i found a new way of sanding down those thick resin sheets to get to the parts, i have been using a corner cat and finisher it does a wonderful job of sanding away ALL of the resin leaving the part untouched for around $80 it will cut your trash time in half if not more! Its small enough to hold between your and doesnt take too much off at one time. ande fyi trash time to me is taking all those resin parts off the sheet!!!
I just use a piece of thread and saw away the block from the part…$1.00 at the Dollar Store.
Your posting of using a ‘corner cat’ intrigued me and I had to google it to see what you were talking about. A Corner Cat is a brand of Ryobi power sander similar to a Black & Decker “mouse” sander (a marketing play on words).
I will admit to using power sanders in the past, but I’ve found that using many of the power tools designed for woodworking will allow you to mistakes in resin more quickly. Power tools in resin also throw up a lot of dust. While the dust itself is not toxic, it is an irritant both to your lungs and to your wife when she sees it drifting all over the house. Work outside.
If you intend to use power tools in resin work slowly to avoid heat buildup and warping. Heat is the culprit with resin. Leave the pour stubs a bit proud of their finished dimensions by a sixteenth or less and hand sand to the final dimensions. Here wet sand to control the dust. Wet sanding also improves the efficiency of sandpaper (it lubes and cleans the grit).