While I had the canopy clecoed and drilled to the slider frame, I sanded the forward edge using the belt sander to get the 1/16"-3/32" distance clearance in front of the forward bow.
We then removed the canopy and positioned it on the workbenches where I finished the forward edge and the side edges using the belt sander (120 grit), the pneumatic orbital sander (220 grit), and finally by hand (400 grit). The edges came our surprisingly straight and smooth. I hope that they are smooth enough to stop any stress concentrations.
