Pearl eraser as the sanding block when flattening the heel to glue my heel cap at it worked nice. So it may be worth trying a small sanding block.........and focus on not letting your fingers go over the edge of the heel so you don't tip the sanding block slightly. In fact, it seems to work better if you use a sanding block smaller than the area you are sanding.

I am sure getting a sanding education building this first guitar. You can sure change things by the way you place pressure while sanding. I had a difficult time getting the head stock veneer perfectly flat for finishing. A small area along the treble side edge was being missed........so I sanded, and sanded, and sanded more. It seemed so shallow and I wasn't getting there. Finally, I looked at the end of the headstock and realized I was sanding a taper in the veneer (tapering from side-to-side). Well duh........ I changed the way I was holding the neck and sanded from the opposite side and everything sanded down perfectly flat.

[Tarhead]

I tape a sheet of sandpaper to my tablesaw or jointer table and use that as a reference surface for small parts. Squiggle some pencil marks on the part and sand until the marks are just gone.