Greg Newell wrote: > Now I'm at the trimming stage... I've been thinking of a 1" belt > sander as trimmer. Anyone ever use one of those for this purpose? Any > and all ideas greatly appreciated. I'm so happy with how the planing > went I don't want to ruin this in the trimming stage. > > Greg Newell > mailto:gnewell@ameritech.net > You are right on track. The best system that I have ever seen is the narrow belt bench top sander. These are the ones with the belt that runs around a big loop somewhat like a miniature band saw with the abrasive side facing outward. Unfortunately all of these machines that I have seen have been crudely built of thin rattling parts and a table that never locks down perfectly straight. There doesn't appear to be any manufacturers that makes one all that impressive. Fortunately in spite of their crudeness they do work rather well for key trimming. You need to work slowly, too fast and it generates just enough heat to melt the plastic. Use a gentle sweeping motion across the key. In a very short order of time you can trim all of the tops right up flush with the wood. You may need to go over them lightly with a fine file to do some detail work but with the bulk of the work done this doesn't take too long. The end result should look quite professional. Rob Goodale, RPT Las Vegas, NV
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