US20190240811A1

US20190240811A1 - Sanding Devices and Related Methods

Info

Publication number: US20190240811A1
Application number: US16/255,859
Authority: US
Inventors: Anthany Jacques
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2018-02-03
Filing date: 2019-01-24
Publication date: 2019-08-08

Abstract

Sanding devices disclosed herein include a rigid member, a flexible member permanently coupled with a bottom of the rigid member and with a portion of a top of the rigid member, and a sanding member permanently coupled with the flexible member. In implementations the sanding member consists of sandpaper. The flexible member may be shaped substantially similar to, or identical to, the sanding member in at least two dimensions. A front of the rigid member may have a rounded end and the rigid member may be tapered and larger in front than in back. The flexible member may form a pair of upper wings extending outward past sides of the rigid member at the top of the rigid member, a pair of lower wings extending outward past sides of the rigid member at the bottom of the rigid member, and a tail extending past the back of the rigid member.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This document claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/626,045, entitled “Sanding Devices and Related Methods,” naming as first inventor Anthany Jacques, which was filed on Feb. 3, 2018, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated entirely herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

Aspects of this document relate generally to sanding devices or, in other words, items used to sand wood and other items.

2. Background Art

Sandpaper and some devices for holding sandpaper (during a sanding operation) exist in the art. Sandpaper exists in a variety of textures, or grits, ranging from rougher grits to smoother grits. These may be used to sand devices to a first, rougher texture, and then gradually to a smoother texture by using finer grit sandpaper.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of sanding devices may include: a rigid member; a flexible member permanently coupled with a bottom of the rigid member and permanently coupled with at least a portion of a top of the rigid member; and a sanding member permanently coupled with the flexible member; wherein a largest planar surface of the flexible member is larger than a largest planar surface of the rigid member.
Embodiments of sanding devices may include one or more or all of the following:
The sanding member may be, or may include, sandpaper.
The flexible member may be shaped identical to the sanding member in at least two dimensions.
The flexible member may be permanently coupled with less than half of the top of the rigid member.
A front of the rigid member may have a rounded end and the rigid member may be tapered from the front to a back of the rigid member so that the front of the rigid member is thicker than the back of the rigid member.
The flexible member may have a longest length longer than a longest length of the rigid member.
The flexible member may have a width perpendicular to the longest length of the flexible member, the rigid member may have a width perpendicular to the longest length of the rigid member, and the width of the flexible member may be greater than the width of the rigid member.
The flexible member may include a pair of upper wings extending outward past sides of the rigid member at the top of the rigid member.
The flexible member may include a pair of lower wings extending outward past sides of the rigid member at the bottom of the rigid member.
The flexible member may include a tail extending past the back of the rigid member.
Embodiments of sanding devices may include: a rigid member; a flexible member permanently coupled with a bottom of the rigid member and at least a portion of a top of the rigid member; and sandpaper permanently coupled with the flexible member; wherein the flexible member is shaped substantially similar to the sandpaper in at least two dimensions.
Embodiments of sanding devices may include one or more or all of the following:
The flexible member may have a width perpendicular to a longest length of the flexible member, the rigid member may have a width perpendicular to a longest length of the rigid member, the width of the flexible member may be greater than the width of the rigid member, and the flexible member may include a pair of lower wings extending outward past sides of the rigid member at the bottom of the rigid member.
A front of the rigid member may include a rounded end and the rigid member may have a taper from the front to a back end of the rigid member so that the front of the rigid member is thicker than the back of the rigid member.
The longest length of the flexible member may be greater than the longest length of the rigid member, and the flexible member may include a tail extending past the back of the rigid member.
The flexible member may include a pair of upper wings extending outward past the sides of the rigid member at the top of the rigid member.
A pair of recesses may be formed in the upper wings.
The flexible member may be formed of a polymeric foam.
A ridge may be coupled to, and extend upwards from, the top of the rigid member.
Embodiments of sanding devices may include: a rigid member; a flexible member permanently coupled with a bottom of the rigid member and permanently coupled with less than half of a top of the rigid member using an adhesive; and sandpaper permanently coupled with a bottom of the flexible member using an adhesive; wherein the flexible member is shaped identical to the sandpaper in at least two dimensions; wherein the flexible member has a longest length greater than a longest length of the rigid member so that the flexible member forms a tail extending past a back of the rigid member; and wherein the flexible member has a width perpendicular to the longest length of the flexible member, wherein the rigid member has a width parallel with the width of the flexible member, and wherein the width of the flexible member is greater than the width of the rigid member so that the flexible member forms a pair of upper wings extending outward past sides of the rigid member at the top of the rigid member and a pair of lower wings extending outward past the sides of the rigid member at the bottom of the rigid member.
Embodiments of sanding devices may include one or more or all of the following:
The rigid member may be tapered so that a front of the rigid member is thicker than the back of the rigid member.
General details of the above-described embodiments, and other embodiments, are given below in the DESCRIPTION, the DRAWINGS, and the CLAIMS.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments will be discussed hereafter using reference to the included drawings, briefly described below, wherein like designations refer to like elements:

