I was shaping some minicell to outfit my boat and doing most of the work with a saw and surform. I wanted to use some sort of sandpaper for fine smoothing and couldn't find any Dragonskin in stores. One of the guys at the local HomeDepot suggested a product I had not thought of - It's a Drywall Sanding Screen that comes under the brand name GatorGrit. It's a flexible screen (visible holes in it) that's covered with abrasive particles. It worked really well! The package was only a few dollars and came with 2 4x11" screens. Mine says "100 Grit Medium" on it. Maybe it comes in various grades then. You can bend it, and wrap it around curvy objects (even your fingers) to sand concave parts or just pull it across any shape.
I've never heard of this product being used by kayakers so I thought I'd post it here.
Avi
-- Last Updated: Aug-04-06 3:39 PM EST --
Cool
I never used drywall screen for shaping minicell, but it is my preference for all miscellaneous sanding of wood paddles and canoe parts (thwarts, gunwales & such). I like it because it doesn’t “pack up” as readily as conventional sandpaper.
Jim
I’ve been using 150 screens…
…for fine finishing of Minicel for years. Even in the coarsest grades, it’s not coarse enough for rough shaping, but it’s excellent for fine-tuning the shape and finishing.