Jeff Lilly's website has a lot of useful information, including block sanding. These tips will add a lot to the excellant Black Diamond blocks.
1
Every conceivable shape and size you can imagine is needed to obtain optimum results on all the different body shapes and contours of Super Rods. Shown here are 53 and there are 27 more not pictured that we use for color sanding paint before polishing. Single and double wide, short, medium, long, extra long, round, convex, concave, small, medium and large diameter foams, hard rubber, vinyl backed, levels for straight edges etc You can purchase some blocks from 3M, Motor Guard, Hutchins, Eastwood etc others you will need to fabricate on your own.
2
When building your own blocks we have found that Rubatex Rubber is the best choice and it comes in crows feet or smooth. On the sanding blocks that you are going to do 40 to 80 grit work, the adhesive from the paper will tend to release on to the rubber if left on too many hours. On the smooth rubber the glue residue is easier to clean off using thinner and a scuff pad or other solvent between rounds of use. It is always best to remove the sand paper on your blocks at the end of the day for less maintenance and cleanup.
3
As seen at the black arrow this block has been tweaked on the ends like a bob sled if you will. This keeps the ends from digging in thus eliminating dips from the surface. On do this on all blocks 13 inches or longer. We heat the Lexan with infrared lamps and using a jig we bend the ends and allow to cool. This eliminates any distortion.
3
One of our favorites blocks is the angled fender block. This tool enables us to remove the slight waves you would normally see on front fenders just behind the front tire wheel opening.
4
Iron sharpens iron as the wise man said. In order to get the results you will have to maintain your blocks and sharpen them on a regular basis. This special "Big Block" is used for such. We run our blocks on this perfect surface to true up all the lexan surfaces before the rubber has been applied and after the rubber is applied we do it again. We also use it to keep the rubber in perfect condition.
5
Shannon Lilly flips the monster over and you can see what we use. Qty of three, two foot perfect surface levels mounted to 1/2 thick lexan for a true surface to maintain our blocks including the double wide and longest blocks we have. In general 24 inch long blocks are enough to do any surface. This is kind of like the Electric Guitar of block sanding.
6
The 3M gold stikit paper is the choice to use when sanding primers and fillers. 80 to 500 grit while refining and sculpting. When doing body filler work 3M 40 Board Files # 2231 only come in 17 inch strips.
7
During body work the use of a straight edge is vital.. It does not matter if the panel is concave/dipped or convex/rounded and/or flat as the distance between the panel and the straight edge on the ends or in the center tells you what you have to work with. In general if you can taper off a dip or concave in a 13 inch distance it will look so gradual that no low spot will be detected. If you have less space then that, it takes some special combing out methods. A convex or rounded area like most fat fendered 30's 40's cars are easier to make look perfect.
8
With 51 years of blocking experience Bill Lilly qualifies as an authority on the subject. Here he demonstrates one of the flex blocks, notice how easy this block flexes. Two fingers on each end allows ample pressure to get it moving. This block was made from two 3M yellow hand blocks on each end and an 18 inch long piece of 1/8th thick lexan double wide for two sheets of stick it paper. Rubatex rubber was applied with contact cement.
9
This flex block can be used in a myriad of places but roofs or sloping areas where you want as much contact to the surface as you can get is most important. With the thin 1/8th lexan it is best suited when doing 180-400 grit work like primer blocking.
10
Bill grabs a round foam block backed by an acrylic rod. You can buy these from body shop supply places or you can make your own from quality pipe insulation foam from Home Depot or Lowes
11
The concave section where the roof meets the qter panel on a lot of bodies is where this foam block shines. As seen it fits perfectly on this Big Brother Vette.
12
Another angle shows the rotation needed to achieve the results "black arrows". Twist your fingers in this direction while moving your arms back and forth on the panels, 18-24 inch long strokes. Everything is done in criss cross patterns. The difference is how long the stroke is and how tight the criss cross is done.
13
These duro blocks are a tiny open cell rubber material. It "gives" a little bit meaning it tends to move with the panel. As seen Bill is using it against the taillight panel on this Vette as it fits nicely. It works well in all grits from 40 to 2500 color sand work. We cut them to different lengths in order to fit them to our panels. We also round the edges a bit to keep them from digging in.
14
When perfecting gaps we use small metal spreaders 1 to 2 inches wide as seen. Too wide and it tends to dig on the ends as you are working a gap. Too narrow and it does not keep a straight line. These two sizes work best. Simply wrap the stick-it sand paper around it as needed. Always work panel to panel never work a body panel off a car separate from each other or your quality will suffer.
15
This foam block works good when going from a high to a low section. We removed the rods which stiffened it too much in our opinion " black arrow" These ran through the length of it. We then sliced the foam top, half way down to make it flex side ways and front to back like a "centipede" if you will. Eastwood sells a model like this one but they need to be modified for optimum results much like what we did to this one.
16
These shapes run in to each other in the center of the door making this a very hard to perfect valley area. We use PVC available from Depot or Lowes and simply cut it to our desired lengths. We then roll contact cement on before applying the rubatex rubber to the surface permanently. The PVC tubing is perfectly straight and makes a very durable light weight block. Because of the two shapes a twisting motion is mandatory as you stroke back and forth stopping where the top and bottom of the cove meet together to keep from digging in a valley that will be seen.
17
Strange shapes like louvers require many techniques. We fabricate grooved blocks cut from 1/8th 3/16th and 1/4 inch lexan. Notice the grooves are cut some what larger then the louvers them selves to give some motion in order to gradually taper the panel in to the louver for that sweet no dip look.