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of three implementations of sanding devices;

FIG. 2 is another top perspective view of the sanding devices of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of two of the sanding devices of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a bottom perspective view of the sanding devices of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the topmost sanding device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the topmost sanding device of FIG. 1 being used to sand an item;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the topmost sanding device of FIG. 1 being used to sand another item;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the topmost sanding device of FIG. 1 being used to sand another item;

FIG. 9 is a top perspective view of another implementation of a sanding device;

FIG. 10 is another top perspective view of the sanding device of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a side view of the sanding device of FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 is a side view of another implementation of a sanding device; and

FIG. 13 is a close-up view of a tail of the sanding device of FIG. 12.

DESCRIPTION

Implementations/embodiments disclosed herein (including those not expressly discussed in detail) are not limited to the particular components or procedures described herein. Additional or alternative components, assembly procedures, and/or methods of use consistent with the intended sanding devices and related methods may be utilized in any implementation. This may include any materials, components, sub-components, methods, sub-methods, steps, and so forth.
Referring now generally to FIGS. 1-8, in implementations sanding devices (devices) 100, 150, and 180 each include a rigid member 102, a flexible member 112 coupled with the rigid member, and a sanding member 126 coupled with the flexible member.
In the implementation shown in the figures the rigid member comprises a strip of wood (it is in fact a wood shim), though in other implementations it could be formed of some other material, such as by non-limiting example a strip of rigid polymer (such as an extruded polymer). The rigid member is shown having a roughly rectangular cuboidal shape with a rounded front end, though in other implementations it could have more rounded edges all along the rigid member. The straight edges make for ease of construction as many rigid members could be sawed or cut from a single panel of wood or rigid plastic. The flexible member shown is formed of a soft polymeric foam which is compressible, though in other implementations it could be formed of some other flexible and/or compressible material such as a non-foam polymer. The sanding member in the implementation shown is a portion of sandpaper that is shaped and sized to match the shape and size of the flexible member (indeed in implementations it is shaped identical to the flexible member in two dimensions, length and width, though it may have a different thickness). The sanding member could comprise any grit or texture or configuration of sandpaper. For example in implementations sanding devices could be sold in kits including one sanding device having sandpaper of a coarser grit (such as 80 grit), one sanding device having sandpaper of a medium grit (such as 120 grit), one sanding device having sandpaper of a fine grit (such as 180 grit), and so forth.
In other implementations the sanding member could comprise loose sanding grit that is coupled directly with the flexible member using an adhesive, though using sandpaper on top of the flexible member allows for ease of construction. In implementations in which the sanding member comprises sandpaper the sandpaper is glued to the flexible member using an adhesive. The adhesive is not shown in the drawings, due to its thin size, but the practitioner of ordinary skill in the art will be able to select adhesives useful for adhering the back of a piece of sandpaper with the flexible member based on the material of the flexible member and the material which forms the back of the sandpaper.
In implementations the rigid member could have some design element, such as made to look like snake skin, or having some coloring or design, etc., or it could have some texture for ease of gripping it such as raised bumps or lines or the like. It could also have a soft outer texture such as having a soft polymer attached to the rigid portion on the top of the rigid member (and/or sides of the rigid member) where the user grips it.
With regards to the flexible member and sanding member, by non-limiting example a sheet of polymeric foam or other flexible material could be glued to a sheet of sandpaper and then multiple flexible/sanding members could be cut or stamped out of the composite structure, then adhered to the rigid member using an adhesive and bent around the front end of the rigid member as seen in FIG. 1 to form the sanding device. Other manufacturing methods are possible.
In the implementations shown the flexible member is coupled with the rigid member using an adhesive. Other coupling mechanisms could be utilized in other implementations, such as staples, but an adhesive allows for a uniform coupling of the flexible member to the rigid member and allows for the coupling to be uniformly spread out over much of the flexible member.
Referring briefly to FIG. 5, it may be seen that the rigid member has a front 104, a back 106, a top 108, and a bottom 110, as well as sides 111 (only one side being visible in FIG. 5). FIG. 5 also shows that the flexible member has a top 114 and a bottom 116, so that the top 114 of the flexible member is glued to the bottom of the rigid member, and the sanding member is glued to the bottom of the flexible member. FIG. 5 also shows that there is a slight taper in the rigid member so that the front of the rigid member is thicker than the back of the rigid member. In other implementations this taper could be reversed or could be absent, according to the desired end use.
