Super Fast and Efficient Sanding on Tech Cork

By Curt Altarac

In the Sax ProShop, we have been using the sanding sticks for knocking material off of a key, removing a small burr, and a bunch of other quick sanding operations. A few months ago, we started using the sanding stick belts by themselves as sanding strips during set-up to sand Ultra-suede and Tech Cork. Although it seemed to work great, we were worried that using these strips might cost a bit more than cutting sandpaper into strips. However, after a few months of sanding, we're still only using the same two or three strips. The strips sand super-fast, and the cloth backing makes them last and be flexible without being too damaging to the lacquer. Just like we used to do with sandpaper, we still glue some thin Teflon sheet to the back of the strip when we need to protect a delicate finish.

Sanding belts work better than anything we have tried to quickly sand Tech Cork on the instrument.

Here's the procedure:

1. Get a sanding stick with 240 grit belt, or grab one of the replacement belts.

2. Cut the belt to be a strip. You can leave the strip long or cut it short.

3. Use this strip just like a strip of sandpaper you cut.

Sanding Tech Cork this way makes it about as easy to work with as natural cork, with the obvious benefits of Tech Cork.