I wasn’t able to get around to sanding the canard yesterday… but I was today!  I started out by reinforcing the workbench by adding a 1×4 cross support between the two table supports.

I then started back sanding the canard with the marine long block with 36 grit paper.

After I used the long sanding board, I used the contour sanding block with 36 grit paper.  I could tell by the sandpaper cut patterns in the micro that there was entirely too much micro build along and above the spar cap area, both on the left and right side of the canard.  I marked across the width of these prominent gouge line areas with a Sharpie so that I could use the long board to remove the excess micro above the spar caps.

Here’s an “action shot” with the long board!

About 80% done here . . .

And voila.  I repeated this process –alternating between contour sanding block and long sanding board– a couple more times to remove micro from above the spar cap area on both sides of the canard.  This process did essentially two things:  1) It changed the profile of the lower canard to more closely match the “E” contour template by flattening the bottom of the canard and greatly decreasing the existing curve of the lower canard profile.  2) It optimized the TE shaping.  The flatter the canard bottom became and more in line to the “E” contour template, the more effective the TE edge portion of the contour sanding block became since it was able to contact that aft area of the canard more fully.

And here’s a shot of the process on the other side of the canard.

The canard after the second full round of sanding:

And a closer shot of the lower right side of the canard after tonight’s sanding.

I’m hoping to get a couple of epoxy coats on the bottom canard micro finish tomorrow… schedule allowing.