How to Make Profile Sanding Blocks

Make custom sanding blocks to fit any profile.

Profile sanding blocks can be anything but flat. You make profile blocks to fit moldings, inside raised panel doors, or anywhere a flat block will not work. To make profile sanding blocks, you start out with a flat block of wood and customize it to fit any profile that needs sanded. Profile blocks can be used over and over for mass-producing identical projects or working with the same profile molding on a regular basis.

Things You'll Need

• Pencil
• Paper
• Scissors
• Wood block, 1 1/4 by 2 by 4 inches
• Stationary sander
• Bench grinder
• 100-grit sticky abrasive disc

Instructions

1. Draw a rough sketch of the profile that you wish to sand on a piece of paper with a pencil. If it is molding that you intend to sanding, trace the end of the molding directly onto the paper.

2. Cut the drawing out with scissors. Trace the paper cut-out onto both ends of the block.

3. Hold the block against the stationary sander. Work the top of the block down to meet and match the drawing on the ends of the block. If you can't get fine enough detail to match your drawing on the stationary sander, use the sides of a bench grinder wheel to add the sharper detail.

4. Hold the profile block up against the profile you wish to sand. Check to see where the two profiles fit together. Use a pencil to mark the places where the profiles don't match. Use the grinding wheel to grind the detail closer so that they fit together as tightly as possible.

5. Peel the back off of an abrasive sanding disc. Place the sticky side on the profile and smash the sanding disc into the profile with your fingers, forcing it down into the cracks and curvatures until it sticks. Trim the outside edges of the disc off with sandpaper.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't attempt to match the profiles perfectly; it's not necessary. Profile blocks move around on the surface of the wood slightly anyway. It helps to blend.

• Always wear breathing protection when sanding or grinding wood.