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Orbital sander for bodywork
number-1 - 7/6/22 at 03:04 PM

I need to repair a motorcycle top fairing after a little spill on a trackday. Can anyone recommend a mains powered orbital sander that can handle curves in the bodywork?

Its ABS plastic so I plan to V groove the crack back and front, fill with JB weld, sand back and use body filler then resand and paint

Cheers

N1


roadrunner - 7/6/22 at 03:11 PM

I would be tempted to use a sanding pad with different grit papers and of course some elbow grease


roadrunner - 7/6/22 at 03:15 PM

Something like this.
Can't imagine it being a big job.

eBay Item
Item No 174402363705

[Edited on 7/6/22 by roadrunner]


cliftyhanger - 7/6/22 at 03:16 PM

I bought a 5" metabo DA sander. It works well, velco discs are cheap enough too.
But curved surfaces are always difficult, very easy to end up with flat spots. And any sander will be flat. So hand sanding may be the best solution?


Mr Whippy - 7/6/22 at 08:36 PM

Hand sanding with a wooden block. Just as fast and a lot more controllable. Start with 80 grit wet&dry, then 120, 400, 600 prime, 1200, paint, 1500, rubbing compound, leave a month & polish.


Fred W B - 8/6/22 at 11:26 AM

As stated above, you have to be careful with power tools on curves.

It's not a big part, just do it by hand.


r1_pete - 8/6/22 at 07:30 PM

I do a lot of bike fairing repair and re painting..

Hate to say, a V and JB weld won't last 2 minutes, your best by far is to find someone who does plastic welding to re structure it for you.

As for sanding, by hand is best, if you do use power tools, they need to run slowly, fast sanding abs will cause localised melting, even then, with an orbital it is still very easy to leave rings which can be seen through the finish despite filling and primer filler.

There are some very good car bumper fillers on the market now, they retain some flexibility, and bond better to the plastic, than regular fillers.