Plexiglass sanding blocks?

  • Thread starter Professionalamateur
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Professionalamateur

I've had some thick Plexiglass sitting around that I was thinking about cutting into sanding blocks. The blocks I have now are the wood handled type with the hold down clamps and a rubber surface. The rubber has a grid cut into it as well as holes. After reading through several posts about blocking I feel that these are inferior and working against me. Are there any issues with using acrylic or Plexiglass for blocking??

Thanks!
 
Should I hit the edges with 80 or should I skim the edge with a 45 degree on a router?
 
i just take some 320 and smooth the edges so they will not cut a line. most of mine are hardwood or cardboard tube with resin on it .
 
I keep a piece of straight plate glass in the shop for truing up boards and blocks, stick some psa paper to it and you can run your sanding tools over it to true up the surface. Even with the plexiglass it's a good idea to check them. Even the rubber and foam blocks can be corrected this way.
 
The thing about plexi is that you need to be extra extra careful about tiny foreign particles, either between the paper and the block or of course between the paper and the work. Plexi is very unforgiving and will use any stray particle to plow a big scratch in your work. There's nothing like a hard block for ultimate straightness (in the right hands) but you have to be vigilant.
 
The plexi I have is 1 1/2" thick so yeah it doesn't have any give. I cut a 16" x 2 3/4" block out the other night to try. I have yet to dress edges, but it certainly worked different than the rubber bottomed blocks I have. At this point I'm blocking bare metal so scratches are no big deal, but I'll be careful if I ever get to blocking product. Is there a better surface material I can use on the wood blocks I have?
 
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