Referring now to FIG. 2, it may be seen that for each sanding device the flexible member and sanding member are sized so that they are slightly wider than the width of the rigid member, and that the composite flexible/sanding members are positioned in a centered position (horizontally centered with respect to FIG. 2) when coupled with the rigid member so that roughly equally-sized wings extend beyond either side of the rigid member. Because the flexible and sanding members wrap around the front 104 of the rigid member, the wings therefore form upper wings 118 at the top 108 of the rigid member and lower wings 120 at the bottom 110 of the rigid member.
Each flexible member is seen to also have a tail 124 which extends beyond the back of the rigid member. Accordingly, due to the way that the sanding member and flexible member are coupled together, and due to the way that the flexible member is coupled with the rigid member, the composite flexible/sanding member wraps around the front of the rigid member to form a rounded end 128 (as pointed out in FIG. 7) all along the front of the device, and upper and lower wings extend outward at the top and bottom of the device past the sides of the rigid member, with the tail extending below the back of the rigid member at the back of the device.
The figures show that in each implementation the sanding member and flexible member are shaped and sized to have matching shapes so that the entire bottom of the flexible member is covered with the sanding member. In other implementations this could be different—for example the sanding member could cover less than all of the bottom of the flexible member (or could extend beyond the sides of the flexible member so that it is larger than the flexible member in some dimension(s)), but making the two the same size and shape results in ease of construction as indicated to some extent above, as a flexible material and sandpaper can be adhered together and then composite flexible/sanding members quickly cut or stamped out.
FIG. 2 also shows that in some implementations recesses 122 are formed in the upper wings so that the wings are essentially removed for a portion of the flexible/sanding member at the top of the rigid member. This may be included in some implementations for different ergonomics, the user's fingers being able to be placed in the recesses (i.e., the recesses essentially forming finger slots). In other implementations and in experimentation, however, since the upper wings are flexible a user may still easily use the device while placing fingers over any portion of the wings and the wings will simply bend to conform to the user's fingers.
FIG. 1 shows a perspective top view of three sanding devices (the bottommost version, device 180, has a sticker on the rigid device which could be replaced by a logo or some writing or the like or even an advertisement or promotional sticker). FIG. 2 shows another perspective top view of the same three devices of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 shows a side perspective view of two of the devices of FIG. 1. FIG. 4 shows a bottom perspective view of the three devices of FIG. 1. FIG. 5 shows a side view of the device 100 of FIG. 1.
FIGS. 6-8 show the use of sanding device 100 (which methods and techniques apply to other sanding devices disclosed herein) and illustrate the usefulness of the structure of the device. As may be seen in FIG. 6, the device may be used by pressing it flat down upon a flat surface 130 and using the user's hand to move the device back and forth (front and back or side to side) or in a rounding motion, or in any other sanding motion. In this way, the sanding device may be used to easily sand a flat surface.
FIG. 7 shows the sanding device being used to sand an inner curved surface (which appears as an inner semi-circular portion) of a wooden piece 132. As can be seen in the drawing, the lower wings, because they are flexible, are conforming to the inner curved surface so that the inner curved surface can be easily sanded regardless of its rounded shape. The sides of the rigid member, however, also help with this type of sanding function because they help to press the lower wings up against the inner curved surface. A surface need not be semi-circular to benefit from this type of method, it could be any non-straight inner curve. The upper wings can also be used in a similar manner.
Also possible, though not shown in the photos, is the ability to use the rounded end 128 of the device to sand curved or other non-straight portions of elements to be sanded.
The upper and lower wings are completely flexible so that they can conform either towards the rigid member (up until they abut against it) or away from the rigid member, as desired, for any sanding operation.
FIG. 8 shows the tail being used to sand an edge of a wooden piece 134. Because the tail is flexible, the user may grab the tail and conform it to the shape of the edge so that the tail completely wraps around the edge and the user is thus able to easily sand all sides of the edge simultaneously. The tail could also be used to sand small elements which require greater detail, or raised surfaces, or slots or small cavities or the like that are otherwise hard to access, and so forth.