Block Sanding
1
Every conceivable shape and size you can imagine is needed to obtain optimum results on all the different body shapes and contours of Super Rods. Shown here are 53 and there are 27 more not pictured that we use for color sanding paint before polishing. Single and double wide, short, medium, long, extra long, round, convex, concave, small, medium and large diameter foams, hard rubber, vinyl backed, levels for straight edges etc You can purchase some blocks from 3M, Motor Guard, Hutchins, Eastwood etc others you will need to fabricate on your own.
2
When building your own blocks we have found that Rubatex Rubber is the best choice and it comes in crows feet or smooth. On the sanding blocks that you are going to do 40 to 80 grit work, the adhesive from the paper will tend to release on to the rubber if left on too many hours. On the smooth rubber the glue residue is easier to clean off using thinner and a scuff pad or other solvent between rounds of use. It is always best to remove the sand paper on your blocks at the end of the day for less maintenance and cleanup.
3
As seen at the black arrow this block has been tweaked on the ends like a bob sled if you will. This keeps the ends from digging in thus eliminating dips from the surface. On do this on all blocks 13 inches or longer. We heat the Lexan with infrared lamps and using a jig we bend the ends and allow to cool. This eliminates any distortion.
3
One of our favorites blocks is the angled fender block. This tool enables us to remove the slight waves you would normally see on front fenders just behind the front tire wheel opening.
4
Iron sharpens iron as the wise man said. In order to get the results you will have to maintain your blocks and sharpen them on a regular basis. This special "Big Block" is used for such. We run our blocks on this perfect surface to true up all the lexan surfaces before the rubber has been applied and after the rubber is applied we do it again. We also use it to keep the rubber in perfect condition.
5
Shannon Lilly flips the monster over and you can see what we use. Qty of three, two foot perfect surface levels mounted to 1/2 thick lexan for a true surface to maintain our blocks including the double wide and longest blocks we have. In general 24 inch long blocks are enough to do any surface. This is kind of like the Electric Guitar of block sanding.
6
The 3M gold stikit paper is the choice to use when sanding primers and fillers. 80 to 500 grit while refining and sculpting. When doing body filler work 3M 40 Board Files # 2231 only come in 17 inch strips.
7
During body work the use of a straight edge is vital.. It does not matter if the panel is concave/dipped or convex/rounded and/or flat as the distance between the panel and the straight edge on the ends or in the center tells you what you have to work with. In general if you can taper off a dip or concave in a 13 inch distance it will look so gradual that no low spot will be detected. If you have less space then that, it takes some special combing out methods. A convex or rounded area like most fat fendered 30's 40's cars are easier to make look perfect.
8
With 51 years of blocking experience Bill Lilly qualifies as an authority on the subject. Here he demonstrates one of the flex blocks, notice how easy this block flexes. Two fingers on each end allows ample pressure to get it moving. This block was made from two 3M yellow hand blocks on each end and an 18 inch long piece of 1/8th thick lexan double wide for two sheets of stick it paper. Rubatex rubber was applied with contact cement.
9
This flex block can be used in a myriad of places but roofs or sloping areas where you want as much contact to the surface as you can get is most important. With the thin 1/8th lexan it is best suited when doing 180-400 grit work like primer blocking.
10
Bill grabs a round foam block backed by an acrylic rod. You can buy these from body shop supply places or you can make your own from quality pipe insulation foam from Home Depot or Lowes
11
The concave section where the roof meets the qter panel on a lot of bodies is where this foam block shines. As seen it fits perfectly on this Big Brother Vette.
12
Another angle shows the rotation needed to achieve the results "black arrows". Twist your fingers in this direction while moving your arms back and forth on the panels, 18-24 inch long strokes. Everything is done in criss cross patterns. The difference is how long the stroke is and how tight the criss cross is done.
13
These duro blocks are a tiny open cell rubber material. It "gives" a little bit meaning it tends to move with the panel. As seen Bill is using it against the taillight panel on this Vette as it fits nicely. It works well in all grits from 40 to 2500 color sand work. We cut them to different lengths in order to fit them to our panels. We also round the edges a bit to keep them from digging in.
14
When perfecting gaps we use small metal spreaders 1 to 2 inches wide as seen. Too wide and it tends to dig on the ends as you are working a gap. Too narrow and it does not keep a straight line. These two sizes work best. Simply wrap the stick-it sand paper around it as needed. Always work panel to panel never work a body panel off a car separate from each other or your quality will suffer.
15
This foam block works good when going from a high to a low section. We removed the rods which stiffened it too much in our opinion " black arrow" These ran through the length of it. We then sliced the foam top, half way down to make it flex side ways and front to back like a "centipede" if you will. Eastwood sells a model like this one but they need to be modified for optimum results much like what we did to this one.
16
These shapes run in to each other in the center of the door making this a very hard to perfect valley area. We use PVC available from Depot or Lowes and simply cut it to our desired lengths. We then roll contact cement on before applying the rubatex rubber to the surface permanently. The PVC tubing is perfectly straight and makes a very durable light weight block. Because of the two shapes a twisting motion is mandatory as you stroke back and forth stopping where the top and bottom of the cove meet together to keep from digging in a valley that will be seen.
17
Strange shapes like louvers require many techniques. We fabricate grooved blocks cut from 1/8th 3/16th and 1/4 inch lexan. Notice the grooves are cut some what larger then the louvers them selves to give some motion in order to gradually taper the panel in to the louver for that sweet no dip look.