Sanding Preparation
I am doing all of the sanding in the garage. It is not a pleasant working environment but it is temporary and will keep the sanding dust out of the living area. Do not underestimate the amount of dust this sanding produces. They may just be miniature parts but it is an awful lot of them.
Because there are so many parts to sand and they are all of different sizes, you will need plenty of sand paper for your sanding block. Expect to change it daily. You also need fingernail files of different sizes to get inside window trims and be able to sand small brackets. You can place a scrap wood piece of the same width behind the nail file to give it more stability and strength for sanding.
With this much sanding, I recommend a good quality dust mask and safety eye wear. The goggles used to prevent chemical splatter from getting into your eyes, is a good choice. It will give your eyes protection from the dust and flying splinters all the way around the sides as well as the front. You can find both at the hardware store. They are inexpensive and completely worth it. The goggles are also reusable for all of your projects, as long as they aren't damaged.
Fixing Broken Parts
Like I mentioned previously, sometimes parts break. The long part, shown below, broke while sanding and the window trim broke while removing it from the sheet. Any broken part is easily repaired using tacky or wood glue and then splinting it with a binder clip to keep it together and straight. Let it dry overnight and then lightly sand. If you plan on staining the broken part, use tacky glue instead of wood glue, since wood glue does not dry clear. Once the part is dry, sand all over to remove excess glue that could interfere with staining.
Organizing
I keep all like parts together using rubber bands. I have assembled the Beacon Hill before so I mostly know what every part is and that's why I did not take the time to label them individually. The parts that I am unsure of, I can easily find in the schematics.
Keep In Mind
I still have a small pile of sanding left to do. Most of the parts left are small brackets and other items that will not be needed right now. I will get that done later when the time to use them draws closer. That way I can take a break from sanding for a little while and concentrate on preparing my craft room for a very long project. Sometimes the preparation time seems longer than the assembly time but good preparation will allow the assembly process to go about much easier, cleaner and quicker.