Accordingly, because of the different portions of the sanding device, it is useful for sanding a variety of objects of different shapes and sizes. The rigid element provides a backing that is useful to hold and move the device during sanding, and allows for pressure to be applied to the sanding member and accordingly to the sanded item as needed, while the flexible tail and wings allow for the easy sanding of portions of elements having difficult-to-sand surfaces, and the flexible member provides a way to couple the sanding member to the rigid member while allowing the sanding member to also flex (but not rip or tear) during use. The use of flexible foam for the flexible member, in implementations, also provides some cushion which facilitates light sanding, such as the sanding of soft woods (such as balsa) or other relatively soft elements.
Referring now to FIGS. 9-11, another implementation of a sanding device is shown. Sanding device (device) 200 is similar the above-described devices in several ways. It includes the rigid member having a front, back, top, bottom, and sides. The flexible member is included and has a top and bottom along with upper and lower wings and a tail (in FIGS. 9-10 device 200 is an example of a sanding device with a slightly longer tail, giving an example of how the tail size may be varied according to the desired end use). The sanding member is also included. The sanding member, flexible member, and rigid member are coupled together in the same way and configuration as described above for device 100. Device 200 further includes the rounded end as with device 100.
One major difference between devices 200 and devices 100/150/180 is that device 200 includes a ridge 202 centrally located along the longest length of the top of the rigid member. The ridge in the implementation shown is formed from wood and is glued to the top of the main body of the rigid member, though in other implementations it could be nailed, stapled, screwed, etc., and in implementations in which the rigid member is formed from a polymer the ridge could be extruded, molded, or otherwise formed together with the rest of the rigid member so that the ridge is integrally formed therewith, or it could be formed separately and attached using an adhesive, or a melting bond, and so forth.
The ridge is useful for adding an additional gripping mechanism for the user to hold while using the device for a sanding operation. The thumb and one or more opposing fingers may grip opposite sides of the ridge for additional grip and in implementations this may allow the user to more easily maneuver the device as desired during sanding. The ridge may, for example, allow more control when moving the sanding device from side to side (in a direction perpendicular to the longest length of the device), and it may allow the user to hold fingers atop the top of the rigid member where they are more out of the way of the sanding operation. In implementations the ridge may also allow more control during a front and back, curved, circular, or other shaped sanding motion.
The ridge may allow the user's fingers to be more distant from potential splinters or other items that are nearer to the sanding member. Additionally, when the user is performing a sanding operation which utilizes the lower wings 120, the ridge allows the user's fingers to be up and out of the way of the lower wings so that the lower wings may freely bend and curve upwards towards the top of the rigid member during the sanding operation.
The ridge has a top 204, bottom 206, front 208, back 210, and two sides 212 as depicted in the drawings, and the bottom of the ridge is attached at the top of the rigid member. The front and back are seen to be sloped. In other implementations the slopes could be absent so that the ridge is a right rectangular cuboid shape, but in implementations the slope helps to ensure that there is not a sharp edge between the top and front and between the top and back of the ridge. This may allow one or more of the user's fingers to be in a comfortable resting position by conforming to the gentle slope of the front or back of the ridge during a sanding operation since the front and back are generally not gripped during sanding, though they may be used to provide forward or backward pressure (while, in contrast, the 90-degree edge at the sides allows the user to more firmly grip the sides with the user's fingers and if there were a slope at the sides the user may not be able to grip the ridge as firmly). The lack of a sharp edge at the front and back of the ridge may also reduce the potential for a cut or scrape of a user's finger during sanding.
FIG. 12 shows a side view of another implementation of a sanding device. Sanding device (device) 300 is similar in many respects to the above-described devices, including a rigid member 302 having a rounded front 304, back 306, top 308, bottom 310, and sides 311. A flexible member 312 is also included, having a top 314 and bottom 316, and including upper wings, lower wings, and a tail as with the other devices described herein. Sanding member 326 is coupled with the flexible member. The main difference between device 300 and the above-described devices is that the rigid member has a greater taper from the front to the back so that the front of the rigid member is thicker (i.e., as much as twice the thickness or greater) of the back of the rigid member. This is just to illustrate that different tapers and shapes may be used for the rigid members for various sanding operations.
FIG. 13 shows a close-up view of the tail of the flexible member 312 which shows the top 314 of the flexible member, the bottom 316 of the flexible member, and the sanding member 326 which is glued to the bottom of the flexible member. The elements of FIG. 13 are not necessarily drawn to scale, as the sanding member may be thinner or thicker relative to the flexible member in implementations.
