Questions about sanding intarsia - is there a wrong way?

[Nicole]

Hello, I am currently attempting to sand the pieces that I cut out to make the introductory goldfish pattern set by Kathy Wise in one of her books. But now I think I should have purchased the physical book instead of the kindle edition, as the instructions seem a little disjointed or perhaps some of the pictures are missing from the kindle version? I was wondering if there were any sanding mistakes I should know to avoid before I get too much farther into it? Any sanding equipment that is essential for the project to turn out right? Thanks in advance for helping with such a basic question!

[don in brooklin on]

There is probably no incorrect way to do the sanding as long as you get the contour you are after.

I bought the Intarsia Workbook by Judy Gale Roberts and did all 11 patterns.  I did buy a Flex-Drum sander from Judy that I used a lot.  I also used the little sanding drums on my Dremel.  https://intarsia.com/pages/beginner-intarsia\

I also watched a bunch of videos and one I have bookmarked is https://youtu.be/LFRWu9AKLnk  She does use a pneumatic sanding drum but s flex-drum works about the same.  I mounted my flex-drum on a cheap variable speed sander.

Good luck

[Bluebird]

Thanks Don for the intarsia link.

Greetings

[Nicole]

Sorry about the delay in reply Don, I will check those links out right after I finish this post. 🙃I had a little trouble keeping the 3d aspect in the photos given the size constraints on pics, but I am fairly certain after sanding the pieces with my only current sanding tool I own, a Central Machine 14 inch spindle sander...well I will need to acquire some more sanding equipment lol. Just doesn't offer the level of detail sanding that this type of work requires. FYI I didn't have any of the proper wood species or thicknesses on hand, so I used 1/2 inch poplar instead. Which is the reason the 3d aspect is rather blunted even before I resized the pics. Feel free to critique-it needs all the critiques at can get haha!

[don in brooklin on]

Looks pretty good to me.