What kind of sander would you use?

[mikereed100]

Originally Posted by cutlass

I'm looking to do a similar job on a boat in the Caribbean next month.

I'm thinking of getting a 6 inch orbital as it'll be faster than a 5 inch

Does anyone know if 6 inch discs are readily available at hardware stores in Grenada?

Better to bring the discs to match your sander with you. This will eliminate a whole layer of stress that you don't need while facing a miserable job.

[roverhi]

.I thought about the angle grinder/polishers with larger rotating disk, but as someone mentioned earlier, you can gouge your boat easily. Even if you get good at it, you won't see the gouges as you're taking stuff off. Its hard to take layers off evenly. You will definitely blow right through it, taking the paint off, but I feel like there will be much more fairing work waiting for you in the next round. That is if you want the finish to look professional.[/QUOTE]

The 9" sander/polishers won't gouge if you use a little caution, a foam backing pad and 100 grit or finer sanding paper. This is the type of backing pad you need to use: FlexPad Medium 8 SM8C [FLEXMED8] : Foam E-Z, The Original One-Stop Surfboard Supply Shop The foam in the pad molds to the deck or whatever and you really have to work at it to gouge. Also use finer grit sandpaper. I use 120 grit and it will sand the typical molded embossed non skid smooth in short order. Using a grinder with rpm adjustable continuously from 0 to 3000 or so makes it easy to use. Start off at low rpm initially until you get the hang of it and then increase the rpm.

My old Milwaukee is a one speed 3000 rpm beast. It's a heavy bear to handle, torques heavily at start up and almost instantly is spinning at full 3000 rpm. Have used newer sanders with electronic speed controllers and they are way easier to master and use for the uninitiated. I've tried the small random orbit sanders with gnarly grit and they just don't cut it.

If you want to get the deck level with no undulations, glue a round plywood sheet to the foam pad and glue sandpaper to the plywood. Used that on a piece of chainsaw milled 3'x6' piece of koa. It came out looking like I'd run it through a commercial planer.

[Cheechako]

Unles you are an expert with a disc sander, DO NOT even go near your topsides with one. You will simply ruin th job and cause yourself a whole bunch of work.

[vientoman]

Of all the power tools I've ever bought or used, the Festool sander wins. It's difficult to explain to anyone who hasn't used one. When asked "why buy a 80 dollar sander when you can buy the 450 Festool? ......the answer is; because they're worth it.

If you need to rationalize the potential purchase and if you are contemplating doing the job yourself, you're already saving thousands of dollars. Investing in a tool that make the job enjoyable may make sense.

You could spend two months hard labour sanding or a week of enjoyment with the Festool.

Life is short. For me, I like to minimize time spent sanding.

Festool RO 150 owner,

[JRM]

Originally Posted by vientoman

Of all the power tools I've ever bought or used, the Festool sander wins. It's difficult to explain to anyone who hasn't used one. When asked "why buy a 80 dollar sander when you can buy the 450 Festool? ......the answer is; because they're worth it.

If you need to rationalize the potential purchase and if you are contemplating doing the job yourself, you're already saving thousands of dollars. Investing in a tool that make the job enjoyable may make sense.

You could spend two months hard labour sanding or a week of enjoyment with the Festool.

Life is short. For me, I like to minimize time spent sanding.

Festool RO 150 owner,

I just have to second this! I cried blood spending the kind of coin required for the Festool, but I justified it because this winter I'm going to be redoing my decks, and with it I can work in the harbor. I'm embarrassed to tell anyone that I spent that kind I money on a sander and vacuum.

I just unboxed it and went to work "grinding" off old tabbing. This thing is already worth every penny I've spent and I haven't even touched the decks yet. With 40 grit disks and the "aggressive mode" it's almost like a grinder. Almost. It's like a grinder with better control that cleans up after itself! No more trying to juggle the vacuum and the tool.

The disks last much longer than my Makita ones do, and they actually suck up the dust.

For the money, I was expecting angel songs and dancing girls when I turned it on. It delivers!

JRM

-- ok, so maybe the dancing girls is a bit of an exaggeration. I'll still be embarrassed to tell my friends the cost, but at least I feel better about it...