Sanding questions for tight spaces

[8mpg]

Well, I was wondering if anyone has some sanding suggestions for tight spaces. I have a dremel that Im using but it seems the speeds are too high and really eat up the metal fast. Im trying to polish my intake manifold. Here are some pics.

The first pic shows how I sanded the smooth parts until the casting dimples were gone... I did all this by hand with 60 grit and it has left some bad scratches(at the top...hard do see in the pic). Im going to get a dual action sander tommorrow and start up with some 80grit. Any suggestions on sanding and polishing in between the letters?


This pic shows again its smooth but deep scratches... is the 60 grit too harsh?


This where the killer starts. The casting seems to be really bad and the dimples are deep and dont sand down well... any suggestions?

[saiyan7]

How big is this piece? Makita makes a high speed drill that you can use a 6" sisal wheel on. Apply 80 grit greaseless compound to the wheel and sand away. I polish sportbike frames and there is the same type of casting on them. This should take care of everything except for the real tight spots. I am trying to coat some felt bobs with the greaseless now to get into the crevices, but I'm not sure how that will work. Keep posting those pics. It helps with the responses.

[8mpg]

the part is about 12"x12"

Im actually using a dual action sander with a 6" disc for the larger areas... any other suggestions?

Thanks a lot

[marsfrogie]

You need to get some sanding tapers. They fit on the drill and are cone shaped, with a relatively narrow tip.

[bkreischer]

I am having similar troubles with my parts (big areas are fine, small areas get the hell beat out of them by my dremel) - I have not heard of sanding tapers, and have searched for these parts - is there a link on the caswell site for these? Thanks![/img]

[marsfrogie]

Don't believe caswell sells them, I think you should be able to find them locally, perhaps at a hardware store.

[CamaroMike]

You can get the sanding rolls at home depo, eastwood.com. I always get a box of 100 rolls. Get both drum and taper rolls. I perfer 3/8's sanding rolls the best for intakes and about anything with tight corners.