As seen in the drawings, the ability of the flexible member and sanding member to form upper wings, lower wings, and the tail are due at least in part to the surface area of the top of the flexible member being larger than the surface area of the bottom of the rigid member. Referring to FIG. 5, it may also be seen that when the sanding device is fully assembled the rigid member has a longest length 107 and that the flexible member has a longest length 123 that is longer than the longest length of the rigid member, and that this allows the flexible member to form the tail. Referring to FIG. 2, it may also be seen that the top of the rigid member has a width 103, perpendicular with the longest length of the rigid member, and that the flexible member also has a width 113, perpendicular with the longest length of the flexible member, and that the width of the flexible member is greater than the width of the rigid member, and that this allows the flexible member to form the upper wings and lower wings.
It is described above that, in implementations, the sanding member is coupled with a bottom of the flexible member. As used herein, the “bottom” of the flexible member is the same continuous surface regardless of how the flexible member is twisted or wrapped or bent so that, referring to FIG. 5 for example, at the top of the sanding device the “bottom” of the flexible member is facing upward (referring to the upward direction of FIG. 5) and, at the bottom of the sanding device, the “bottom” of the flexible member is facing downward (referring to the downward direction of FIG. 5). The “top” of the flexible member, as used herein, has a similar meaning in that it refers to the same continuous surface regardless of how that surface is twisted, turned, bent, wrapped, and so forth.
Referring to FIG. 2, it can be seen that the flexible member has a largest planar surface 115 which is larger than a largest planar surface 105 of the rigid member. It is noted that “planar surface” is defined herein as a surface existing in only a single two-dimensional plane, so that for example the largest surface of the flexible member exists on the flat portion only, up until to the curved portion at the front of the sanding device (likewise with the largest planar surface of the rigid member). It is also noted that the top and bottom of the rigid member each comprises a largest planar surface of the rigid member (since the top and bottom are equally sized), and that there are similarly two largest planar surfaces of the flexible member, one on the top and one on the bottom of the flexible member.
In the implementations shown the flexible member is permanently coupled with less than a quarter of the top of the rigid member. In other implementations the flexible member may be coupled with other percentages of the top of the rigid member, such as more than half, less than half, less than 10%, less than 20%, less than 30%, less than 40%, less than 60%, less than 70%, and so forth.
The sanding members are disclosed herein as being, in implementations, identical to the flexible member in at least two dimensions. In other implementations the flexible member may be shaped only substantially similar to the sanding member in at least two dimensions. By “substantially similar” it is meant that there is an overlap of at least 75% of each with the other.
Although the sanding devices are shown herein sanding a wooden item, they may be used to sand any items of any material, including composites, polymers, metals, ceramics, and so forth.
Because the sanding devices have such a simple construction and may be made from inexpensive materials, in implementations they may be disposable, so that a user simply uses the device until the grit is no longer effective (or less effective than desired) and then simply replaces the entire sanding device with another sanding device.
The examples given herein of how to use the sanding devices are simply representative examples, and there may be other uses and examples of using the sanding devices that are not given herein but which are facilitated by the structure and materials of the sanding devices.
The sanding devices disclosed herein may be useful for crafts and the like where a user may not desire to purchase an entire package of sandpaper and/or a sandpaper holder, but may simply want an easy-to-use and simple sanding device that is useful for sanding a variety of materials and is useful for sanding objects of various shapes and sizes.
In implementations sanding devices accordingly include a rigid portion or body for a user to hold and a flexible sanding element which is attached to the rigid body but which extends beyond some of the edges of the rigid member so that the flexible nature of the portions extending beyond the rigid member may be used to sand portions of objects which require a flexible sanding element.
Other implementations of sanding devices could be bigger, smaller, wider, skinner, longer, having a longer tail, having wider wings, having no wings, having no tail, and so forth (though obviously removing the tail and/or wings removes the advantages described herein that those elements provide). In implementations the rigid member may be formed to have rough edges for grip, or rounded off edges for the fingers of the user to fit in. This may be especially easy to do if the rigid member is a molded plastic component.
In places where the phrase “one of A and B” is used herein, including in the claims, wherein A and B are elements, the phrase shall have the meaning “A or B.” This shall be extrapolated to as many elements as are recited in this manner, for example the phrase “one of A, B, and C” shall mean “A or B or C,” and so forth.
In places where the description above refers to specific embodiments of sanding devices and related methods, one or more or many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Details of any specific embodiment/implementation described herein may, wherever possible, be applied to any other specific implementation/embodiment described herein.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A sanding device, comprising:

