Tim TITAN Posted October 31, 2004 Report Share Posted October 31, 2004 what kind of sander do you guys find works best for fairing in the hull? I've got a 5 inch random orbital. no air power right now though or I'd probably hook up the D/A. :cry: would an 8 inch electric polisher/sander with a foam pad do a nice job? which works best? hard pad or soft pad? or should I just stick with my 5 inch random orbit? I imagine towards the end I'll have to do some hand sanding with a featherboard or something. Just trying to make my life a little easier. This 5 inch random orbit sander just doesnt seem to be enough for the large hull surface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt jake Posted October 31, 2004 Report Share Posted October 31, 2004 I know quite a few people use the 8" with the soft foam pad. I also have a 5", but for the next project I will invest in a 6"RO or a 8" as you describe. 5" can be done, but it takes forever. If you already have the 8", get the soft pad and go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Jones Posted October 31, 2004 Report Share Posted October 31, 2004 5 inch ROS is all I use, other than a feathering board. I find it does a great job. I personally think the 6 inch discs cost more than the value you receive from moving up. I use BOXES of discs every year and in the shop , year in and year out, the 5 inch has had more bang for the buck for us. One thing I should mention. With the exception of a VERY light once over on the first coat of epoxy, and on the scarf joints themselves I don't TOUCH the hull with any sander until the glass is on and at least two fill coats have been applied. THEN I sand, fill again as needed and put on a final coat of epoxy. Then comes the fine sanding for fairness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim TITAN Posted October 31, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2004 sounds good. I'll stick with the random orbital for now. and yes I already glassed the hull and gave it a nice fill coat. now its just sanding, sanding, and more sanding. then the fun part of painting and seeing how she looks all dressed up nice thanks again for your help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warthog5 Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 Want your boat Stright? Don't touch it with a RO sander! Use a long board and hand sand. If it's gonn'a be Black IT Better be Stright. I've worked in aut body shops for about 15yrs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt jake Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 You don't use a DA? Even for roughing out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim TITAN Posted November 1, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 I think there was a misunderstanding. I wouldnt use the RO for the finishing. Just for roughing out. I was figuring on having to hand sand and use a featherboard for the finish. Just wondering what worked best for getting everything down and CLOSE enough to start hand sanding. Doing the whole thing by hand would just take forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 Tim the real trick to this is to get the substructure of a ply boat fair before. the sides go on and the be sure you do a good job with the panel joiners. If you use black glass you can see a ripple 6 miles away. I used a 5"RO the first time and it came out quite well. The repairs I have done look like hell using the same methods. The difference? The big sheets of ply formed a fair curve naturally. The fill and rework were short wavy sections that needed a long board to get right. So don't look at the bottom of my boat please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warthog5 Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 I use a DA sander [RO sander] to go over the glass work with 80gt. Then the primer goes on, then a guide coat. No machine after that. It's all hand blocked with diffrent size blocks to fit the area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Dufour Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 The nice thing about building a boat for yourself is that you're the final judge as to what's good enough. For me, just the thought of all that sanding urges a "working finish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Nelson CS#35 Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 While on the subject of sanding...What is the concensus (is that possible here) about longboards...ridged or flexable??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Jones Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 Both of the ones I currently use are flexible. One is from 4 mm ply, the other from 6 MM. I have old furniture drawer pull knobs glued to each end and they are sized to take a cut open sanding belt glued to them. So 3 inches wide and about 20 inches long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt jake Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 Not trying to knock either technique. Sanding, and doing it well, takes practice. I used a sanding board very little on the kayak and the Weekender, both turned out very well. Just keep the sander moving. I did all of the detailed places by hand, but the large area were mostly power. On both I used a PC RO 5" sander. Had to replace the bearings , switch, brushes and sanding pad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warthog5 Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 QUOTE: Had to replace the bearings , switch, brushes and sanding pad. You too. I have on that the bearings locked up in. No time to fix. Down to the store and bought another one to finish the project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warthog5 Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 QUOTE: The nice thing about building a boat for yourself is that you're the final judge as to what's good enough. For me, just the thought of all that sanding urges a "working finish This is very true. Building the boat is half the battle. The other half is working to perfection in all the fairing and painting. Most all of you know what your boat's look like in person and on film. IE Pix's of them. Most of us only know what your boat looks like in the pix's. Funny thing about pix's. Either the pix's don't do the boat justice or they hide a lot. Now if you can see the flaws in the pix's, ah you need to work on it some more. I've seen a few. Paint it Black and it will tell on you in a Heart Beat. It's right or it isn't. Black is by no means for everyone, But it will show a Perfect hull or not. But then I'm a perfectionist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Dufour Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 That's a good point about the Pix, Warthog. I wonder if I can save myself a bunch of sanding by simply getting better at using Photoshop? 8) I love the look of a black hull and I'm glad there are people like you doing it. Hulls and paint like that raise boatbuilding to art. I'm also really glad I'm NOT doing it. :wink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Jones Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 I've got a pair of Porter Cable ROS machines. The kind that look like angle grinders. THey've been in daily use (for the most part) in my shop for 10 years now, and have been used in the building of 6 boats, the interior rebuild of two more, the sanding for repaint of 4 glass boats plus the sanding of innumerable pieces of furniture, and are still going strong on the original bearings, etc. I have replaced the brushes in each and the variable speed control failed in one of them.. And many many new pads Other than that, they are like a Timex- take a licking and keep on ticking. I DO blow them out well with the air hose on a regular basis, particularly when I'm sanding glass. I also have a lighter DeWalt. My gripe with the DeWalt is that I can't just go buy a new pad- have to order it. And the ring that stops the disc spinning so it doesn't swirl the work when you put it back down doesn't last long- it's plastic. And the sealed on - off switch keeps getting packed with sanding dust someway and quits working til you blow it out. Otherwise it's an OK machine, but not the equal of the PC's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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