a rigid member;

a flexible member permanently coupled with a bottom of the rigid member and permanently coupled with at least a portion of a top of the rigid member; and

a sanding member permanently coupled with the flexible member;

wherein a largest planar surface of the flexible member is larger than a largest planar surface of the rigid member.

2. The sanding device of claim 1, wherein the sanding member consists of sandpaper.

3. The sanding device of claim 1, wherein the flexible member is shaped identical to the sanding member in at least two dimensions.

4. The sanding device of claim 1, wherein the flexible member is permanently coupled with less than half of the top of the rigid member.

5. The sanding device of claim 1, wherein a front of the rigid member comprises a rounded end and wherein the rigid member comprises a taper from the front to a back of the rigid member so that the front of the rigid member is thicker than the back of the rigid member.

6. The sanding device of claim 1, wherein the flexible member comprises a longest length longer than a longest length of the rigid member.

7. The sanding device of claim 6, wherein the flexible member comprises a width perpendicular to the longest length of the flexible member, wherein the rigid member comprises a width perpendicular to the longest length of the rigid member, and wherein the width of the flexible member is greater than the width of the rigid member.

8. The sanding device of claim 1, wherein the flexible member comprises a pair of upper wings extending outward past sides of the rigid member at the top of the rigid member.

9. The sanding device of claim 1, wherein the flexible member comprises a pair of lower wings extending outward past sides of the rigid member at the bottom of the rigid member.

10. The sanding device of claim 1, wherein the flexible member comprises a tail extending past the back of the rigid member.

11. A sanding device, comprising:

a rigid member;

a flexible member permanently coupled with a bottom of the rigid member and at least a portion of a top of the rigid member; and

sandpaper permanently coupled with the flexible member;

wherein the flexible member is shaped substantially similar to the sandpaper in at least two dimensions.

12. The sanding device of claim 11, wherein the flexible member comprises a width perpendicular to a longest length of the flexible member, wherein the rigid member comprises a width perpendicular to a longest length of the rigid member, wherein the width of the flexible member is greater than the width of the rigid member, and wherein the flexible member comprises a pair of lower wings extending outward past sides of the rigid member at the bottom of the rigid member.

13. The sanding device of claim 12, wherein a front of the rigid member comprises a rounded end and wherein the rigid member comprises a taper from the front to a back end of the rigid member so that the front of the rigid member is thicker than the back of the rigid member.

14. The sanding device of claim 12, wherein the longest length of the flexible member is greater than the longest length of the rigid member, and wherein the flexible member comprises a tail extending past the back of the rigid member.

15. The sanding device of claim 12, wherein the flexible member comprises a pair of upper wings extending outward past the sides of the rigid member at the top of the rigid member.

16. The sanding device of claim 15, further comprising a pair of recesses in the upper wings.

17. The sanding device of claim 11, wherein the flexible member comprises a polymeric foam.

18. The sanding device of claim 11, further comprising a ridge coupled to, and extending upwards from, the top of the rigid member.

19. A sanding device, consisting of:

a rigid member;

a flexible member permanently coupled with a bottom of the rigid member and permanently coupled with less than half of a top of the rigid member using an adhesive; and

sandpaper permanently coupled with a bottom of the flexible member using an adhesive;

wherein the flexible member is shaped identical to the sandpaper in at least two dimensions;

wherein the flexible member comprises a longest length greater than a longest length of the rigid member so that the flexible member comprises a tail extending past a back of the rigid member; and

wherein the flexible member comprises a width perpendicular to the longest length of the flexible member, wherein the rigid member comprises a width parallel with the width of the flexible member, and wherein the width of the flexible member is greater than the width of the rigid member so that the flexible member comprises a pair of upper wings extending outward past sides of the rigid member at the top of the rigid member and a pair of lower wings extending outward past the sides of the rigid member at the bottom of the rigid member.

20. The sanding device of claim 19, wherein the rigid member is tapered so that a front of the rigid member is thicker than the back of the rigid member.